Bills to Watch: School Days, Nurse Wages, Abortion

AB-115

Making up missed school days

This bill would allow a school district to not make up direct instructional hours lost to school closures caused by emergencies or weather if that district is in one of the top two categories (exceeds expectations or significantly exceeds expectations) on the state report card. In the 2017-18 state report card, Gibraltar Area, Sevastopol, Sturgeon Bay and Southern Door all met this criterion. The bill is in the Committee on Education in both chambers.

CNA Pay Act

Increasing pay for certified nursing assistants

A group of three bills seeks to increase wages for certified nursing assistants (CNA) and personal caregivers. There are an estimated 16,500 vacant care positions in Wisconsin, and the average entry-level hourly wage is $10.75. LRB-0960 would provide $500,000 in grants to technical colleges to expand access to CNA training in underserved areas. LRB-0981 would increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate for personal-care services by accepting the federal Medicaid expansion dollars. The bill requires that the reimbursement increase go directly to increasing the wages of frontline caretakers. Finally, LRB-2460 pertains to a one-time, $1,500 capped refundable tax credit for the cost of CNA training. The bills are circulating for co-sponsorship until April 19.

LRB-2446

Decertifying abortion providers

Sen. André Jacque is introducing a bill that would decertify the following parties from providing medical assistance for low-income residents: a person that provides abortion services or is an affiliate of a person that provides abortion services and that is a nonprofit private entity that has received at any time or has applied for a grant or contract for a family-planning project under federal law. The bill is circulating for co-sponsorship until April 9.