Iowa does not mandate that drivers or vehicle owners carry insurance. Iowa has a safety responsibility law similar to Wisconsin's, which is used to compel uninsured drivers to post deposits in order to cover damages potentially attributable to them from an accident. Any person involved in an accident in Iowa, as either the driver or owner of a motor vehicle, is subject to the requirements of the law.
Iowa does not have a compulsory insurance law. Instead, the Financial & Safety Responsibility Act provides for:
•
Suspending the operating and registration privileges of a driver or owner who cannot show immediate financial responsibility following an accident; and,
•
By requiring anyone whose driver's license has been suspended or revoked because of a conviction, unsatisfied judgment or violation of the OWI law to prove financial responsibility for any future damages or injuries that driver may cause.
Just as in Wisconsin, in Iowa drivers must file an accident report and must be filed with the Office of Driver Services within a set timeframe if an accident results in bodily injury, death or total property damage over a statutorily established amount. Drivers do not need to file a personal accident report if the accident was investigated by a law enforcement agency and the investigating officer files a report.
A driver who causes personal injury or damage exceeding $1,000 to the other party must prove his or her financial responsibility or be subject to license suspension. Similar to Wisconsin's safety responsibility law, drivers can prove financial responsibility by showing that they were covered by automobile liability insurance at the time of the accident, posting cash, getting releases from all other damaged or injured parties, being absolved of responsibility by a court judgment, filing an agreement to pay the other damaged or injured parties on an installment plan, or reaching a settlement with the injured persons. Iowa also allows the uninsured motorist to confess judgment and enter into a judicially-approved payment plan as a mechanism for resolving safety responsibility matters.
Both the owners and drivers of the vehicles involved in an accident must prove their financial responsibility. This means that the person who owns the vehicle involved in an accident has to show financial responsibility even if they weren't driving. Like Wisconsin, Iowa will suspend registrations of all the owners' vehicles if they do not comply. Similarly, the driver of the vehicle has to show financial responsibility or lose all licenses to operate motor vehicles.
Iowa does not appear to have a damage judgment law similar to Wisconsin's.
Overall, it appears that states having mandatory insurance laws do not have a safety responsibility law similar to Wisconsin's. Iowa, which has a safety responsibility law, does not mandate insurance.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
Section
344.63, Stats., as created by
2009 Wis. Act 28, provides exceptions to the requirement of having a motor vehicle liability insurance policy to operate a motor vehicle on Wisconsin highways. The exceptions defined in the statutes are nearly identical to those provided for under Wisconsin's Safety Responsibility Law. The administration of the exceptions, as defined in this proposed rule, are purposely drafted to closely mirror the procedures currently in place under the Safety Responsibility Law.
Analysis and supporting documentation used to determine effect on small businesses
This regulatory change has no impact on small business. This rule making largely codifies existing DOT policy with regard to the administration of the safety responsibility and damage judgment laws. The Department does not anticipate any fiscal effect upon small businesses from this codification.
Small Business Impact
This regulatory change has no impact on small business. The safety responsibility and damage judgment portions of this rule making largely codifies existing DOT policy with regard to the administration of the safety responsibility and damage judgment laws. This proposed rule making related to filings in lieu of mandatory insurance are not expected to impact small business in any manner. The new mandatory insurance law itself may require small businesses that lack automobile coverage to obtain insurance or make a filing in lieu of insurance with the Department. The Department does not anticipate any fiscal effect upon small businesses from this codification. The Department's Regulatory Review Coordinator may be contacted by e-mail at
ralph.sanders@dot.state.wi.us, or by calling (414) 438-4585.
Private Sector Fiscal Impact
The Department estimates that there will be no fiscal impact on private sector revenues or liabilities.
Fiscal Estimate
This rule making largely codifies existing DOT policy with regard to the administration of the safety responsibility and damage judgment laws. The Department believes any fiscal effect from this codification to be indeterminate as the number of citations issued for not carrying proof of liability insurance, failure to have liability insurance, or fraud in providing proof of liability insurance cannot be surmised at this time. The Department will incur costs for computer changes necessary to develop codes used to indicate the new types on convictions on violators driving records and an unknown amount of time spent by staff explaining insurance requirements and processing license suspensions and reinstatements for persons whose operating privilege is suspended for not paying the forfeitures associated with the violations listed above. The Department will also receive an indeterminate amount of revenue resulting from reinstatement fees collected from those persons whose operating privilege is suspended for not paying forfeitures. Local revenue has the potential to increase through collection of forfeitures and other charges related to the penalties associated with convictions for violations of the new charges.
Agency Contact Person
Reginald Paradowski, Section Chief
Division of Motor Vehicles
Driver Information Section, Room 301
P. O. Box 7983, Madison, WI 53707-7983
Phone: (608) 264-7002
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN That pursuant to ss.
108.14 (2),
108.205,
108.22, and
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Workforce Development proposes to hold a public hearing to consider rules revising Chapter
DWD 111, relating to unemployment insurance rules for quarterly wage reporting requirements.
Hearing Information
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: MADISON
GEF I Building, H306
201 E. Washington Avenue
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.
Submittal of Written Comments and Copies of Proposed Rule
Interested persons are invited to appear at the hearing 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.
An electronic copy of the proposed rules is available at
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 or fiscal estimate by contacting: Tracey Schwalbe, Research Attorney, Unemployment Insurance Bureau of Legal Affairs, Department of Workforce Development, P.O. Box 8942, Madison, WI 53708.
Written comments on the proposed rules received at the above address, email, or through the http://adminrules. wisconsin.gov web site no later than July 21, 2010, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Workforce Development
Statutes interpreted
Statutory authority
Related statute or rule
42 U.S.C. s. 1320b-7 (a) (3), ch.
DWD 110.
Explanation of agency authority
Chapter
108, Stats., requires employers to file with the department a quarterly report showing the name, social security number, and wages paid to each employee who is employed by the employer during the quarter. The quarterly reports are due no later than the last day of the month following the completion of each quarter. The department may prescribe the manner and form for filing quarterly wage reports electronically. Sections
108.14 (2) and
227.11 (2), Stats., authorize the department to adopt and enforce all rules the department finds necessary to carry out the requirements of Chapter
108, Stats.
Plain language analysis
Wisconsin Act 59 in 2007 amended several provisions of ch.
108, Stats., related to how employers file reports with the department, the timeliness for filing reports, and the penalties for failing to do so. The proposed rule corresponds with the statutory changes in
2007 Wis. Act 59, eliminates provisions that duplicate statutory provisions, and eliminates obsolete provisions.
As amended by
2007 Wis. Act 59, Chapter
108 requires employer agents and employers of 25 or more employees to file quarterly wage reports electronically. Section
108.205, Stats. Quarterly wage reports must be filed by the last day of the month following the completion of the calendar quarter and may be assessed a penalty of $50 for each delinquent quarterly report. Sections
108.205 (1) and
108.22 (1) (a), Stats. In addition, an employer that fails to file the report in the required format may be assessed a penalty of $20 for each employee whose information is not reported in the correct format. Section
108.22 (1) (ac), Stats.
The proposed rule updates the requirements for filing quarterly wage reports to include electronically filed reports, and identifies the website where electronic reports may be filed. The proposed rule eliminates the need for employers to notify the department whether they provide access to a health insurance plan; this provision is obsolete. The rule currently provides that the time to file a report is extended if it is mailed as long as the report is postmarked by the due date or 3 days past the due date. However, pursuant to the statutes as amended by
2007 Wis. Act 59, quarterly wage reports are due the last date of the month following a quarter. This obsolete provision is removed from the rule. The proposed rule eliminates the obsolete provisions related to employers filing wage record data on combined quarterly contribution report forms. The proposed rule eliminates the obsolete penalties for delinquent wage reports. Finally, the department reviewed the rule to eliminate provisions that were repetitive or duplicated statutory provisions, and to edit for grammatical purposes.
Comparison with federal regulations
Since 1988, federal law has required all States to have in effect, as a condition for compliance with federally aided assistance programs, a requirement that employers make quarterly reports of wages to the state.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
Illinois:
Illinois requires that employers file wage reports either electronically or by paper on a printed packet together with the contribution report. The reports must be filed on or before the due date, the last day of the calendar month next following the calendar quarter. 56 Ill. Adm. Code s. 2760.120, .125 & 140.
Iowa:
Iowa requires that wage reports and contributions are due the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter. Contributions that are mailed must be postmarked by the due date. 871 Iowa Admin. Code s. 23.8 (96).
Michigan:
Michigan statutes require each employer to file a quarterly wage report on forms and at a time as the commission prescribes, but does not have rules interpreting the statute. Mich. Comp. Law s.
421.13.
Minnesota:
Minnesota statutes require that employers file wage reports electronically and the state calculates the amount of contributions due for the employer. The contributions must be received by the department on or before the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter. Minn. Stat. s.
268.051.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
The department sought to conform the rule language to the changes made to the statutory provisions in
2007 Wis. Act 59. In addition, the department reviewed the rule language carefully to eliminate provisions that are unnecessarily duplicative of statutory provisions to avoid the potential problem posed by statutory changes and outdated rule language.
Analysis used to determine effect on small businesses
The proposed rule incorporates the changes to chapter 108, Stats., contained in
2007 Wis. Act 59, and will not have an additional effect on small business.
Small Business Fiscal Impact
The proposed rule incorporates the changes to chapter 108, Stats., contained in
2007 Wis. Act 59, and will not have an additional effect on small business.
Fiscal Estimate
State fiscal effect
None.
Local government fiscal effect
None.
Agency Contact Person
Tracey Schwalbe, UI Research Attorney
Phone: (608) 266-9641
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
108.14 (2),
108.22, and
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Workforce Development proposes to hold a public hearing to consider rules revising Chapter
DWD 110, relating to unemployment insurance rules for coverage and related reports.
Hearing Information
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: MADISON
GEF I Building, H306
201 E. Washington Avenue
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.
