Emergency rules now in effect
Under s. 227.24, Stats., state agencies may promulgate rules without complying with the usual rule-making procedures. Using this special procedure to issue emergency rules, an agency must find that either the preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare necessitates its action in bypassing normal rule-making procedures.
Emergency rules are published in the official state newspaper, which is currently the Wisconsin State Journal. Emergency rules are in effect for 150 days and can be extended up to an additional 120 days with no single extension to exceed 60 days.
Occasionally the Legislature grants emergency rule authority to an agency with a longer effective period than 150 days or allows an agency to adopt an emergency rule without requiring a finding of emergency.
Extension of the effective period of an emergency rule is granted at the discretion of the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules under s. 227.24 (2), Stats.
Notice of all emergency rules which are in effect must be printed in the Wisconsin Administrative Register. This notice will contain a brief description of the emergency rule, the agency finding of emergency or a statement of exemption from a finding of emergency, date of publication, the effective and expiration dates, any extension of the effective period of the emergency rule and information regarding public hearings on the emergency rule.
Copies of emergency rule orders can be obtained from the promulgating agency. The text of current emergency rules can be viewed at www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code.
Chiropractic Examining Board
Rules adopted revising
ch. Chir 2, relating to passing and retaking the practical examination.
Finding of emergency
The Chiropractic Examining Board finds that preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare necessitates putting the rule amendments described into effect prior to the time the amendments would take effect if the agency complied with the notice, hearing and publication requirements established for rule-making in ch.
227, Stats. The facts warranting adoption of these rule amendments under s.
227.24, Stats., are as follows:
On December 19, 2002, the Chiropractic Examining Board adopted the national practical examination conducted by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners as the board's practical examination for determining clinical competence in Wisconsin. The board has determined that the national practical examination is a better measure of competence than was the state examination previously administered by the board and that the public health, safety and welfare warrant that the national practical examination be instituted immediately. The rule changes herein conform the terminology used in the board's rule with the textual description of the national practical examination and resolve doubts about the examination grades issued to applicants who complete the national practical examination.
The national practical examination describes the examination parts in different terms than are used in s.
Chir 3.02, although the national practical examination covers the practice areas described in the existing rule. The rule amendments to s.
Chir 2.03 (2) (intro.) resolve this difference.
This order deletes the reference in the board's current rule to passing “each part" of the examination. The national practical examination has one part and an applicant receives one grade for the part. In utilizing the national examination, the board approves the grading and grading procedures of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Grade review procedures in s. Chir 2.09 are superfluous and the rule is repealed. The rule requiring reexamination is modified to avoid confusion over examination parts. The board is proceeding with promulgating these rule changes through a proposed permanent rule-making order.
Publication Date:
June 28, 2003
Effective Date:
June 28, 2003
Expiration Date:
November 25, 2003
Hearing Date:
October 16, 2003
Extension Through:
January 23, 2004
Employment Relations Commission
Finding of emergency
The Employment Relations Commission finds that an emergency exists and that rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. A statement of the facts constituting the emergency is as follows:
1. The Employment Relations Commission has a statutory responsibility in the private, municipal and state sectors for timely and peaceful resolution of collective bargaining disputes and for serving as an expeditious and impartial labor relations tribunal.
2. Effective July 26, 2003,
2003 Wisconsin Act 33 reduced the Employment Relations Commission's annual budget by $400,000 in General Program Revenue (GPR) and eliminated 4.0 GPR supported positions. These reductions lowered the Employment Relations Commission's annual base GPR funding level and the number of GPR supported positions by more than 16%.
Act 33 also abolished the Personnel Commission and transferred certain of the Personnel Commission's dispute resolution responsibilities to the Employment Relations Commission.
3.
2003 Wisconsin Act 33 increased the Employment Relations Commission's Program Revenue (PR) funding and positions by $237,800 and 2.0 PR positions respectively. The revenue to support these increases will be provided by increasing existing filing fees for certain dispute resolution services.
4. Unless the emergency rule making procedures of s.
227.24, Stats., are utilized by the Employment Relations Commission to provide the increased filing fee revenue needed to support the 2.0 PR positions, the Commission's ability to provide timely and expeditious dispute resolution services will be significantly harmed.
The emergency rules increase existing filing fees for Commission dispute resolution services in amounts necessary to fund 2.0 Program Revenue positions as authorized by
2003 Wisconsin Act 33.
Publication Date:
August 25, 2003
Effective Date:
September 15, 2003
Expiration Date:
January 22, 2004
Hearing Date:
November 20, 2003
Health and Family Services
(Management, Technology, Chs. HFS 1—)
Rules adopted revising
ch. HFS 15, relating to assessments on occupied, licensed beds in nursing homes and intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded (ICF-MR).
Exemption from finding of emergency
Analysis prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
2003 Wisconsin Act 33 modified section 50.14 of the Wisconsin Statutes, relating to assessments on occupied, licensed beds in nursing homes and intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded (ICF-MR.)
Under section 50.14 of the Wisconsin Statutes, nursing facilities (nursing homes and ICF-MRs) are assessed a monthly fee for each occupied bed. Facilities owned or operated by the state, federal government, or located out of state are exempt from the assessment. Beds occupied by a resident whose nursing home costs are paid by Medicare are also exempt. The rate, specified in section
50.14 (2) of the statutes, was $32 per month per occupied bed for nursing homes and $100 per month per occupied bed for ICF-MRs.
1. It broadened the scope of which types of long-term care facilities must pay a monetary assessment to the Department by:
- eliminating exemptions from being subject to the assessments of facilities owned or operated by the state or federal government, and beds occupied by residents whose care is reimbursed in whole or in part by medicare under
42 USC 1395 to
1395ccc; and
- eliminating the exclusion of unoccupied facility beds from facility bed count calculations.
2. It increased the per bed fee limit the Department may charge subject ICF-MRs, from $100 per bed to $435 per bed in fiscal year 2003-04 and $445 per bed in fiscal year 2004-05.
3. It increased the per bed fee limit the Department may charge subject nursing homes, from $32 per bed to $75 per bed.
4. It establishes the requirement that amounts collected in excess of $14.3 million in fiscal year 2003-04, $13.8 million in fiscal year 2004-05, and, beginning July 1, 2005, amounts in excess of 45% of the amount collected be deposited in the Medical Assistance Trust Fund.
5. It specifies that facility beds that have been delicensed under section
49.45 (6m) (ap) 1. of the statutes, but not deducted from the nursing home's licensed bed capacity under section 49.45 (6m) (ap) 4. a., are to be included in the number of beds subject to the assessment.
In response to these statutory changes, by this order, the Department is modifying chapter HFS 15 accordingly.
The Department is also proceeding with promulgating these rule changes on a permanent basis through a proposed permanent rulemaking order.
Publication Date:
July 28, 2003
Effective Date:
July 28, 2003
Expiration Date:
December 25, 2003
Hearing Date:
October 15, 2003
Health and Family Services
(Medical Assistance, Chs. HFS 100—)
Rules adopted revising
chs. HFS 101 to 107, relating to the Medicaid Family Planning Demonstration Project.
Finding of emergency
The Department of Health and Family Services finds that an emergency exists and that the rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:
On June 25, 1999, the Department submitted a request for a waiver of federal law to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that controls states' use of Medicaid funds. On June 14, 2002, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare granted the waiver, effective January 1, 2003. The waiver allows the state to expand Medicaid services by providing coverage of family planning services for females of child-bearing age who would not otherwise be eligible for Medicaid coverage. Under the waiver, a woman of child-bearing age whose income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty line will be eligible for most of the family planning services currently available under Medicaid, as described in s.
HFS 107.21. Through this expansion of coverage, the Department hopes to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in Wisconsin.
Department rules for the operation of the Family Planning Demonstration Project must be in effect before the program begins. The program statute, s.
49.45 (24r) of the statutes, became effective on October 14, 1997. It directed the Department to request a federal waiver of certain requirements of the federal Medicaid Program to permit the Department to implement the Family Planning Demonstration Project not later than July 1, 1998, or the effective date of the waiver, whichever date was later. After CMS granted the waiver, the Department determined that the Family Planning Demonstration Project could not be implemented prior to January 1, 2003, and CMS approved this starting date. Upon approval of the waiver, the Department began developing policies for the project and subsequently the rules, which are in this order. The Department is publishing the rules by emergency order so the rules take effect in February 2003, rather than at the later date required by promulgating permanent rules. In so doing, the Department can provide health care coverage already authorized by CMS as quickly as possible to women currently not receiving family planning services and unable to pay for them. The Department is also proceeding with promulgating these rule changes on a permanent basis through a proposed permanent rulemaking order.
Publication Date:
January 31, 2003
Effective Date:
January 31, 2003*
Expiration Date:
June 30, 2003
Hearing Dates:
April 25 & 28, 2003
* The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules suspended this emergency rule on April 30, 2003
Health and Family Services
(Health, Chs. HFS 110—)
Rules were adopted revising
ch. HFS 144, relating to immunization of students.
Finding of emergency
The Department of Health and Family Services finds that an emergency exists and that the rules are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:
The Department has a rulemaking order (
CR03-033) containing a variety of relatively minor changes to over a dozen chapters of administrative rules administered by the Department. The Department had anticipated that
CR03-033 would be in effect on or before September 1, 2003. One of the proposed changes in
CR03-033 is a provision that changes school immunization standards.
Clearinghouse Rule 03-033 has been delayed for reasons unrelated to the provisions in this order. Consequently, the identical provisions in
CR03-033 will not be in effect on September 1, 2003. For reasons stated subsequently in this analysis, unless these changes to the minimum immunization requirements in chapter HFS 144, Immunization of Students, are in effect September 1, 2003, needless confusion and unintended effects will result.
In 2002, the Department's Wisconsin Immunization Program requested minor language changes to chapter HFS 144 as part of a planned “omnibus" rulemaking order containing a variety of proposed relatively minor changes. The HFS 144 proposed rule changes affect time sensitive vaccine requirements and were made so the Department's immunization requirements adhere to new vaccine recommendations made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP.) For example, the current requirement for Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine (MMR) is two doses with the first dose received on or after the first birthday. New ACIP recommendations allow a 4-day grace period so children receiving doses four days before their first birthday would be compliant. The current requirements in chapter HFS 144 do not accept as valid a dose of MMR that was given even one day prior to the first birthday. Similar time sensitive changes impact the vaccine requirement for a dose of DTaP vaccine after the fourth birthday and a dose of Hib vaccine after the first birthday.
