Register

The rule prescribes the standards for filing officers to determine whether nomination papers comply with the requirements of ch. 8, Stats., and provides guidance to candidates and other circulators to enable them to so comply. The old rule was no longer consistent with board policy and practice or with the legislature having changed the circulator's affidavit to a circulator's certificate. Nomination papers now are required to be numbered. Also, nomination paper errors that can be corrected must be corrected within three days of the filing of the nomination paper being corrected. Challenge complainants are now required to deliver a copy of their challenge complaint within 24 hours of their challenge and both challenge complainants and respondents are given three calendar days, not business days, in which to file their pleadings.

Pursuant to the authority vested in the State of Wisconsin Elections Board by ss. 5.05 (1) (f) and 227. (11) (2) (a), Stats., the Elections Board hereby amends ss. ElBd 2.05 (2) and 2.07 (2) (a) and (b) and creates s. ElBd 2.05 (16) (f), interpreting ss. 8.02, 8.04, 8.05 (3) and (4), 8.07, 8.10, 8.11, 8.15, 8.20, 8.30, 8.50 (3) (a) and 9.10, Stats., as follows:

SECTION 1. ElBd 2.05 (2), (14) and (16) (b) are amended to read:

ELBD 2.05 Treatment and sufficiency of nomination papers

(2) In order to be timely filed, all nomination papers shall be in the physical possession of the filing officer by the statutory deadline. Each of the nomination papers shall be numbered, before they are filed, and the numbers shall be assigned sequentially, beginning with the number "1".

(14) No signature on a nomination paper shall be counted unless the elector who circulated the nomination paper completes and signs the affidavit certificate of circulator under oath and does so after, not before, the paper is circulated. No signature may be counted when the residency of the circulator cannot be determined by the information given on the nomination paper.

(16) (b) The signature is dated after the date of notarization certification contained in the affidavit certificate of circulator.

SECTION 2. ElBd 2.05 (16) (f) is created to read:

(f) Notwithstanding any other rule, nomination paper errors in information, supplied by either a signer or a circulator, may be corrected by an affidavit of the circulator, an affidavit of the candidate, or an affidavit of a person who signed the nomination paper. The person giving the correcting affidavit must have personal knowledge of the correct information and the correcting affidavit must be filed with the filing officer not later than three days after the due date for the nomination papers being corrected.

SECTION 3. ElBd 2.05 (15) is repealed and the following subsections are re-numbered:

ElBd 2.05 (16) is re-numbered ElBd 2.05 (15)

ElBd 2.05 (17) is re-numbered ElBd 2.05 (16)

ElBd 2.05 (18) is re-numbered ElBd 2.05 (17)

SECTION 4. ElBd 2.07 (2) (a) and (2) (b) are amended to read:

ElBd 2.07 Challenges to nomination papers. (2) (a) Any challenge to the sufficiency of a nomination paper shall be made by verified complaint, filed with the appropriate filing officer. A copy of the complaint shall be delivered to the respondent within 24 hours of the complaint being filed with the filing officer. The form of the complaint, and its filing and its service shall comply with the requirements of ch. ElBd 10. Any challenge to the sufficiency of a nomination paper shall be filed within 3 business calendar days after the filing deadline for the challenged nomination papers. The challenge shall be established by affidavit, or other supporting evidence, demonstrating a failure to comply with statutory or other legal requirements.

(2) (b) The response to a challenge to nomination papers shall be filed, by the candidate challenged within 3 business calendar days of the filing of the challenge and shall be verified.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis:

The creation of this rule does not affect business.

Fiscal Estimate:

The creation of this rule has no fiscal effect.

Contact Person:

George A. Dunst

Legal Counsel, State Elections Board

132 E. Wilson Street, P.O. Box 2973

Madison, Wisconsin 53701-2973

Phone [phone]

Notice of Hearing

Health & Family Services

(Community Services, Chs. HFS 30-)

[CR 99-71]

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, pursuant to s. 48.57 (3m) (ar), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the creation of ch. HFS 58, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to standards for the operation of the Kinship Care Program.

Hearing Information

The public hearing will be held:

November 29, 2000

Room B139

Wednesday State Office Building

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

1 W. Wilson Street

Madison, WI

The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities.

Parking for people with disabilities attending the Madison hearing is available in the parking lot behind the building, in the Monona Terrace Convention Center Parking Ramp and in the Doty Street Parking Ramp. People with disabilities may enter the building directly from the parking lot at the west end of the building or from Wilson Street through the side entrance at the east end of the building.

Analysis prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services

Kinship care is care and maintenance of a child who resides outside of the child's own home, either temporarily or for the long term, with a relative who could be an adult brother or sister, a first cousin, a nephew or niece, an uncle or aunt or a grandparent, among others.

A recent session law, 1995 Wisconsin Act 289, created ss. 48.57 (3m), (3p) and (3t), Stats., which authorize a county or tribal child welfare agency to make a monthly payment of $215, called a kinship care benefit, to an approved relative to help the relative provide care and maintenance for the child. These payments started on January 1, 1997 and by January 1, 1998 had replaced income maintenance payments under s. 49.33, Stats., for care provided by non-legally responsible relatives. The kinship care statutes were amended in October 1997, effective January 1, 1998, by 1997 Wisconsin Act 27 to make the Department responsible for administration of the kinship care program in Milwaukee County. The statutes were amended again in April 1998 by 1997 Wisconsin Act 105 to add sub. (3n), relating to long-term kinship care, and in June 1998 by 1997 Wisconsin Act 237 to direct the Department to promulgate rules which set forth criteria for determining the eligibility of a kinship care relative to receive the monthly kinship care payment.

These are the Department's rules for the kinship care program. The rules cover conditions for applying for a benefit; how to apply for a benefit; agency review of applications; requesting an exemption for good cause from the requirement to cooperate with the agency in securing payment of child support; eligibility criteria, under the headings of need of the child for the kinship care living arrangement, best interests of the child and jurisdictional considerations; the use of waiting lists; reassessment at least annually of a kinship care relative's eligibility; and appeal rights of an applicant who has been denied a kinship care benefit or of a kinship care relative whose benefit has been discontinued following a reassessment.

Hearings on this proposed rulemaking order were previously held by the Department on June 14, 15 and 21 in 1999. Following those hearings, the Department made changes to the proposed rulemaking order unrelated to either comments it received from the Legislative Council Rules Clearinghouse or the public. Consequently, the Department is holding an additional hearing on the proposed rules before proceeding with the rule's promulgation.

Contact Person

To find out more about the hearings or to request a copy of the proposed rules, write or phone:

Mark S. Mitchell

Bureau of Programs and Policies

P.O. Box 8916

Madison, WI 53708-8916

[phone] or,

if you are hearing impaired,

[phone]

If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have circumstances which might make communication at a hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require an interpreter or a non-English, large print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number shown above. Persons requesting a non-English or sign language interpreter should contact the person at the address or phone number given above at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.

Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address no later than November 30, 2000 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.

Fiscal Estimate

County departments of social services or human services and tribal child welfare agencies have been authorized since July 1996 under s. 48.57 (3m), (3p) and (3t), Stats., to make a monthly payment of $215, called a kinship care benefit, to an approved non-parent relative of a child to help the relative provide care and maintenance for the child. The statutes were amended in April 1998 to make the Department responsible for administration of the program in Milwaukee County. The statutes were amended again in June 1998 to direct the Department to promulgate rules which set forth criteria for determining the eligibility of a relative to receive the monthly payment.

The program is administered by counties and tribes, and by the Department in Milwaukee County, any of which may contract with a public or private agency to administer all or part of the program.

These are the rules. They will not affect the expenditures or revenues of state government or local governments. The total costs of the monthly payments and the costs of program administration were taken into consideration by the Legislature when the program was authorized. The state pays the costs of the monthly payments, reimbursing counties, tribes and the Department under a sum certain appropriation. The costs of program administration are also borne by state government.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

These rules will not directly affect small businesses as “small business" is defined in s. 227.114 (1) (a), Stats. The rules apply to the persons applying for kinship care benefits, to relatives who are receiving those benefits on behalf of children residing with them, to county departments and tribal child welfare agencies administering the kinship care program, to the department as it administers the kinship care program in Milwaukee County and to other agencies under contract with the department, a county department or a tribal child welfare agency for the purpose of administering the kinship care program.

Notice of Hearings

Health and Family Services

(Health, Chs. 110-)

[CR 00-151]

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss. 50.49 (2) and 227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Health and Family Services will hold a public hearing to consider the proposed amendment of ss. HFS 133.06 (4) (d) 1., 133.10 (1) and 133.20 (4); repeal and recreation of s. HFS 133.02 (6g), 133.03 (3) (h) (Note), 133.03 (4) (b), 133.09 (3); and creation of ss. HFS 133.02 (6m), 133.02 (8g), 133.02 (8g) (Note), 133.03 (4) (d), and 133.14 (6), relating to home health licensure.

Hearing Information

The public hearings will be held:

Date & Time	Location
November 28, 2000 Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.	Room 45 819 N. 6th Street Milwaukee, WI
November 29, 2000 Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.	Room 950A 1 W. Wilson Street Madison, WI
November 30, 2000 Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.	Falls Room Park Inn Hotel 2001 North Mountain Road Wausau, WI

The hearing sites are fully accessible to people with disabilities.

Analysis prepared by the Dept. of Health and Family Services

The Department's rules for licensing home health agencies are in ch. HFS 133, Wis. Adm. Code. The rules were originally issued in June 1984 and were substantially revised in November 1985. Through this rulemaking order, the Department is proposing to change the basis for calculating license fees, incorporate policies already in place due to statewide variances and bureau memos, and define procedures for discharge and rights of patients upon discharge and update license requirements.

Specifically, the home health agency licensing rules are being revised to:

1. Change the basis for the Department's program funding from annual net income to patient fee revenue in accordance with 1999 Wis. Act 9 amending s. 50.49 (2) (b). The change is expected to increase license fees for some home health agencies, decrease license fees for other agencies, and, combined, generate additional program program revenue for the Department to be used in regulating home health agencies.

2. Incorporate existing policy interpretations from bureau memos and statewide variances into the rule. The memos include BQC-94-046, BQC-94-071 and DSL-BQA-99-028.

3. Create and define the home health agency's role and consumer's rights related to discharge.

4. Update the rule with a license requirement that specifies the home health agency's need to serve a minimum number of skilled care patients in order to be eligible for initial Medicare certification.

Contact Person

To find out more about the hearing or to request a copy of the proposed rules, write, phone or e-mail:

Julie Hagen
Bureau of Quality Assurance
P.O. Box 2969
Madison, WI 53701-2969
[phone] or,
if you are hearing impaired, [phone] (TTY)
[e-mail]

If you are hearing or visually impaired, do not speak English, or have circumstances that might make communication at a hearing difficult and if you, therefore, require an interpreter or a non-English, large print or taped version of the hearing document, contact the person at the address or phone number given above at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.

Written comments received by mail or e-mail at an above address no later than 5:00pm, December 8, 2000, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at a hearing.

Fiscal Estimate

The amendments to ch. HFS 133 will affect the revenue of state government. The proposed change for determining license fees will maintain fees within the current $500 to $2,500 range, but the proposed method for calculating the license fee is a more equitable way to distribute the cost of supporting the regulatory activities of the Department. Based on 1998 data, the proposed rules would have the effect of increasing the licensure fee for 54 home health agencies to $2,500. Conversely, the proposed rules would decrease the license fees of 12 home health agencies. The proposed method for calculating the license fee will make the license fee commensurate with the home health agency's revenues.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

The revision of ch. HFS 133 will affect home health agencies. Based on 1998 reporting of gross revenue, 156 of 172 home health agencies met the definition of small business under s. 227.114 (1) (a), Stats.

The proposed revisions to ch. HFS 133 clarify the home health agency responsibilities regarding patient discharge. Specifically, a home health agency will be required to give written notice to patients or their legal representatives prior to or at the time of discharge, have a nursing professional create a summary for every patient discharge and provide that summary to the former patient and physician, if requested. These new documentation requirements are being proposed for the purpose of patient safety and reflect desirable medical practice. Therefore, the Department has not proposed specific exemptions from these requirements for agencies that are small businesses.

The Department is also proposing rule revisions regarding license fees. The proposed changes to the way the annual license fee is calculated will not require a home health agency to adopt any new reporting or bookkeeping procedures. Although many home health agencies generated less than $2.5 million defined in s. 227.114, Stats., in 1999, 71 of 172 home health agencies reported gross patient revenues of $1 million dollars or more. Many of these agencies paid the same minimum $500 license fee as agencies with significantly less gross patient revenue. Home health agencies that are “small businesses," as defined in s. 227.114, Stats., cannot be exempted from these fees without jeopardizing the Department's revenue it uses to inspect and otherwise regulate home health agencies. For this reason and the fact that an agency's size as measured by its annual revenue was already considered when setting the fee range, the Department is not proposing exemptions or alternatives for home health agencies to the proposed license fee calculation.