Peter R. Jahn, Case Coordinator
Telephone (608) 267-2338
Transportation
Subject:
Chs. Trans 101, 102 and 104 - Relating to the implementation of a graduated driver license system which restricts the operating privileges of drivers under 18 years of age in a variety of fashions.
Description of policy issues:
Description of the objective of the rule:
The purpose of this rule-making is to amend existing administrative rules in order to implement the statutory requirements of 1999 Wis. Act 9. These changes relate primarily to implementation of a graduated driver license system which restricts the operating privileges of drivers under 18 years of age in a variety of fashions.
Description of existing policies relevant to the rule and of new policies proposed to be included in the rule and an analysis of policy alternatives:
1. Demerit Point System
1999 Wis. Act 9, section 2749gg, creates s. 343.32 (2) (bc), Stats., which requires the Secretary to assess twice the demerit points to drivers who hold (or would hold if they were licensed) a probationary license. The statute prohibits doubling of points for offenses under Ch. 347, Stats., such as defective speedometer, brakes or lights. Section 343.32 (2) (c) 2., as created by 1999 Wis. Act 9, provides for a six month driver license suspension for any probationary driver, regardless of age, who accumulates more than 12 demerit points in a one year period. This rule making will determine:
• Whether to continue to assess points for Ch. 347, Stats., violations to any drivers;
• Whether points should be doubled based on the date of violation, date of conviction, or date a violation is processed by DMV;
• Whether to impose suspension periods for probationary drivers of more than six months if the drivers accumulate 24 or 30 demerit points, as is done with regular license holders.
If the Department continues to assess points for Ch. 347, Stats., violations, the point system will become very complicated. Under current law, 2, 3, 4 or 6 points are assigned per violation. If those points add up to more than 12 in any 1 year period, licensing action is taken. The type of action varies depending on the total number of points accumulated.
Under GDL, points for offenses would be automatically doubled for second and subsequent offenses, so that 2, 3, 4 and 6 point violations would become 4, 6, 8 and 12 point violations for persons holding probationary licenses that are issued after September 1, 2000. If Ch. 347, Stats., violations continue to be violations for which demerit points are assessed, the Department will need to devote considerable resources to sorting out Ch. 347, Stats., violations from other violations for point assessment purposes. It will also be considerably more confusing for probationary drivers to determine the demerit points that will be assessed from a violation. Similarly, courts and law enforcement would struggle with trying to determine points attributable to a violation. Finally, such a system would be impossible to use with the current automated citation system in use by many law enforcement agencies across the state because it is impossible to determine the number of points a driver will be assessed upon conviction without first accessing the driver's driving record.
If Ch. 347, Stats., violations are not assessed demerit points, there will be an increased incentive for drivers to “plead down” offenses such as speeding to charges such as “defective speedometer” for which no demerit points are assessed.
If doubling is used for violations committed on or after a certain date, DMV will need to check the violation date for each offense committed by a probationary driver to determine whether to double the points assessed. If doubling is based on conviction date, drivers may be “penalized” by the doubling of demerit points because they exercised their constitutional right to challenge the correctness of a citation in court and delayed reporting of the conviction to DMV until after September 1, 2000. Basing point assessment on the date a violation is processed by the Department would be the most efficient means of implementing the law for the Department, but could result in different license sanctions applying to drivers based solely upon workloads in the judicial and DMV bureaucracies rather than their individual actions.
Section 2749gr of 1999 Wis. Act 9 creates s. 343.32 (2) (c) 2., Stats., which requires DOT to suspend the license of any probationary license holder who accumulates 12 demerit points in a year. Current ch. Trans 101 provides that all drivers are subject to a 2 month suspension if they accumulate 12 to 16 demerit points, a 4 month suspension if they accumulate 17 to 22 points, a 6 month suspension if they accumulate 23 to 30 points, and a 1 year suspension if they accumulate more than 30 demerit points in a year. This rule-making will consider whether to impose 1 year suspensions on probationary drivers who exceed 30 demerit points in a one year period in the same manner as regular license holders.
Not imposing one year suspensions on probationary drivers who accumulate more than 30 demerit points in a year would result in probationary drivers being treated more favorably than regular drivers under the point system.
2. Effective Dates of Driver License Suspensions and Revocations.
1999 Wis. Act 9 repealed s. 351.025 (2) (b), Stats., and amended s. 351.025 (2) (a), Stats., to make all Habitual Traffic Offender revocations effective on the date the revocation order was mailed by the Department. This rule-making will amend ch. Trans 103 to conform to this new statutory requirement and consider amending ch. Trans 101 to adopt a similar rule for point suspensions. Having inconsistent effective date provisions for different suspension or revocation programs promotes confusion among law enforcement, DOT processors, courts, prosecutors, the defense bar and the general public.
Section 2734qd of 1997 Wis. Act 9 creates s. 343.06 (1) (cm), Stats., which requires most probationary drivers to accumulate 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training prior to licensing in this state. It requires the Department to adopt rules to waive the 30 hours of behind-the-wheel driving experience requirement for qualified applicants who are licensed by another jurisdiction. This rule-making will establish criteria under which the 30 hour requirement may be waived. Some alternatives are to decline waivers to persons based on their conviction history, on the length of time they've held a license, if they've failed to meet certain documented training requirements, or if they do not have 30 hours of actual behind-the-wheel driving experience. Each of these alternatives provides some insight as to the driver's capabilities, but each will result in a certain degree of regulatory burden.
Section 2734rh of 1999 Wis. Act 9 creates s. 343.085 (1) (b), Stats., which prohibits DOT from issuing a license to a driver who has not held an instruction permit at least six months. It permits DOT to adopt a rule by which this requirement can be waived for a qualified applicant licensed by another jurisdiction. This rule-making will establish criteria under which the 6 month instruction permit requirement can be waived. Two alternatives for these out-of-state drivers are to waive the requirement if they've held any type of out-of-state license for at least 6 months, or to test the drivers to measure their competence. Testing such drivers would require significant additional staff time to complete, and no additional positions or funding for this program was included as part of 1999 Wis. Act 9, making funding of a new testing program problematic.
Newly-created s. 343.085 (1) (b), Stats., also requires the Department to establish by rule a list of moving violations that would (1) disqualify a driver from obtaining a probationary driver license or (2) extend the 9 month probationary restriction period. This rule-making would establish those lists of offenses as well.
3. Administrative Amendments
The Department proposes to make some changes to existing administrative rules not related to Graduated Driver Licensing, for efficiency of operation purposes. In particular, the Department proposes to:
• Allow persons who have a license, issued by Wisconsin or another jurisdiction, that is not expired by more than 8 years to apply for and be issued a Wisconsin driver's license without being retested unless there is a medical or physical reason for testing.
• Revise s. Trans 104.06 (5) (b) to not require a full skills test when a person fails an abbreviated skills test to remove a non air-brake restriction unless the examiner determines the driver demonstrated a lack of driving skills to operate a CMV.
• Revise s. Trans 104.10 (1) (d) to not require a full skills test when a person fails an abbreviated skills test to renew their school bus endorsement unless the examiner determines the driver demonstrated a lack of driving skills to operate a CMV.
• Establish waiting periods between knowledge examinations for persons who repeatedly fail knowledge exams.
These changes will improve efficiency by making the “retest” period consistent with the length of time a license is valid, and by eliminating the need to conduct full CDL skills examinations of drivers who have failed limited exams designed to test particular skills that are tested in separate examinations.
The alternative to changing the “retest period” would be to leave the current 4 year period in effect. The Department's experience is that people whose driver licenses are expired by 8 years or less seldom fail skills tests, and it is therefore safe and reasonable to exclude these drivers from retest requirements. The alternative to dropping the full CDL skills test requirements of ss. Trans 104.06 (5) (b) and 104.10 (1) (d), would be to leave the requirement in effect. It is the Department's experience that drivers who fail the ss. Trans 104.06 (5) (b) and 104.10 (1) (d) special skills test routinely and easily pass the full skills test and that such testing is unnecessary.
Waiting periods between knowledge exams are being considered to discourage people from repeatedly taking knowledge exams, day after day, without apparently studying or preparing. The Department has seen an increase in such exams recently, and requiring a waiting period between tests will help contain cost and encourage study.
4. Copying of Driver Licenses
1999 Wis. Act 9 amended s. 343.43 (1) (f), Stats., to permit the Department to establish by rule when driver licenses may be copied. This rule-making will establish guidelines for when parties may copy driver licenses. This rule making will not establish guidelines for copying Wisconsin ID cards, as the statutory prohibition in s. 343.50 (12) (e), Stats., was not affected by 1999 Wis. Act 9.
The Department proposes to permit any person, including businesses or government entities, to copy a driver license for the purpose of identifying a customer, provided the person does not develop or maintain a library or catalog of driver licenses or sell or transfer the information derived from the driver license to any third party. The Department could specify specific types of persons, businesses or government entities that could copy licenses, but such a list would require great amounts of time to maintain and update, would be of doubtful benefit, and would be nearly impossible to enforce. The courts have held that the intent of s. 343.43 (1), Stats., is to prevent persons from creating fake driver licenses for the purpose of driving. Permitting any business to copy licenses while not maintaining a library of them will not undermine this legislative intent.
5. Certification of Driving Time
Section 343.06 (1) (cm), Stats., as created by 1999 Wis. Act 9, calls for minor drivers to accumulate more than 30 hours of behind-the-wheel driving prior to being licensed. It does not specify how the Department is to determine the number of hours of behind-the-wheel training a driver has received.
The Department proposes to require by rule that an adult sponsor or parent certify that the minor driver has met this experience requirement. Exceptions allowing minors who lack adult sponsors to self-certify may be adopted.
While the statute itself does not require any certification, the Department believes certification is the only practical mechanism available to administer this statutory requirement. Some other states that have enacted graduated driver license systems that require elaborate logs of driving time be maintained by minor drivers accumulating required experience. This alternative is not being adopted in Wisconsin because it creates a regulatory burden and expense for the state to administer without any benefit. Persons who are willing to falsely certify their compliance would be equally willing to falsely complete a log book. In addition, collecting and reviewing log books would require significant additional staff time, and no positions in the civil service to perform such work were created as part of 1999 Wis. Act 9.
6. Other Rule Amendments
Finally, the Department intends to promulgate any other rules or rule amendments made necessary by the enactment of 1999 Wis. Act 9 which become evident in the course of drafting these rules.
Statutory authority for the rule:
Section 343.32 (2) (bc) as created by s. 2749gg 1999 Wis. Act 9.
Section 343.32 (2) (c) 2. as created by s. 2749gr of 1999 Wis. Act 9.
Section 343.085 (1) (b) as created by s. 2734rh of 1999 Wis. Act 9.
Section 343.06 (1) (cm) as created by s. 2734qd of 1999 Wis. Act 9.
Section 351.02 (1) (f), Stats.
Section 343.02 (1), Stats.
Section 85.16, Stats.
Section 9150 (5g), 1999 Wis. Act 9.
Estimates of the amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
1300 hours.
Submittal of Rules to Legislative Council Clearinghouse
Notice of Submittal of Proposed Rules to
Wisconsin Legislative Council Rules Clearinghouse
Please check the Bulletin of Proceedings for further information on a particular rule.
Health and Family Services
Rule Submittal Date
On November 30, 1999, the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services submitted to the Wisconsin Legislative Council Rules Clearinghouse a proposed rule affecting ch. HFS 50, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to adoption assistance.
Analysis
Statutory authority: ss. 48.975 (5) and 227.11 (2) (a), Stats.
These are replacement permanent rules for emergency rules published on November 16, 1999 for the adoption assistance program under s. 48.975, Stats. The revised rules implement significant changes made to that statute by 1997 Wis. Act 308.
Among changes made in the rules in response to directives included by 1997 Wis. Act 308 in the program statute are addition of definitions for “extenuating circumstances", “a child with special needs" and a “substantial change in circumstances." These terms are used in connection with changes made in the program statute to permit “in extenuating circumstances" an initial adoption assistance agreement to be made after an adoption, and to permit after an adoption that an adoption assistance agreement be amended because of “a substantial change in circumstances".
Forms
SS. HFS 50.044 (2) (e) and 50.045 (2) (e) REQUEST FOR ADOPTION ASSISTANCE AMENDMENT (CFS-2092).
Agency Procedure for Promulgation
Public hearings under ss. 227.16, 227.17 and 227.18, Stats.; approval of rules in final draft form by DHFS Secretary; and legislative standing committee review under s. 227.19, Stats.
Contact Information
If you have questions regarding this rule, you may contact:
Christopher Marceil
Division of Children and Family Services
Telephone (608) 266-3595
Revenue
Rule Submittal Date
Notice is hereby given, pursuant to s. 227.14 (4m), Stats., that on December 1, 1999, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue submitted a proposed rule to the Wisconsin Legislative Council Rules Clearinghouse.
Analysis
The proposed rule creates s. Tax 11.20, relating to sales and use tax exemptions for waste treatment and recycling activities.
