State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Council
December 21, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following reports to the 1995 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council:
RL 95-7 Legislation on Electronic Benefit Transfers
(1995 Senate Bill 445)
RL 95-8 Legislation on Use and Compensation of Guardians ad Litem
(1995 Assembly Bill 742)
I would appreciate your including this letter in the Journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of these reports are available, on request, in the Legislative Council Staff Offices, One East Main, Suite 401.
Sincerely,
David J. Stute
Director
State of Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction
December 18, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
The department is pleased to submit the 1995 Annual Report on the Status of Bilingual-Bicultural Education programs, as required under s.115.996, Wisconsin Statutes.
The report provides a review of the state's administration and funding of bilingual education in Wisconsin and factors contributing to program expansion and the resulting continuously lower annual reimbursement rates for school districts. The number of pupils served from minority languages, the locations of the state-funded programs during the 1995 fiscal year (July 1, 1994, through June 30, 1995), and staff-related data are included in the report to inform those with responsibilities for ensuring the continued success of bilingual education programs in Wisconsin. I am confident that you will find the report informational, useful and of concern given the rising numbers of pupils to be served absent a corresponding increase in fiscal support by the state.
If you have questions on any aspect of this report, please contact Dr. William J. Erpenbach, director, divisionwide planning and process, 267-1072. He will be happy to discuss these with you at your convenience.
Sincerely,
John T. Benson
State Superintendent
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 21, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an audit of the Office of the State Treasurer, covering the period July 1, 1994 to June 30, 1995, as part of our audit of the State's comprehensive financial statements for fiscal year 1994-95 and to fulfill our audit responsibilities under s.13.94, Wis.Stats.
S508
A principal responsibility of the Office is to collect the State's portion of various fees, fines, forfeitures, assessments, taxes, and other remittances due from the counties and other municipalities, including cities, villages, and towns. We found that while the Office has taken reasonable steps to ensure it receives monthly and quarterly collections reports from the counties, effective procedures are not in place to ensure the receipt of all payments due. For example, Milwaukee County has not remitted the State's share of required marriage licenses fees for at least five years; its unremitted marriage license fees are estimated to total $1 million in general purpose revenue. Milwaukee County has, however, recently remitted $24,000 in program revenue for past-due dog license as a result of our audit work.
We also found that Racine and Lafayette counties have not remitted either marriage of dog license fees that are at least one year past due and may include an additional $80,000 in general purpose and program revenues, and that Marathon County's remittance of $21,900 in marriage license fees, which the Office should have recorded as general purpose revenue, was instead mistakenly recorded as program revenue from dog license fees. The recording error has since been corrected. Our report recommends steps by which the Office can ensure receipt of appropriate payments from counties and municipalities.
The Office of the State Treasurer also administers the Unclaimed Property program, through which it attempts to return cash, investment securities, and other property left with banks and insurance companies to the rightful owners. In prior audit reports, we discussed the need for improving security over unclaimed property by limiting access to computer records and establishing additional verification procedures. The Office has since addressed most of our concerns, although it still needs to reconcile it unclaimed property records to those maintained on the State's central accounting system.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Office's staff during the audit. The State Treasurer's response is the appendix.
Sincerely,
dale cattanach
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Investment Board
December 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
Tihs is the 1994 Annual Report for the State of Wisconsin Investment Board.
Sincerely,
Patricia Lipton
Executive Director
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 21, 1995
To the Honorable, the Senate:
The following bills, originating in the Senate, have been approved, signed and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State:
Respectfully,
tommy g. thompson
Governor
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint dittmar, Beverly,
of Wausau, as a member of the Snowmobile Recreation Council, to serve for the term ending July 1, 1998
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Environment and Energy.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint hillIard, Susan M.,
of Briggsville, as a member of the Snowmobile Recreation Council, to serve for the term ending July 1, 1998
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Environment and Energy.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Larsen
, Mark,
of River Falls, as a member of the Snowmobile Recreation Council, to serve for the term ending July 1, 1998.
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Environment and Energy.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint cerny
, Mark,
of Sharon, as a member of the Snowmobile Recreation Council, to serve for the term ending July 1, 1998
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Environment and Energy.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 19, 1995
