The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co, MultiState Associates on behalf of
Brown, George
Fabricare Institute, Wisconsin
Gallo, Donald P
Massage Therapy Assn, American, Wis Chapter, MultiState Associates on behalf of
Brown, George
Rural Development Center, Wisconsin
O'Connor, William P
Termination of lobbying authorizations:
The following individuals are no longer authorized to lobby on behalf of the organizations listed below, as of the dates indicated.
Power and Light Company, Wisconsin
Scholz, Brandon 4/8/97
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by the organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
April 22, 1997
To the Honorable the Senate:
At the direction of §
13.685(7),
Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board that employ one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules, and notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers. For each recently registered organization I have included the organization's description of the general area of legislative or administrative action that it attempts to influence and the name of each licensed lobbyist that the organization has authorized to act on its behalf.
Organizations recently registered:
Below are the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board as employing one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules.
1000 Friends of Wisconsin
Subject(s): All policies related to land use including, but not limited to, transportation, private and public sewer systems, annexation laws, public land acquisition programs, land records information and cooperation between local units of government.
Cieslewicz, David
Civil Justice, Wisconsin Coalition for
Subject(s): Issues related to the tort reparations systems, the civil justice system, the courts and civil procedure.
Hough, James E
Family Health Plan Cooperative
Subject(s): All matters involving or affecting health care, health insurance, employment, nonprofit organizations and business enterprises.
Dougherty Jr., Philip
Peterson, Craig
Ulijasz, Pamela
Family Health Systems
Subject(s): All matters relating to or influencing health care management, health care delivery, business management and insurance.
Dougherty Jr., Philip
Grocers Assn., Wisconsin
Subject(s): Inspection, lottery, check and legal fees; employee/employer compensation, benefits, training; sales tax; liquor and tobacco regulations; and welfare benefit programs and regulations.
Scholz, Brandon
Lake States Lumber Assn.
Subject(s): All areas relating to the forest products industry .
O'Connor, Alice
Telephone Answering Service Assn. of Wisconsin
Subject(s): Legislation affecting the telephone answering service industry.
Anderson, Norman C
Organization's authorization of additional lobbyists:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
AT&T Corporation
Essie, Patrick
Barr Laboratories
Intrater, Michelle
McIntosh, Forbes
Oakley, Kara
Solie, Denise
Milwaukee County
Bustle, Patricia
S138
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by the organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Investment Board
April 14, 1997
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Section
25.17 (14r) of the Statutes requires that the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) submit a report to the Joint Committee on Audit, Joint Committee on Finance, and Chief Clerks of each House summarizing any change in the board's investment policies, upon adoption of the change.
On April 2, 1997, the Board approved the attached modifications to the Investment Policy Guidelines for certificates of deposit (CDs) purchased by the State Investment Fund (SIF) from Wisconsin banks and thrifts. Additions to the previous guidelines are shaded and deletions are stricken material. The guidelines for the "Wisconsin Bank Program" have been replaced by the guidelines entitled "Wisconsin Certificate of Deposit Program".
l The new guidelines simplify the process for judging the credit quality of banks and thrifts who want to participate in the CD program. Eligibility is now based upon whether the bank/thrift qualifies for "pass-through" insurance by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). That determination is made by the FDIC according to whether the bank/thrift is "well capitalized " or "adequately capitalized". this change enables each public depositor and retirement fund participant to have FDIC coverage for up to $100,000. Combined with the State's guarantee fund, this would make available to each public depositor up to $500,000 of insurance coverage.
The new process enables SWIB to eliminate a bank/thrift evaluation program that was being provided by an outside vendor. As a result, there will be an annual cost savings of $4,000.
l The maximum exposure which SIF may have to any bank or thrift has been reduced from the lesser of $25 million or 3% of assets to the lesser of $10 million or 3% of assets. This change was made to ensure that larger banks would not dominate the program.
l Under the previous guidelines, the maximum maturity for a CD purchased by SIF was three years. Under the new guidelines, the amount of exposure which SIF may have to CDs with maturities of up to three years is also limited to address concerns about control over duration of the overall SIF portfolio.
l The $100,000 minimum size requirement for CDs purchased by SIF has been eliminated. We anticipate that the new minimum size will be $25,000 as part of a plan to use an outside vendor in administering the CD program. The authority for the Investment Director to use third-party vendors is explicitly stated in the Guidelines. We continue to have discussions about ways that third-party vendors could play a role that would make the program more attractive to banks and thrifts without impairing our ability to earn a competitive rate of return.
These changes will simplify and improve the program. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Patricia Lipton
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
April 22, 1997
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The District, whose 1996 operating expenditures totaled $118.8 million, recently completed work on the $2.3 billion Water Pollution Abatement Program, which is the largest public works project in the State's history to date.
Since 1992, the District has maintained a monthly capital fund balance that has averaged $114 million more than required to meet its cash requirements. We found that this excess balance is primarily the result of two factors: the District's decision to take advantage of favorable interest rates by issuing more bonds than it needed to pay for current construction costs, which appears to have minimized long-term taxpayer costs, and the receipt of more grant revenue than had been projected.
The production of Milorganite, a fertilizer made from heat-dried sludge, is currently the least-costly method available to the District for waste disposal, in part because its sale generates revenue. To ensure that Milorganite production remains a cost-effective disposal option, the District may need to enhance its marketing efforts to address increased competition from other municipalities. Plant modifications made after a February 1996 explosion appear to have addressed safety concerns.
The District also administers the Minority Business Development and Training Program, created by the Legislature in 1985 to develop the capabilities of minority individuals and businesses to participate in construction and construction-related projects. Through 1996, the program has spent $21.0 million, of which only $2.8 million, or 11 percent, was for participant training services, while almost as much, $2.3 million, was spent for program management. In addition, per capita training costs for participating individuals and firms have been excessive.
Although the District has made some modifications to enhance its contract purchasing and oversight since our prior review in 1991, additional improvements are needed if the District is to be effective in evaluating the performance of its consulting engineers and contractors.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. A response from the District is the Appendix.
Sincerely,
Dale Cattanach
State Auditor
