Notice of Hearing
Transportation
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to s.
84.01 (13), amended by
2005 Wis. Act 89, Stats., interpreting s.
84.01 (13), Stats., the Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on the
8th day of August, 2006, at the Hill Farms State Transportation Building, Room 951, 4802 Sheboygan Avenue, Madison, WI, at
10:00 AM, to consider the emergency rule creation of ch.
Trans 515, Wisconsin Adm. Code, relating to contractual service procurement.
Parking for persons with disabilities and an accessible entrance are available.
Copies of Emergency Rule
Requests for copies of the emergency rule should be submitted to Randy Knoche, Department of Transportation, Bureau of State Highway Programs, Room 951, P. O. Box 7913, Madison, WI 53707-7913. You may also contact Mr. Knoche by phone at (608) 266-1824.
To view the emergency rule or the proposed permanent rule, or submit written comments on the permanent rule via e-mail/internet, you may visit the following website:
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Transportation
Explanation of agency authority: The Department of Transportation is authorized to execute contracts for engineering and other services under s.
84.01(13), Stats. That statute also requires the Department to conduct a cost-benefit comparison of having that work performed by state employees, if the contract will cost $25,000 or more. In addition to promulgating permanent rules, Act 89 requires the Department to promulgate emergency rules on this subject not later than July 1, 2006, and requires the Department to conduct this comparison for all contractual services solicited on or after July 1, 2006.
Plain language analysis: The proposed rule requires a cost benefit analysis before procuring engineering or other specialized services under s.
84.01(13), Stats., in excess of $25,000 when those services are normally performed by state employees. The required analysis includes a comparison between the costs of contracting out and performing the services with state employees. The analysis also considers other subjective factors such as timeliness, quality and technical expertise.
Factual data and analytical methodologies: 2005 Wisconsin Act 89 requires the Department to promulgate this rule.
Comparison with Rules in Adjacent States:
Michigan: Department legal counsel is unaware of and was unable to locate any rules in this state pertaining to this subject.
Minnesota: Department legal counsel is unaware of and was unable to locate any rules in this state pertaining to this subject.
Illinois: Department legal counsel is unaware of and was unable to locate any rules in this state pertaining to this subject.
Iowa: Iowa Code sec. 23A.2 (2205) prohibits the state from offering to the public any supply or service that is also offered by private enterprise. This prohibition does not apply to supplies or services to be used or consumed solely by the state. There appears to be no requirement that the state compare costs and benefits of obtaining services by state employees or private enterprise.
Small Business Analysis
The proposed rule does not affect the amount or quality of engineering or specialized services procured from private enterprise and therefore is expected to have no effect on small businesses.
The requirements of the rule will be implemented by Department employees and will have no effect on external parties including small business. The Department's Regulatory Review Coordinator may be contacted by e-mail at
andrew.ruiz@dot.state.wi.us, or by calling (414) 438-4585.
Fiscal Effect
The Department estimates that compliance with
2005 Wisconsin Act 89 will cost it $217,000 per year. No similar costs will be borne by the private sector.
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
(Unemployment Insurance)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to Sections
108.04 (2),
108.14 (2) and
227.11, Stats. the Department of Workforce Development proposes to hold a public hearing to consider rules affecting Ch.
DWD 127, relating to the unemployment insurance work search.
Hearing Information
July 25, 2006
|
MADISON
|
(Tuesday)
1:30 p.m.
|
G.E.F. 1 Building
Room H306
201 E. Washington Ave.
|
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearings and will be afforded the opportunity to make an oral presentation of their positions. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their facts, views, and suggested rewording in writing.
Visitors to the GEF 1 building are requested to enter through the left East Washington Avenue door and register with the customer service desk. The entrance is accessible via a ramp from the corner of Webster Street and East Washington Avenue. If you have special needs or circumstances regarding communication or accessibility at the hearing, please call (608) 267-9403 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as ASL interpreters, English translators, or materials in audiotape format will be made available on request to the fullest extent possible.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Workforce Development
Explanation of agency authority. Section
108.04 (2) (a) 3., Stats., provides that a claimant is eligible for unemployment benefits as to any given week for which he or she earns no wages if, among other things, the individual conducts a reasonable search for suitable work during that week. The search for suitable work must include 2 actions that constitute a reasonable search as prescribed by rule of the department. Section
108.04 (2) (b), Stats., provides that the requirements for registration for work and search for work shall be prescribed by rule of the department, and the department may by general rule waive these requirements under certain stated conditions. Section
108.14 (2), Stats., provides that the department may adopt and enforce all rules which it finds necessary or suitable to carry out Chapter
108, Stats., regarding unemployment insurance.
Summary of proposed rule. Section
108.04 (2), Stats., provides that an unemployment insurance claimant must conduct a reasonable search for suitable work. The department may waive this requirement under certain stated conditions. Chapter
DWD 127 currently provides that the department
shall waive the work search requirement for a given week if certain specified circumstances apply to a unemployment insurance claimant and
may waive the work search requirement for a given week when others apply. The proposed rule will make all waivers of the work search requirement mandatory if any of the specified circumstances apply.
The proposed rule will also modify two of the waiver criteria. Currently, the department may waive a claimant's work search requirement if the claimant has a reasonable expectation of starting work with a new employer within 4 weeks after the week in which he or she initiates a claim or in which an eligibility review is conducted. Under the proposed rule, the department will waive the work search requirement if the claimant has an offer of work that begins within 4 weeks regardless of when this occurs. In addition, currently the department waives a claimant's work search requirement if the claimant's most recent employer failed to post or maintain any notice as to claiming unemployment benefits. Under the proposed rule, this provision will be modified to clarify that this waiver criteria does not apply if the claimant was aware of the work search requirement.
The proposed rule will also make various technical corrections. Section
108.04 (1) (e), Stats., as affected by
2005 Wisconsin Act 86, repeals the provision that self-employed individuals shall not be eligible for benefits for any week in which the individual worked at self-employment, unless the individual establishes that he or she has made an active and bona fide search for employment. Self-employed claimants are now subject to the same work search requirements and waivers as non-self-employed claimants. The proposed rule will repeal s.
DWD 127.09 relating to the definition of self-employment.
Section
108.04 (2) (a) 3. (intro.), Stats., as affected by
2003 Wisconsin Act 197, provides that the work search requirement does not apply to an individual if the department determines that the individual is currently laid off from employment with an employer but there is a reasonable expectation of reemployment of the individual by that employer. The proposed rules will repeal an obsolete provision at s.
DWD 127.02 (2) that limited the work search waiver based on a reasonable expectation of reemployment to 12 weeks after the claimant initiated the claim or 6 weeks after an eligibility review is conducted. The proposed rule will also repeal an obsolete provision at s.
DWD 127.035 that limited the work search waiver to 18 months under certain conditions when the layoff was due to a disaster or the temporary closing of the employer's worksite for refurbishing or relocation of the worksite and the department believed that a customary work search would impose a hardship on employers in the labor market and would not be likely to result in suitable employment for a substantial number of the affected employees.
In addition, the proposed rule will update certain rule provisions to reflect changes in
1999 Wisconsin Act 15. Section
108.04 (2) (a) 3., Stats., as affected by
1999 Wisconsin Act 15, provides that the requirement that the individual conduct a reasonable search for work during the week must include 2 actions that constitute a reasonable search. The current s.
DWD 127.01 does not specify 2 actions. The proposed rule will also repeal an obsolete statutory reference to s.
108.04 (7) (i), Stats., in s.
DWD 127.01 (2) (b). This rule provision allows a claimant to refuse to apply for work with an employer if the claimant previously terminated employment with the same employer with good cause attributable to the employer under s.
108.04 (7) (b), Stats., or because the employer made employment, compensation, promotion or job assignments contingent upon the employee's consent to sexual contact or sexual intercourse under s. 108.04 (7) (i), Stats.
1999 Wisconsin Act 15 repealed s. 108.04 (7) (i), Stats., and amended s. 108.04 (7) (b) to include sexual harassment.
The proposed amendment to s.
DWD 127.04 (1) clarifies that the department may notify a claimant that evidence of his or her work search will be required for a future week, as well as past weeks. Sections DWD 127.05 (2) and (3) on the requirement to report work search efforts are repealed because they duplicate requirements found in other sections of Chapter DWD 127.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies. The criteria for a mandatory waiver of the work search requirement in s.
DWD 127.03 and the permissive waiver criteria in s.
DWD 127.02 are combined into one section of mandatory criteria to better reflect current department informal practice to always grant a waiver when any of the specified conditions are met.
The requirement to grant a waiver of the work search requirement when the claimant's last employer failed to post the required notice on claiming insurance is amended to clarify that the claimant must have been unaware of the work search requirement. This amendment is in response to a decision by the Labor and Industry Review Commission that found that the current language requires a waiver even after the department notifies a claimant of the work search requirement.
Other changes are primarily statutory updates and clarifications of rule language.
Comparison with federal law
There is a federal requirement that UI claimants search for work, but there is no federal law on the specific issues addressed in the proposed rule.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
Iowa. The work search requirement shall be waived if a claimant is temporarily unemployed from the claimant's regular job in which the claimant worked full-time and will again work full-time, for a period not to exceed 4 weeks due to a plant shut-down, vacation, inventory, lack of work, or emergency.
Michigan. The work search requirement shall be waived if the layoff is temporary and work is expected to be available within 45 calendar days following the last day the individual worked and the employer notifies the agency in writing or by electronic data exchange that the layoff is temporary before the claimant is certified for his or her first compensable week following the layoff. The work search requirement may be waived if the return-to-work date is not later than 15 days following the layoff and the work search requirement is not waived under the previous provision. The work search requirement may also be waived if the state unemployment rate equals or exceeds 8.5%.
Illinois. The Illinois work search rules provide that a claimant must register in person at the Employment Service Office unless otherwise instructed by the local office for one of 10 listed reasons. Many of the reasons are similar to Wisconsin's work search waiver.
Minnesota. The department was unable to locate any Minnesota statutes or rules on the work search waiver.
Effect on small business
The proposed rules do not add or change any requirements for small businesses. There are no reporting, bookkeeping, or other procedures required for compliance with the proposed rule and no professional skills are required. The DWD Small Business Regulatory Coordinator is Jennifer Jirschele, (608) 266-1023,
jennifer.jirschele@dwd.state.wi.us.
Fiscal impact
The proposed rules have no fiscal effect on state or local governments.
Agency contact person
Copy of the rules and submission of written comment
Elaine Pridgen
Office of Legal Counsel
Dept. of Workforce Development
P.O. Box 7946
Madison, WI 53707-7946
(608) 267-9403
fax: (608) 266-1784
elaine.pridgen@dwd.state.wi.us
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address, email, or fax no later than July 26, 2006, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
(Unemployment Insurance)
Hearing Information
July 25, 2006
|
MADISON
|
(Tuesday)
1:30 p.m.
|
G.E.F. 1 Building
Room H306
|
|
201 E. Washington Avenue
|
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearings and will be afforded the opportunity to make an oral presentation of their positions. Persons making oral presentations are requested to submit their facts, views, and suggested rewording in writing.
Visitors to the GEF 1 building are requested to enter through the left East Washington Avenue door and register with the customer service desk. The entrance is accessible via a ramp from the corner of Webster Street and East Washington Avenue. If you have special needs or circumstances regarding communication or accessibility at the hearing, please call (608) 267-9403 at least 10 days prior to the hearing date. Accommodations such as ASL interpreters, English translators, or materials in audiotape format will be made available on request to the fullest extent possible.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Workforce Development
Explanation of agency authority. Section
108.08 (1), Stats., provides that to receive unemployment insurance benefits for any given week of employment, a claimant shall give notice to the department with respect to such week of unemployment within such time and in such manner as the department may by rule prescribe.
Section
108.06 (2) (bm), Stats., provides that an employee's benefit year begins on the Sunday of the week in which the employee files a valid request to establish a benefit year with the department, except that the department may permit an employee to begin a benefit year prior to that time under circumstances prescribed by rule of the department.
Section
108.06 (2) (d), Stats., provides that a claimant may request that the department set aside a benefit year by filing a written, verbal or electronic request in the manner that the department prescribes by rule. If the statutory criteria for set aside are not met, the department shall not set aside the benefit year unless the department defines by rule exceptional circumstances in which a claimant may be permitted to set aside a request to establish a benefit year and the claimant qualifies to make such a request under the circumstances described in the rule.
Section
108.14 (2), Stats., provides that the department may adopt and enforce all rules which it finds necessary or suitable to carry out Chapter
108, Stats., regarding unemployment insurance.
Summary of proposed rule
Initiating a claim. Section
108.08 (1), Stats., provides that to receive unemployment insurance benefits for any given week of unemployment, a claimant shall give notice to the department with respect to such week of unemployment within such time and such manner as the department may by rule prescribe. Section
DWD 129.01 (1) currently provides that a claimant is eligible only if, as of the first week being claimed, the claimant notifies the department in person, by telephone, or as otherwise prescribed by the department during that week or within 7 days after the close of that week, of the claimant's intent to initiate the claim. The proposed rules repeal the phrase “as of the first week being claimed." This clarifies that all claims can be backdated one week. The current language does not clearly state when a claim can be automatically backdated, which has resulted in the provision being applied inconsistently. The proposed rules also remove in-person as a specified option for filing an initial claim. It would still be an option under the “as otherwise prescribed" phrase. The proposed rules also add the option of filing via the Internet. Internet filing has been allowed since 2003 under the “as otherwise prescribed" language.
Continuing a claim. Section
DWD 129.01 (2) describes the requirements for continuing a claim by filing a weekly certification. The current rule provides that the claimant is eligible for benefits for any week only if the claimant files a weekly certification in the manner prescribed by the department within 14 days following the end of the week for which benefits are claimed. The 14-day deadline is extended to 19 days for claimants who claim through the interstate system.
The proposed rules are rewritten for clarity, specify the option of filing a weekly certification via the Internet, and repeal the extended 19-day deadline for interstate claims. Since the vast majority of claims are filed by telephone or Internet, extra time for interstate claims is not needed. In addition, the proposed rules repeal the requirement that the claimant contact the department to receive directions on how to proceed if neither a check nor a reason for not receiving a check is received within 7 days after submitting weekly claim. This language has no bearing on the payment of benefits.
Resuming a claim. If a weekly certification is not filed for a benefit week as described in s.
DWD 129.01 (2) on continuing a claim, the claim becomes inactive as of the first week after the last week in which a timely weekly certification could have been filed. The subsection on resuming a claim, s.
DWD 129.01 (3), currently provides that a claim may be resumed by filing the notice required for initiating a claim under s.
DWD 129.01 (1), except the deadline for resuming a claim is within 14 days after the close of the week falling between the week for which the untimely weekly certification was submitted and the week in which the claimant notifies the department. The proposed rules on resuming a claim are rewritten for clarity and repeal the provision that allows payment for the 14 days prior to a resumed claim so that all initial claim applications, including resuming a claim, have the same time limit, which is “within 7 days after the close of the first week being claimed."
Waiver for exceptional circumstances. Section
DWD 129.01 (4) lists criteria under which the department will waive the requirements for initiating a claim, continuing a claim, resuming a claim, or backdating a benefit year. The proposed rule adds the general criteria, “other exceptional circumstances over which the claimant has no control."
Set aside a benefit year. Section
108.06 (2) (d), Stats., provides that a claimant may request that the department set aside a benefit year by filing a written, verbal, or electronic request in the manner that the department prescribes by rule. The department shall grant the request and cancel the benefit year if the request is voluntary, benefits have not been paid to the claimant and at the time the department acts upon the request for that benefit year the claimant's benefit eligibility is not suspended. If the claimant does not meet these requirements, the department shall not set aside the benefit year unless the department defines by rule exceptional circumstances in which a claimant may be permitted to set aside a benefit year and the claimant qualifies to make such a request under the circumstances described in the rule.
The current s.
DWD 129.04 provides that the request to set aside a benefit year must be in writing and that the department has recovered, or has waived the recovery of, all benefits paid to the claimant for that benefit year or offsets this amount against benefits the claimant would otherwise be eligible to receive at the time the request to set aside a benefit year is made. If the statutory criteria for set aside are not met, the department may set aside the benefit year under other conditions. Other conditions include the following:
• The department terminates coverage of an employer previously subject to ch.
108, Stats., for whom the claimant performed services in the base period and the claimant could not have foreseen this termination of coverage.
• The department makes an error relating to the claimant's establishing of a benefit year;
