The rules contained in this order shall take effect on the first day of the month following publication in the Wisconsin administrative register as provided in s.
227.22 (2) (intro.), Stats.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
This proposed rule order does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses.
Fiscal Impact
The proposed rule will not have a significant fiscal effect.
Notice of Hearing
Transportation
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to 110.07, 110.075, 194.38, 194.43 and 227.11, Stats., and interpreting ss.
110.07 and
110.075, and ch.
194, Stats., the Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing in
Room 551 of the Hill Farms State Transportation Building, 4802 Sheboygan Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin on the
26th day of May, 2006, at
10:00 AM to consider the amendment of ch.
Trans 327, Wisconsin Administrative Code, relating to motor carrier safety.
An interpreter for the hearing impaired will be available on request for this hearing. Please make reservations for a hearing interpreter at least 10 days prior to the hearing.
Parking for persons with disabilities and an accessible entrance are available.
Analysis Prepared by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Explanation of agency authority: The secretary shall set standards and adopt rules to establish a plan of inspection to implement the inspection program. It shall be the duty of the Department to prescribe rules and regulations as to safety and operations and the hours of service of drivers of motor vehicles operated under the authority of this chapter.
Related statute or rule: ss.
110.07, Stats.
Plain language analysis: This rule making will amend ch.
Trans 327, relating to intrastate motor carrier safety regulations, to bring it into compliance with the most recent changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations which went into effect on April 1, 2006. Amendment of this rule will assure State Patrol inspectors and troopers are enforcing the most recent Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations for intrastate carriers. The update of this rule will also keep the Department in compliance to qualify for continued Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) funding.
Summary of, and preliminary comparison with, existing or proposed federal regulation: Trans 327 (Motor Carrier Safety) adopts Federal regulations
49 CFR parts 390 to
397, with exceptions.
Comparison with Rules in Adjacent States: All adjacent states (Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa) adopt the same Federal regulations.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies used and how the related findings support the regulatory approach chosen: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did extensive research into the most recent changes to the rules regulating commercial motor carriers and commercial drivers. Its research, coupled with input from the motor carrier industry, resulted in the recently revised regulations for interstate and intrastate commerce effective April 1, 2006.
Analysis and supporting documentation used to determine effect on small businesses: The research provided by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was used in analyzing the effects on small business.
Effect on small business: All businesses will have the same effect. There is no differentiation between small business and large 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 and anticipated costs incurred by private sector: The Department estimates that there will be no fiscal impact on the liabilities or revenues of any county, city, village, town, school district, vocational, technical and adult education district or sewerage district. The Department estimates that there will be no fiscal impact on state revenues or liabilities or on the private sector.
Agency contact person and place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission: The public record on this proposed rule making will be held open until close of business the day of the hearing, 2006, to permit the submission of comments in lieu of public hearing testimony or comments supplementing testimony offered at the hearing. Any such comments should be submitted to Capt. Chuck Teasdale, Department of Transportation, Division of State Patrol, Room 551, P. O. Box 7936, Madison, WI 53707-7936. You may also contact Capt. Teasdale by phone at (608) 266-0305.
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
(Workforce Solutions)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to Sections
49.138,
49.143 (2) (c),
49.147 (6) (c),
49.155 (5),
103.005 (17), and
227.11 (2), Stats., the Department of Workforce Development proposes to hold a public hearing to consider rules relating to Wisconsin Works, emergency assistance, and child care, and affecting small businesses.
Hearing Information
May 31, 2006
Wednesday
1:30 p.m.
MADISON
G.E.F. 1 Building,
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
Statutory authority: This rule making amends ch.
Trans 152, relating to Wisconsin Interstate Fuel Tax and International Registration Plan programs. The rule making clarifies Department policies regarding application requirements, business location, collections, and overdue billings. The rule making also reflects a statutory change in
1999 Wis. Act 145 that transfers appeals of certain determinations of the Department of Transportation from the Division of Hearings and Appeals to the Tax Appeals Commission.
Explanation of agency authority. Section
49.147 (6) (c), Stats., provides that a W-2 agency shall administer job access loans in accordance with rules promulgated by the department. Section
49.143 (2) (c), Stats., provides that each W-2 agency must employ at least one financial and employment planner (FEP), and the FEP must meet certification and training requirements established by the department by rule. Section
103.005 (17), Stats., provides that the department shall administer those programs of public assistance that specified in subch.
III of ch. 49, Stats., including Emergency Assistance, W-2, and child care. Sections
103.005 (1) and
227.11 (2), Stats., provide general authority to promulgate rules necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statutes administered by the department.
Summary of the proposed rules.
W-2 job access loans. Section
49.147 (6), Stats., provides that an individual who meets other Wisconsin Works (W-2) eligibility requirements may receive a job access loan needed to obtain or continue employment and address an immediate and discrete financial crisis. Section
DWD 12.17 (2) provides that the amount of the loan to an individual may not be less than $25 and not more than $1600 in any 12-month period. The W-2 agency must also ensure that the average of all amounts loaned in any 12-month period does not exceed $800. The proposed rules will eliminate the requirement that the average of all job access loans issued by a W-2 agency in a 12-month period not exceed $800. The Legislative Audit Bureau report on the W-2 program issued in April 2005 stated that W-2 agencies report it is time-consuming to calculate ongoing job access loan amounts to comply with this requirement.
Emergency assistance. Section
49.138, Stats., provides for a program of emergency assistance to families with needy children in cases of fire, flood, natural disaster, homelessness, impending homelessness, and energy crisis. Prior to
2005 Wisconsin Act 25, a family could receive emergency assistance once in a 12-month period in cases of need due to fire, flood, natural disaster, energy crisis, or, if a member of the family was a victim of domestic abuse, in cases of need due to homelessness or impending homelessness. A family could receive once in a 36-month period for need due to homelessness or impending homelessness in all other cases.
2005 Wisconsin Act 25 amended s.
49.138, Stats., to provide that a family may be eligible for emergency assistance once in a 12-month period in all cases. The proposed rules amend Chapter
DWD 16, relating to emergency assistance, to reflect this statutory change. The proposed rules also provide that an agency shall consider an application complete if the application includes a legible name; address, if available; signature by the applicant or the applicant's representative and has been completed to the best of the applicant's or representative's ability.
W-2 worker training rules. The W-2 worker training rules in Chapter
DWD 17 currently provide various training requirements for W-2 agency financial and employment planners (FEPs) and resource specialists. The proposed rules clarify that case managers who perform any FEP function are required to complete the FEP training, regardless of what job title they may hold in the local W-2 agency. This includes case managers who specialize in employment attachment and retention, assist W-2 participants with special needs, or assist W-2 participants with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) application process.
The proposed rules also clarify that W-2 agencies that subcontract out a portion of their obligations under the W-2 agency contracts with the department are responsible for ensuring that the subcontractors comply with the department's training requirements. The W-2 agencies are also responsible for including subcontractors in the monthly report submitted to the department on training needs for new workers and the annual report submitted to the department on training completed by all workers.
The proposed rules create a new training requirement for workers who supervise W-2 FEPs or resource specialists. Supervisors who are employed on or after the effective date of the rules will be required to complete the department's new worker training for the job function of the workers that the supervisor is supervising during the first 6 months of employment, unless the supervisor worked in that job function within one year prior to the date of hire as a supervisor. Supervisors will also have ongoing training requirements.
In addition, a permanent employee of the W-2 agency who transfers into a FEP position or resource specialist position and who has not completed the initial training for that position within the previous year will be required to complete the new worker training.
The proposed rules also add civil rights compliance, cultural awareness, and diversity issues; compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); and collaboration and coordination with local child welfare agencies as topics that will be included in the worker training curriculum.
Child care copayment responsibility for subsidized guardians. Section
48.62 (5), Stats., as affected by
2005 Wisconsin Act 25, creates a new program of subsidized guardianship. This program allows guardians who were licensed as the child's foster parents to receive payments in the same amount that they received as foster parents if, among other things, the child has been placed outside of his or her home for a cumulative period of one year or longer, and, despite reasonable efforts to return the child to his or her home, reunification of the child with the child's parent or parents is unlikely or contrary to the best interests of the child. The program also allows for monthly subsidized guardianship payments to an interim caretaker on the death, incapacity, resignation, or removal of a guardian receiving payments.
Section
49.155 (1m) (c) 1g., as affected by
2005 Wisconsin Act 25, provides that when an agency determines financial eligibility for a child care subsidy for a subsidized guardian or interim caretaker of the child, the agency must use the same procedure as is used for determining financial eligibility for a foster parent of a child. The department proposes to also treat subsidized guardians and interim caretakers the same as foster parents in determining the child care copayment amount. Section
DWD 56.08 (2) (b) provides that foster parents do not have a copayment responsibility for the foster children in their care. The proposed rules will also provide no copayment responsibility for subsidized guardians and interim caretakers.
Technical corrections in child care rules. The current Chapter
DWD 55, relating to day care certification, contains a section on conditions for child care reimbursement that does not relate to certification and more properly belongs in Chapter
DWD 56, relating to the administration of child care funds. Much of the information currently in this section, s. DWD 55.03, is a duplicate of information already in Chapter DWD 56 and is repealed in the proposed rules. Information that is not duplicated is renumbered so that it is properly in Chapter DWD 56.
The proposed rules include the current child care copayment schedule that was adjusted effective February 26, 2006, based on changes in the federal poverty level. Section
DWD 56.08 (3) allows the department to adjust the amounts in the schedule for various listed factors and to publish adjustments to the schedule in the
Wisconsin Administrative Register.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies. The change to the rule on W-2 job access loans is in response to a recommendation by the Legislative Audit Bureau. The changes to the Emergency Assistance rules are primarily statutory updates to reflect changes in
2005 Wisconsin Act 25, and the zero child care copayment responsibility for subsidized guardians is a logical extension of
2005 Wisconsin Act 25. The W-2 training rules are amended to reflect demonstrated needs. Other changes are technical corrections.
Comparison with federal law. There are no federal requirements on the changes in the proposed rules.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states. Iowa. There may be maximum emergency assistance payments of a total of $500 for a 30-day authorization period. These payments may be used for a single need or several needs. One authorization period is allowed per 12-month period. Illinois. Under the subsidized guardian program, payment may be made for day care for children under 3 years of age if the guardian is employed or in a training program that will lead to employment. Michigan. An application for state emergency relief is considered complete when the application form prescribed by the department has been filled out, the application has been signed by the applicant or by the applicant's authorized representative, the application has been received by the department, the applicant has provided information necessary for completion of eligibility forms and the completed form includes signatures of all adult members of the relief group. Minnesota. The department did not find rules on any of the changes in the department's proposed rules.
Effect on small businesses and fiscal impact on governmental bodies. The proposed rules will affect public and private W-2 agencies and contractors of W-2 agencies.
The change in the job access loan procedure may reduce administrative expenses for W-2 agencies.
Training requirements for W-2 workers provide tools for efficient, effective service delivery. Worker training may also increase a W-2 agency's customer satisfaction level, which would increase the agency's score on the W-2 performance standards and make it more likely that the agency will be able to renew the W-2 contract with the right of first selection.
The department does not charge agencies a fee for providing training. The only expense that the agencies incur is the worker's time away from normal duties and possible travel expenses. The department does on-site training for agencies that have at least a medium-sized group.
Agency contact person and place where comments are to be submitted. The proposed rules are available at the web site
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. This site allows you to view documents associated with this rule's promulgation, register to receive email notification whenever the Department posts new information about this rulemaking order, and submit comments and view comments by others during the public comment period. You may receive a paper copy of the rule by contacting:
Elaine Pridgen
Office of Legal Counsel
Dept. of Workforce Development
P.O. Box 7946
Madison, WI 53707-7946
(608) 267-9403
Written comments. Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address, email, or through the
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov web site no later than June 1, 2006, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
