The Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) met last Thursday.

Action taken by the committee impacting counties include:

Juvenile Corrections
The JCF:

• Adopted the Governor's recommendation to allow DOC to place individuals under the age of 18 but sentenced in adult court in the JCIs.
• Adopted the modification setting the average daily population (ADP) at 220.

Adoption of above items then set the daily rate at the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's re-estimate of $395 in FY18 and $405 in FY19.

Then, the JCF:

• Voted to maintain/add the $6 per day add-on to the daily rate.
• Chose to fund the 3.25 mental health positions at Copper Lakes with GPR instead of PR which reduces the rates by $3.19 in FY18 and $3.74 in FY19.
• Funded the nine new positions for juvenile medication administration with GPR as well which reduces the daily rate by $6.57 in FY18 and $8.76 in FY19

The new daily rates would be (pending other technical changes that usually happen) $391.24 in FY18 and $398.50 in FY19 - these numbers will be rounded to whole numbers as well.

Community Corrections
The JCF cut in half, from $660,800 GPR annually to $330,400 GPR, the Governor's recommendation to expand the Opening Avenues to Reentry Success program. 

Adult Corrections
The JCF directed the Department of Corrections to design an intensive alcohol abuse treatment program. The JCF specified the program must be designed to provide intensive treatment in conjunction with a work release model that allows inmates to work in individual job placements. Under the provisions, Corrections must develop community job placements that are appropriately matched to each inmate's employment and educational skills and provide or arrange for appropriate transportation to and from job sites. Corrections must submit as part of its 2019-21 agency budget request a request for staffing and funding for the intensive alcohol abuse treatment program and any statutory changes necessary to provide sentencing modifications to coordinate the program.

Employee Trust Funds
The JCF discontinued the option to register a domestic partnership under Chapter 770 beginning six months from the effective date of the budget bill. Various current law provisions that apply to Chapter 770 domestic partnerships would continue to apply to domestic partnerships that have already been registered with the exception of current law provisions specified by the JCF.

The JCF:

• Prohibited the formation of new domestic partnerships under Chapter 770 of the statutes.
• Removed the authorization for a state employer or local governmental unit to pay premiums for health, accident, and life insurance policies for an employee's domestic partner and dependent children of an employee's domestic partner.
• Authorized a state or local government employer to pay not only premiums but also cost sharing amounts for hospital, surgical, and other health and accident insurance and life insurance for employees and officers and their spouses and dependent children.
• Authorized a local governmental unit to provide for the payment of not only premiums but also cost sharing for hospital and surgical care for its retired employees.
• Specified that a local governmental unit providing an employee benefit plan as defined in 29 U.S.C. 1002 (3) may only cover its officers, agents, employees, and the spouses and dependent children of its officers, agents, and employees.
• Specified that with regard to provisions related to a local governmental unit's officers, employees, and agents who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement under Subchapter V of Chapter 111 of the statutes, or another contract, that contains provisions inconsistent with the bill provisions (2017 LRB-3417/P2), the bill provisions would first apply on the day on which the agreement or contract expires or is terminated, extended, modified, or renewed (whichever occurs first).
• Repealed the statutory declaration of policy that the Legislature finds "that it is in the interests of the citizens of this state to establish and provide the parameters for a legal status of domestic partnership," and that the legal status of a Chapter 770 domestic partnership is not substantially similar to that of marriage.

Self Insurance
The JCF unanimously denied the Governor's recommendation to move to a self-insurance plan for state employees.

At the end of Thursday's meeting, the co-chairs indicated that the next meeting of the committee may be held on Thursday, June 22.