Sections 1 through 10 and Section 19 of the proposed rule updates the terminology for certain emergency medical personnel consistent with 2017 Wisconsin Act 12. The proposed rule implements Act 12 by replacing “first responder” with “emergency medical responder” and replacing “emergency medical technician” with “emergency medical services practitioner,” throughout Ch. Adm 95. Also, the definitions in s. Adm 95.03 for “emergency medical responder” and “emergency medical services practitioner” now point directly to the statutory definitions of those terms in s. 16.25 (1) (am) and (at), Stats. Section 10 of the proposed rule updates the contact information in s. Adm 95.04 (2) (Note) to reflect the location of the Service Award Program in the Department of Administration’s Division of Intergovernmental Relations. This section also adds the term “credit” into s. Adm 95.04 (3). This in order to clarify that, when a municipality establishes standards for a volunteer to qualify for an annual contribution, this includes setting the requirements for a volunteer to qualify for credit under the municipality’s program, as provided in the definition of “credit” in s. Adm 95.03 (4). This section also amends s. Adm 95.05 (2) (b) to extend the deadline for municipalities to pay all contributions to program administrators each year, from January 31 to February 15. Section 12 of the proposed rule updates s. Adm 95.07 (1) to reflect the new 15-years-of-service threshold for a volunteer to be fully vested. The proposed rule also clarifies that the volunteer who receives an award under subsection (1) shall receive the “full net asset value” of their account. (“Net Asset Value” is already defined in s. Adm. 95.02 in a manner consistent with what s. 16.25 (3) (g), Stats., authorizes a fully vested volunteer to receive.) The proposed rule also makes editorial changes to use the terminology “elect to receive” instead of “request to receive,” for stylistic consistency with the proposed amendments to s. Adm 95.07 (2), Stats. Sections 13 and 14 of the proposed rule amend s. Adm 95.07 (2) to establish new provisions for vesting, to implement the portion of s. 16.25 (3) (g), Stats., that delegates to the Department the task of determining the amounts payable to volunteers who are not fully vested because they meet one or both of the following criteria: (1) between the ages of 53 and 60 or (2) between 10 and 15 years of service for credit. According to s. 16.25 (3) (f), a vesting period of 10 years is the minimum requirement to receive any length of service award. Based on this provision and on the other applicable provisions of s. 16.25 (3) (g), the Department has determined that a volunteer shall be considered partially vested and may elect to receive a partial length of service award after performing a minimum of 10 years of service and reaching age 53, if the volunteer has discontinued providing eligible service. Unless and until a volunteer makes this election, the volunteer is not eligible for a partial length of service award. As with the existing rule, the proposed rule calculates the amount payable for a partial length of service award based upon the number of years of service. The new formula adjusts the percentages to reflect the fact that a volunteer can now be fully vested with 15 years of service, rather than 20 years. However, the formula is designed so that a volunteer who has 15 or more years of service but is not yet age 60 may not receive more than 95% of the net asset value of the account. This is required by s. 16.25 (3) (g), Stats., which provides that the amount must be less than what is paid to a fully vested volunteer. The proposed rule also provides that the award will be payable in the calendar year following the date of the election.
Section 15 of the proposed rule creates s. Adm 95.07 (2) (d), which clarifies that, as an alternative to electing to receive a partial length of service award under s. Adm 95.07 (2), a volunteer who has discontinued serving after performing 15 years of service may wait until age 60 and elect to receive a full length of service award at that time, under s. Adm 95.07 (1). This clarification is important to emphasize that there is no requirement that a volunteer maintain serving continuously until age 60 in order to become fully vested, provided that the volunteer accumulated at least 15 years of service before discontinuing serving. Sections 16 and 17 of the proposed rule implement the statutory change in s. 16.25 (3) (j), Stats., that doubled the length of time—from 6 months to 12 months—that a volunteer may experience a break in serving without the volunteer’s account being closed. Section 18 proposes changes to the first sentence of s. Adm 95.09 (3) (c) to harmonize the language with the vesting provisions in the proposed revisions to s. Adm. 95.07. In summary, the purpose of the proposed rule is to ensure that Ch. Adm. 95 reflects and implements the statutory changes to s. 16.25, Stats. and effectively carries out the Department’s explicit statutory obligations to administer the program and to promulgate rules implementing the various vesting requirements. 6. Summary of, and preliminary comparison with, any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
There are no federal regulations directly regulating the subject matter of the proposed rule, although federal tax regulations do provide special treatment for length of service award programs in section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code, specifically 26 C.F.R. 457 (e) (11) (B). Further, s. 16.25 (2), Stats., requires the Department to “administer the program so as to treat the length-of-service awards as a tax-deferred benefit under the Internal Revenue Code.” 7. Comparison with similar rules in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota:
Minnesota has a similar program; however, it allows volunteers to serve as little as 5 years to receive a partial vesting payment starting with 40% up to 20 years and 100%.
Michigan also has a service award program, but there are not specific statutory provisions that govern the program at the state level similar to Wisconsin’s program.
Illinois has a volunteer incentive program; however, it is not similar to those established in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Minnesota.
Legislation to establish a service award program has been introduced to the Iowa legislature several times, but it has not passed.
8. Summary of the factual data and analytical methodologies that the agency used in support of the proposed rule and how any related findings support the regulatory approach chosen for the proposed rule:
The Department is proposing this rule to update existing rules and interpretations of existing statutes; therefore, the Department reviewed existing statutes and administrative rules in order to determine the necessary revisions to the administrative rules to implement the legislative directives.
9. Effect on small business:
There is no anticipated effect on small business from implementing the proposed rule.
10. Any analysis and supporting documents used in support of the agency’s determination of the rule’s effect on small business or in preparation of economic impact report:
The Department is proposing this rule to update existing rules and interpretations of existing statutes. There is no anticipated economic impact from implementing the proposed rule, other than incidental compliance work on the part of program administrators to update their administration of the program in light of the revised dollar amounts and vesting thresholds.
11. Email address and telephone number of agency contact person:
Dawn Vick, Division Administrator
Division of Intergovernmental Relations
Department of Administration
(608) 266-7043
12. Place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission:
Comments could be submitted at the public hearing, by regular mail, or by email to the contact information listed above.
A public hearing was held on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Department of Administration building located at 101 E. Wilson Street, Madison, WI 53703.
The published deadline for submission of comments was February 27, 2018.
RULE TEXT
Section 1: Adm 95.01 is amended to read:
Adm 95.01 Authority. Sections 16.004 (1) and 16.25 (2), (3), (4) and (5), Stats., and 2015 Wisconsin Act 55, section 9101 (10j) (e), authorize the department to promulgate rules for establishing a length of service award program for volunteer fire fighters, first emergency medical responders, and emergency medical technicians services practitioners. Section 2: Adm. 95.02 is amended to read:
Adm 95.02 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a program for length of service awards to VFF-EMT participants who provide services to municipalities that operate volunteer fire departments or volunteer fire companies, or authorize emergency medical and technical services, and to first emergency medical responders in any municipality that authorizes first emergency medical responders to provide first emergency medical responder services, and to establish qualifications and requirements for private sector individuals and organizations eligible to provide administrative and investment services for length of service award programs.
Section 3: Adm 95.03 (4s) is created to read:
Adm 95.03 (4s) “Emergency medical responder” has the meaning given in s. 16.25 (1) (am), Stats. Section 4: Adm 95.03 (5) is amended to read:
Adm 95.03 (5) “Emergency medical services” means medical care that is rendered to a sick, disabled, or injured individual based on signs, symptoms, or complaints, prior to the individual's hospitalization or while transporting the individual between health care facilities and that is limited to the use of the knowledge, skills, and techniques received from training required under s. 256.15, Stats., and ch. DHS 110, as a condition for being issued an emergency medical technician services practitioner license.
