227.17 Notice of hearing.

(1) If a hearing is required under s. 227.16, the agency shall do all of the following:

(a) Send written notice of the hearing, in an electronic format approved by the legislative reference bureau, to the legislative reference bureau for publication in the register and, if required, publish the notice in a local newspaper.

(b) Send an electronic copy of the written notice of the hearing under par. (a) to each member of the legislature who has filed a written request for notice with the legislative reference bureau. Upon request, the legislative reference bureau shall furnish an agency with the name and address of each legislator who has requested notice.

(bm) Send written notice of the hearing to the secretary of administration on the same day that the notice is sent to the legislative reference bureau under par. (a).

(c) Take any action it considers necessary to provide notice to other interested persons.

(2) The notice under sub. (1) shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date set for a hearing. Notice through the register is considered to have been given on the date on which the issue of the register in which the notice first appears is published under s. 35.93 (2).

(2m) The notice under sub. (1) shall be approved by the individual or body with policy-making powers over the subject matter of the proposed rule.

(3) The notice under sub. (1) shall include:

(a) A statement of the date, time and place of the hearing.

(b) A copy of the proposed rule as submitted to the legislative council staff under s. 227.15 (1).

(eg) Any independent economic impact analysis prepared under s. 227.137 (4m).

(f) If the proposed rule will have an effect on small businesses, as defined under s. 227.114 (1), an initial regulatory flexibility analysis, which shall contain a description of the types of small businesses that will be affected by the rule, a brief description of the proposed reporting, bookkeeping and other procedures required for compliance with the rule and a description of the types of professional skills necessary for compliance with the rule.

(g) Any additional matter required by statute.

(i) The electronic mail address and telephone number of the small business regulatory coordinator and a link to an Internet site that allows a person to review the rule and make comments regarding the rule.

(4) An agency may modify a proposed rule prior to a hearing without providing additional notice under this section if the modification is germane to the subject matter of the proposed rule. In this subsection, an agency's proposal to delete part of a proposed rule for which notice was given under sub. (1) shall be treated as a germane modification of the proposed rule.

(5) Failure of any person to receive notice of a hearing on proposed rule making is not grounds for invalidating the resulting rule if notice of the hearing was published as provided in sub. (1) (a).

History: 1985 a. 182; 1985 a. 332 s. 253; 1987 a. 253; 1995 a. 106; 2003 a. 145; 2005 a. 249; 2007 a. 20; 2011 a. 21; 2013 a. 20, 172; 2017 a. 57.

Changes in a proposed rule after notice was published did not so alter the scope of the proposed rule as to require a second hearing. Brown County v. DHSS, 103 Wis. 2d 37, 307 N.W.2d 247 (1981).