The rules are also being modified to clarify that:
•
A teacher must be working as an instructor for a minimum of 40 percent full-time equivalency for at least 180 days in a school year to qualify for a grant. This provision will require teachers to be employed as teachers to be eligible to receive a grant.
•
The term “teacher" includes school psychologists, school counselors and school social workers who are not administrators. The Wisconsin master educator assessment process offers licensure in areas not currently offered under the NBPTS, including school administration categories and school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers. The legislature wanted the program to be expanded to “teachers" but not to “school administration categories." Because individuals with non-administrative school psychologist, counselor, and social worker licenses directly serve pupils, the department asserts they should be included in the category of teachers for purposes of these grants.
•
A teacher may renew his or her 10-year national board certification or Wisconsin master educator license and continue receiving a grant under this program. The certification of first round national board certified teachers will expire next year. This provision will clarify that they may re-apply for grants if they renew their national certification. Subsequent national board certified teachers or Wisconsin master educator licensed teachers would be eligible to receive a grant upon renewal of their certification or license.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The proposed rules will have no significant economic impact on small businesses, as defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
Fiscal Estimate
Summary
Under s.
20.255 (3) (c), Stats.,
2007 Wisconsin Act 20 appropriated additional funds to award grants to persons completing the Wisconsin master educator assessment process and receiving a master educator license in addition to persons holding a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certificate. An initial grant of up to $2,000 is awarded for the first year and $2,500 is awarded annually for nine years thereafter if certain statutory conditions are met. The Act increased the $2,500 grant amount to $5,000 for teachers who are employed in a school in which at least 60 percent of the pupils enrolled are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
The rule establishes criteria and procedures for awarding grants under this program. The rules will have no fiscal effect on local governments or small businesses as defined in s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
The costs associated with administering this grant program will be absorbed by the department.
Notice of Hearing
Transportation
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
348.25 (3) and
(4) (intro.) and
348.27 (15) (d), Stats., interpreting s.
348.27 (15), Stats., as created by
2007 Wis. Act 171, the Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on permanent and emergency rules creating Chapter
Trans 263, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to multiple trip overweight permits for vehicles transporting granular roofing materials.
Hearing Information
Date
|
Location
|
July 30, 2008
at 10:00 AM
|
Hill Farms State Transportation Bldg.
Room 144-B
4802 Sheboygan Avenue
Madison, WI,
|
Parking for persons with disabilities and an accessible entrance are available.
Copies of Rules
A copy of the proposed permanent rule or emergency rule may be obtained upon request from Carson Frazier, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Vehicle Services, Room 255, P. O. Box 7911, Madison, WI 53707-7911. You may also contact Ms. Frazier by phone at (608) 266-7857 or via e-mail:
carson.frazier@dot.state.wi.us.
Agency Contact Person and Submission of Written Comments
The public record on this proposed rule making will be held open until close of business the day of the hearing 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 Carson Frazier, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Vehicle Services, Room 255, P. O. Box 7911, Madison, WI 53707-7911. You may also contact Ms. Frazier by phone at (608) 266-7857 or via e-mail:
carson.frazier@dot.state. wi.us.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Transportation
Statutes interpreted
Statutory authority
Explanation of agency authority
The Department is authorized to administer statutes and administrative rules related to vehicle weights, widths, heights, and lengths. Nonstatutory provisions created in
2007 Wis. Act 171, section
6, require the Department to promulgate rules implementing a newly-created multiple trip permit for transporting granular roofing materials by not later than August 1, 2008.
Related statute or rule
Plain language analysis
This proposed rule is required by
2007 Wis. Act 171, section
6. The new law creates a multiple trip permit for certain overweight vehicles or vehicle combinations transporting granular roofing materials. The law establishes certain conditions for the permit and certain limitations on operation.
This proposed rule implements those conditions and limitations:
•
The permit allows excess gross weight of 10,000 pounds, but not to exceed 90,000 pounds.
•
The permit requires that the motor carrier on whose behalf the load is transported be named in the permit.
•
The permit requires a named origin, destination, and designated route of travel.
•
The permit requires that any municipality or county whose highways make up any part of the designated route pass a resolution allowing that transport, and requires the permit applicant to submit copies of all resolutions to the department along with the permit application.
The proposed rule defines “granular roofing material" in order to make eligibility for permit and enforcement clear and uniform.
The proposed rule states that the permit is not valid on the interstate highway system, and is valid on not more than 2.5 miles of the state trunk highway system.
Comparison with federal regulations
Federal law governs overweight transport on certain federal highways, including general prohibition of divisible overweight loads on the interstate highway system. Pursuant to
23 U.S.C. section 127 and
23 C.F.R. section 658, divisible overweight loads are not allowed on the interstate highway system.
2007 Wis. Act 171 provides that a permit under this law may be issued for up to 2.5 miles on any state trunk highway if such issuance of the permit is consistent with federal law. This proposed rule is consistent with federal law because
2007 Wis. Act 171 authorizes permits for this type of divisible load and transport is not allowed on the interstate highway system.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
Michigan: Michigan has no rule or statute authorizing overweight loads of granular roofing materials, or similar divisible overweight loads.
Minnesota: Minnesota has no rule or statute authorizing overweight loads of granular roofing materials, or similar divisible overweight loads.
Illinois: Illinois has no rule or statute authorizing overweight loads of granular roofing materials, or similar divisible overweight loads.
Iowa: Iowa has no rule or statute authorizing overweight loads of granular roofing materials, or similar divisible overweight loads.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
This proposed rule implements a newly-enacted law. The Department's implementation of the law, including policies, procedures, and requirements, is the same as the Department applies to all similar multiple trip permits.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
This proposed rule implements
2007 Wis. Act 171. The law will allow all businesses, including small businesses, to transport granular roofing materials at weights exceeding state load limits. This would have a beneficial effect on small businesses. 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.
Fiscal Estimate
Summary
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, sewerage district, or federally-recognized tribes or bands.
The Department estimates that there will be no fiscal impact on state or private sector revenues or liabilities.
Notice of Hearing
Workforce Development
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss.
108.225 (16) (a) 3. and
(am) 2.,
108.14 (2), and s.
227.11 (2) (a), Stats., the Department of Workforce Development proposes to hold a public hearing to consider rules creating Chapter
DWD 136, relating to wages exempt from unemployment insurance levy and affecting small businesses.
Hearing Information
July 22, 2008
|
MADISON
|
Tuesday
|
G.E.F. 1 Building, H306
|
10:00 a.m.
|
201 E. Washington Avenue
|
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.
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.
Agency Contact Person
Submission of Written Comments
Written comments may be submitted to Tracey Schwalbe, UI Research Attorney, Dept. of Workforce Development, P.O. Box 8942, 201 E. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53707-8942, or
tracey.schwalbe@dwd.state.wi.us. Written comments received at the above address, email, or through the
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov web site no later than July 23, 2008, will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing.
Copies of Proposed Rules
A 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 the department address above.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Workforce Development
Statutory authority
Statutes interpreted
Related statutes and rules
Explanation of agency authority
Section
108.225, Stats., gives the department the power of administrative levy upon any property of the debtor to allow the department to collect forfeitures or benefit overpayments owed under the unemployment insurance program. The individual debtor is entitled to a subsistence allowance of a dollar amount or percent of wages that are exempt from levy by the department.
Levy to recover forfeitures. Pursuant to s.
108.04 (11) (c), Stats., any employing unit that aids and abets or attempts to aid and abet a claimant in committing an act of concealment may be required to forfeit an amount equal to the amount of the benefits the claimant improperly received as a result of the concealment plus an additional forfeiture for each single act of concealment the employing unit aids and abets or attempts to aid and abet. When the department collects the forfeiture by levy, s.
108.225 (16) (a), Stats., provides that an individual is entitled to an exemption from levy of the greater of the following:
1. A subsistence allowance of 75% of the debtor's disposable earnings.
2. An amount equal to 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage for each full week of the debtor's pay period.
3. In the case of earnings for a period other than a week, a subsistence allowance computed so that it is equivalent to 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage using a multiple of the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by rule of the department.
Levy to recover benefit overpayments. When the department collects benefit overpayments by levy, s.
108.225 (16) (am), Stats., provides that an individual is entitled to an exemption from levy of 80% of the individual's disposable earnings, except that:
1. A debtor's disposable earnings are totally exempt from levy if the debtor's wages are below the federal poverty guidelines for a household of the debtor's size or the levy would cause that result.
2. Upon petition by a debtor demonstrating hardship, the department may increase the portion of the debtor's disposable earnings that are exempt from levy.
3. The department may decrease or eliminate the exemption from levy if a final determination has been issued under s.
108.09, Stats., or a judgment has been entered under s.
108.24 (1), Stats., in which the debtor has been found guilty of making a false statement or representation to obtain benefits and the benefits and any assessment under s.
108.04 (11) (cm), Stats., have not been paid or reimbursed at the time that the levy is issued, unless the fund's treasurer has written off the debt under s.
108.16 (3) (a), Stats.
The law requires the department to prescribe by rule a methodology for application of the exemption that provides that a debtor's disposable earnings are totally exempt from levy if the debtor's wages are below the federal poverty guidelines for a household of the debtor's size or the levy would cause that result.
Summary of proposed rule
The proposed rule prescribes the methodology for application of s.
108.225 (16), Stats., and
15 USC 1673, for a third party employer to determine an individual's wages exempt from levy by the department. The proposed rule expresses the calculations necessary to determine the amount of wages excluded from department levy and the maximum amount that may levied by the department to recover benefit overpayments and forfeitures.
