Section
452.09 (2), Stats., broadly describes the education requirements for a real estate salesperson's license and a real estate broker's license. Ch.
RL 25, Wis. Adm. Code, specifies the policies relating to the approval of schools and courses offered by them, the approval of instructors, and the contents of pre-license education courses.
The department, with the advice and counsel of the Real Estate Board, would like to amend the topics in the broker?s and salesperson's pre-license education courses. The department has conducted a Job Analysis, relating to the practice of real estate brokers. The department has also convened a committee to review the contents of the real estate salesperson's examination. As a result of the Job Analysis and the committee's review, the department anticipates the need to revise the list of topics in the pre-license education courses. The department will also review all of the provisions in Ch.
RL 25, Wis. Adm. Code and will make whatever amendments may be appropriate. No such amendments have been identified at this time.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
100 hours.
Regulation and Licensing
Subject
Bidding at an auction by the auctioneer, the auctioneer's employees and the seller of the merchandise at an auction.
Objective of the Rule. To amend existing rules in order to clarify whether or when an auctioneer, an auctioneer's employees or a seller may bid on merchandise included in an auction.
Policy Analysis
Section
402.328 (3) and
(4), Stats., distinguish between an auction with reserve (otherwise known as an absolute auction) and an auction without reserve. Section
402.329 (4), Stats., describes the consequences of a bid being received on behalf of the seller or the seller making a bid without a notice having been given that liberty for such bidding is reserved. Section
RL 120.02 (1) and
(2), Wis. Adm. Code, define “absolute auction" and “auction with reserve." Section
RL 120.02 (10), Wis. Adm. Code, defines a “shill" as “an employee or agent who bids against legitimate bidders at an auction to escalate “bidding." Section
RL 124.02 (3), Wis. Adm. Code, requires that the contract between the auctioneer or the auction company and the seller shall contain “a general description of the property to be sold at auction, any restrictions relating to conducting the auction and a statement indicating whether the registrant is authorized to purchase at the auction." Section
RL 126.02 (3), Wis. Adm. Code, prohibit an auctioneer from advertising an auction as an absolute auction if any item or items are to be sold with reserve or with minimum bids, and from knowingly escalating or attempting to escalate bidding through false bids, shills or through collusion with another.
The department would like to provide clarification of the above-described requirements. One alternative is to prohibit bidding by the seller, the auctioneer or the auctioneer's employees in certain circumstances. Another alternative is to require better notice to persons attending the auction or to require the auctioneer or auction company and the seller to more clearly address this issue in their contract.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
100 hours.
Workforce Development
Subject
DWD 40, Child support percentage of income standard
Policy Analysis
Description of Policy Issues
DWD 40 sets guidelines to be used by courts in determining child support obligations based on a percentage of the gross income and assets of either or both parents. In the spring of 2001, with input from members of the legislature, the DWD Secretary appointed an advisory committee to provide guidance to the department on revisions to the state policy regarding the standards in ch.
DWD 40. The advisory committee included members of the courts, state bar, community-based organizations, county child support agencies, citizens, and the department. The committee recommended changes for guidelines affecting low-income parents, high-income parents, and shared-time parents.
The recommendations affecting low-income parents decrease the presumptive support required from payers with gross monthly incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level. This is proposed because many low-income payers have insufficient income to pay the current ordered amount and still meet their basic needs. The lower percentages may result in improved compliance and increase emotional and financial investment in their children.
The recommendations for high-income parents reduce the percentages for the amount of the annual gross income between $150,000 and $200,000. This is proposed because economic data shows that as income rises above certain high-income levels, families spend a lower percentage of their gross income on their children. Under the current guidelines, there is a significant amount of litigation surrounding shared-time and child support. A payment policy that recognizes the reduced proportion of income spent on children above a given high-income amount may reduce this litigation.
The recommendations affecting shared-time parents propose that the guidelines for shared-time parents apply when both parents have court-ordered periods of placement of 25% or more and each parent is ordered to assume the children's costs in proportion to the time that the parent has placement of the children. The formula will use a cross-credit calculation that sets support based on the costs of shared parenting and takes into account duplicated costs of child rearing in both households. The committee recommends eliminating the “cliff effects" of the current methods of determining shared-time payments under ch.
DWD 40 to reduce the potential for litigation.
Statutory authority
Staff time required
300 hours.
Workforce Development
Subject
DWD 129, Extension of the time period allowed for filing an initial claim for unemployment insurance benefits.
Policy Analysis
Pursuant to s.
108.08 (1), Stats., a claimant must give notice to the department with respect to a week of unemployment “within such time and in such manner as the department may by rule prescribe" in order to receive benefits for that particular week. Under the current s.
DWD 129.01 (1), a claimant must file his or her initial claim for benefits no later than the close of the week in which the claimant intends the claim to start. For example, a claimant who files two weeks late cannot obtain unemployment benefits retroactively unless the department waives the time limit under the exceptional circumstances provision in s.
DWD 129.01 (4). The proposed rule will extend the time period for filing an initial claim by seven days beyond the end of the week for which the claimant expects to get the benefits. The institution of this change is expected to eliminate approximately 67% of untimely filing issues. This will translate into savings of 5 to 6 full-time employees (FTEs).
Statutory authority
Staff time required
30 hours.
