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.
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, 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.
Commerce
(Financial Assistance for Businesses and Communities)
(Chs. Comm 105-128)
Rules adopted revising ch. Comm 113 relating to the allocation of volume cap on tax-exempt private activity bonds.
Finding of emergency
The Department of Commerce finds that an emergency exists and that the adoption of a rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of public health, safety and welfare.
Pursuant to s.
560.032, Stats., the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is responsible for administering the allocation of volume cap. The emergency rule is being adopted to incorporate in the administrative code recent changes to the Internal Revenue Code (Section CFR 146) which increases state volume cap limits on tax-exempt private activity bonds. The year 2000 limit was $50 per resident of the state. For the year 2001 the limit has been raised to $62.50; for the year 2002, the limit will be $75.00; and thereafter, the limit will be indexed to inflation. The rule identifies a formula for the allocation of volume cap for the year 2001 and future years. This emergency rule outlines the distribution of the volume cap between the State Building Commission, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, and Commerce. The rules are also being revised to provide an allocation process that will allow Commerce to be more responsive to the needs of businesses as changes occur in the state's economy.
Publication Date:
April 26, 2001
Effective Date:
April 26, 2001
Expiration Date:
September 23, 2001
Hearing Date:
July 16, 2001
Extension Through:
November 21, 2001
Financial Institutions - Corporate and Consumer Services
Rules adopted repealing
ch. SS 3 and creating
chs. DFI-CCS 1 to 6, relating to the Uniform Commercial Code.
Finding of emergency
2001 Act 10 repealed and recreated the Wisconsin Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC"), effective July 1, 2001. The act authorizes the Department of Financial Institutions to promulgate rules to implement the UCC. Without these rules, the department will be unable to operate either a state-wide lien filing system or give effect to the provisions of the UCC before permanent rules can be promulgated. The act is part of an effort by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and all member states to implement a revised model Uniform Commercial Code on July 1, 2001 to facilitate interstate commerce with nation-wide uniformity in lien filings. The rules address general provisions, acceptance and refusal of documents, the information management system, filing and data entry procedures, search requests and reports, and other notices of liens under the UCC.
Publication Date:
July 2, 2001
Effective Date:
July 2, 2001
Expiration Date:
November 29, 2001
Health & Family Services (2)
(Community Services, Chs. HFS 30-)
1. A rule was adopted amending s. HFS 94.20 (3), relating to patients' rights.
Finding of emergency
The Department of Health and Family Services finds that an emergency exists and that the adoption of 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 operates secure mental facilities for the treatment of ch.
980, Stats., sexually violent patients. Departmental investigations have indicated that a portion of the ch.
980 inpatient population has routinely abused their s.
HFS 94.20 telephone rights by making inappropriate calls to members of the public, by fraudulently placing numerous long distance calls that are billed to innocent third-parties or by operating fraudulent schemes. Since the Department has previously had no means of monitoring patient telephone use, the extent of this activity is unknown, but given the experience of investigations triggered by citizen complaints, it is clear that these sorts of activities are not infrequent among this population. In addition, experience with telephone monitoring in other secure institutions indicates that call monitoring can and does help staff detect contraband and other security-related issues and activities. These abuses are clearly contrary to the therapeutic activities conducted at the secure mental health facilities.
Until recently, the Department has been unable to stop these abuses because the Department's facilities lacked secure telephone systems. Previous DHFS efforts to obtain secure telephone systems from the telephone system's vendor used by the Department of Corrections were not successful because the call volume at DHFS's secure mental health facilities were viewed as insufficient to support the telephone system.
In late 2000, the Department of Corrections selected a new vendor for its secure telephone system. In May 2001, the new vendor agreed to also install the system in DHFS's secure mental health facilities. The installation of the system at the facilities will be completed by June 20, 2001. The systems will allow the Department to establish and enforce calling lists for each inpatient and monitor inpatients' calls for counter-therapeutic activity. An inpatient's calling lists is a finite number of telephone numbers associated with persons the inpatient is approved to contact by telephone. Use of calling lists alone, however, is insufficient to discourage and minimize inpatient attempts to subvert the system.
The Department must monitor phone calls made by ch. 980 inpatients to discourage and minimize the occurrence of inpatients calling persons on their calling list who, in turn, subvert the secure system by forwarding the inpatient's call for the prohibited purposes and activities previously described. The Department must be able to monitor the phone calls of ch. 980 inpatients both to protect the public and promote therapeutic activities at the secure mental health facilities.
The Department is issuing these rules on an emergency basis to protect the public's safety by minimizing the recurring fraudulent activity associated with telephone use. These rules also ensure the public's safety and welfare by promoting the effective treatment mission of the secure mental health facilities. The recording capability of the telephone system hardware that has been installed at the Wisconsin Resource Center and the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center cannot be turned off, i.e., when the system is functional, all features of the system are fully operational. If the secure telephone system is not operational, both the Wisconsin Resource Center and the Sand Ridge facility will lose the therapeutic and safety advantages afforded by the system. Since the Sand Ridge facility is accepting its first patients during the week of June 18th, there is not alternative telephone system for patients.
Publication Date:
June 22, 2001
Effective Date:
June 22, 2001
Expiration Date:
November 19, 2001
Hearing Date:
September 12, 2001
2. Rules adopted revising ch. HFS 90, relating to early intervention services for children birth to 3 with developmental needs.
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 health and welfare of children receiving early intervention services under the Wisconsin “Birth to 3 Program." The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:
Counties must, under s.
51.44 (3) and
(4), Stats., and s.
HFS 90.06 (2), provide or contract for the provision of early intervention services for children with developmental needs in the age group from birth to 3. Qualifying children in each county are entitled to receive needed services. While counties may assess parents of children receiving early intervention services a share of those service costs, counties ultimately are responsible for the costs of providing such services. Since counties' cost exposure for Birth to 3 program costs is unlimited, unanticipated increases in a county's costs may result in a county suspending program services due to a lack of funding. Even though such cessations are illegal, one county indeed suspended the provision of needed services within the past year. By the time the Department was able to reinitiate services in the county, enrolled children were deprived of needed services for several months. Given the negative effect such service cessations could have on children with disabilities, the Department needs to immediately alleviate the cost burden on counties by increasing the share of service costs parents must bear. In doing so, the Department will preserve the continuity of early intervention services.
The Department is also proceeding with the promulgation of the body of rules contained in this order as proposed permanent rules that will remain in effect when this emergency order expires. The full basis for the changes made by these orders is explained below:
Section
HFS 90.06 (2) (h) specifies that county administrative agencies must determine the amount of parental liability for the costs of the early intervention services in accordance with ch.
HFS 1. Chapter
HFS 1 contains the Department's cost liability determination and ability to pay standards and guidelines for services purchased or provided by the Department and counties. Section
HFS 90.06 (2) (h) also states that parents may satisfy any liability not met by third party payers if parents pay the amount determined in accordance with the family support payment formula in s.
HFS 65.05 (7).
The Department's ability to pay system currently ties the Birth to 3 program to s.
HFS 65.05 (7) and ch.
HFS 1. Chapter
HFS 90's use of these other Department administrative rules has had several undesirable consequences. First, the methodology in s.
HFS 65.05 (7), while appropriate for families with children having severe disabilities, is inappropriate for the Birth to 3 program because of the variability in applying the methodology and the significantly greater turnover of families in the Birth to 3 program. This turnover of families makes the chapter's complex calculations relatively onerous on counties to administer.
Sections
HFS 90.06 (2) (h) and
90.11 (2) (a) 2. and
4. cross reference and incorporate ch.
HFS 1. Section
HFS 1.01 (4) (d) allows counties to request an exemption from applying the ability to pay system because the county can document that the imposition of a ch.
HFS 1 family cost sharing charge is administratively unfeasible. Twenty-four counties have demonstrated to the Department that their cost of administering the ability to pay system amounts to more than the revenues the counties collect. The relatively high cost of administering the program under the current provisions of ch.
HFS 90 combined with relatively low rates of cost-sharing by families permitted by counties' application of s.
HFS 65.05 (7), has made the program burdensome on some counties.
Second, federal policies governing Birth to 3 programs require participating states to administer a statewide early intervention system and do not allow a county to bill a family's insurance without the family's consent. Chapter
HFS 1, however, requires that a family's insurance benefits be billed; a contradiction of federal law. Third, the current ability of counties to request and obtain exemption from participating in the ability to pay system also is contrary to federal policies requiring states to operate a uniform statewide early intervention system. While federal regulations are currently being revised, none of the regulations circulated by the U.S. Department of Education would have any bearing on the Department of Health and Family Service's promulgation of these administrative rules.
The Department's modifications to ch.
HFS 90 have two results. First, since ch.
HFS 90 no longer cross-references ch.
HFS 1, counties could no longer request exemption from participating in Wisconsin's Birth to 3 program cost share. County participation in administering the Birth to 3 program cost share becomes mandatory. Second, the method of determining parents' share of the costs of needed services is simplified and standardized statewide and is based on the relationship of families' incomes to the federal poverty threshold.
The rules simplify the determination of parental cost share, thereby eliminating the current ability to pay system's inequities for families statewide and reducing counties' administrative costs associated with the program. The Department's use of the federal poverty threshold, as revised annually, is a benchmark against which families' adjusted incomes are compared to determine the parental cost share liabilities. Under this system, the Department projects that the number of families required to share in the early intervention service costs will roughly double. Since each family's cost share will be based on approximately 1% of their income (as adjusted by a standard deduction for each child with a disability in the family) rather than the previous basis of 3% of income minus a standard deduction and disability-related expenses, the cost share of some families may increase. Families with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level will be billed for part of the early intervention services their children receive. Families with adjusted incomes below 200% of the federal poverty threshold will be exempt from cost sharing. The Department projects that about 2,000 families will be exempt from cost sharing under the proposed formula and about 3,100 families will have a liability for a cost share.
Under the simplified payment system the Department is setting forth, the Department expects counties' costs to administer the payment system to decline as the number of forms and required calculations should be significantly reduced. The Department projects that the rule changes will increase the revenues generated by counties, in total, due to the fact that more families will have a parental cost share and more counties will be participating in the parental cost share system. However, individual counties having relatively lower per capita incomes may not experience significant revenue increases.
Publication Date:
September 26, 2001
Effective Date:
October 1, 2001
Expiration Date:
February 28, 2002
Health & Family Services
Rules adopted revising ch. HFS 119
, relating to the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP).
Exemption from finding of emergency
Section
149.143 (4), Stats., permits the Department to promulgate rules required under s.
149.143 (2) and
(3), Stats., by using emergency rulemaking procedures, except that the Department is specifically exempted from the requirement under s.
227.24 (1) and
(3), Stats., that it make a finding of emergency. These are the emergency rules. Department staff consulted with the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) Board of Governors on April 25, 2001 on the rules, as required by s.
149.20, Stats.
