SB 161

The Department of Health Services (DHS) administers income maintenance

programs under current law, as well as the programs that provide state

supplemental payments to persons receiving federal supplemental security income

(state supplemental payment programs). The income maintenance programs are

specified in the statutes as the Medical Assistance program, including BadgerCare

Plus; the food stamp program; and the program that pays funeral, burial, and

cemetery expenses for persons whose estates are insufficient to pay those expenses.

Generally, income maintenance and state supplemental payment programs are

administered by counties through contracts with DHS.

This bill requires DHS to establish a Milwaukee County enrollment services

unit (unit) in DHS to determine eligibility for and administer income maintenance

and state supplemental payment programs in Milwaukee County (county). In

addition, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) may contract with DHS

to have the unit perform eligibility and authorization functions in the county for

DCF's child care subsidy program. Under the bill, DHS may contract with the county

for the performance by the county of administrative functions under the income

maintenance and state supplemental payment programs and, if DCF so contracts

with DHS, for the performance of the eligibility and authorization functions under

the child care subsidy program. The county is required to expend a certain specified

amount for the operation of income maintenance programs in the county, and DHS

must reimburse the county for all approved costs that exceed that amount for the

operation of the income maintenance and state supplemental payment programs in

the county and, if DCF so contracts with DHS, for the performance of the eligibility

and authorization functions under the child care subsidy program in the county. The

bill also requires DHS and Milwaukee County, at a specified time in the future, to

discuss who will operate the income maintenance programs in the county in the

future and how the programs will be operated.

The bill requires that supervisory personnel in the unit be state employees and

that all other employees in the unit may be a combination of state employees and

county employees. Milwaukee County is required to maintain for the unit no fewer

represented authorized full-time employee positions than the number of

represented employee positions that were authorized on February 1, 2009, to

perform the functions that the unit will perform under the bill. Under the bill, DHS

has the authority to supervise, hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote,

discharge, assign, reward, discipline, and adjust grievances with respect to county

employees performing services for the unit. The bill provides that any DHS

employment decision affecting county employees may be appealed to the

Employment Relations Commission, as are decisions affecting state employees. In

addition, DHS must use the same employment process and procedures that are used

for appointments to the classified service of the state civil service system, including