Sincerely,
Helene Nelson
Secretary
Referred to committee on Aging and Long-Term Care.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
May 24, 2004
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
I am pleased to submit our Annual Minority Business Report for fiscal year 2003. This fiscal year was especially significant as it marked the 20th year of the enactment of Wisconsin Act 390, which expanded the opportunities for minority owned firms to sell their goods and services to the state. Our celebration of this milestone included a proclamation by you declaring April 17, 2003 "Business Opportunities in the Government Sector Day."
In FY03, state agencies reported purchases and contracts with Wisconsin certified minority business enterprises of $43,244,403.
While we welcome these and other achievements in FY03, it still fails short of our 5% goal. Several steps are underway to improve our MBE contracting efforts.
The Department of Transportation, for example, has met with the Director of the State Minority Business Program to review their practices. The University of Wisconsin-Madison campus has created a Minority Business Liaison to train and follow up on quarterly reports from prime vendors.
At the DOA, I have undertaken a number of internal policy initiatives designed to focus our efforts to meet the 5% goal. These include ensuring that at least one minority owned business is included in simplified bids.
Our Accolade Award, which recognizes the activities of private sector firms in providing opportunities to Wisconsin certified minority owned businesses, offers our private sector partners an incentive to strengthen their efforts to subcontract with MBE firms.
We will continue to provide the support and leadership to all state agencies to encourage new initiatives aimed at achieving our contracting goals.
Sincerely,
Marc J. Marotta
Secretary
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
May 27, 2004
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As required by s.
13.94 (1)(em), Wis. Stats., we have completed a financial audit of the Wisconsin Lottery, which is administered by the Department of Revenue. We have issued an unqualified opinion on the Wisconsin Lottery's fiscal year (FY) FY 2001-02 and 2002-03 financial statements.
Lottery ticket sales totaled $435.0 million in FY 2002-03. This level of sales represents an increase of $7.4 million over FY 2001-02. Property tax relief distributions increased from $119.0 million in FY 2001-02 to $129.6 million in FY 2002-03.
We are in the process of completing our biennial program evaluation of the Wisconsin Lottery. We anticipate issuing that report, which will focus on issues concerning contracting and game selection and development, later this summer.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Department of Revenue.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
