Senate Bill 54
Relating to: discharges of dredged or fill material into nonfederal wetlands.
Assembly substitute amendment 1 adoption:
Ayes: 6 - Representatives Kedzie, Johnsrud, Gunderson, Ott, Powers and Vrakas.
Noes: 4 - Representatives Pocan, Bock, Miller and J. Lehman.
Concurrence as amended:
Ayes: 6 - Representatives Kedzie, Johnsrud, Gunderson, Ott, Powers and Vrakas.
Noes: 4 - Representatives Pocan, Bock, Miller and J. Lehman.
To calendar.
Neal Kedzie
Chairperson
Committee on Environment
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Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
March 12, 2001
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
"study the feasibility and desirability of selling, leasing or forming public-private partnerships to operate the ... wastewater treatment plants owned by the state ... in the manner provided under section
13.172 (2) of the statutes."
Sincerely,
George Lightbourn
Secretary
Referred to committee on Environment.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Department of Natural Resources
Madison
March 15, 2001
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
Below is information regarding the Wisconsin Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF) Biennial Finance Plan, submitted in accordance with subsection 281.59 (3)(bm) of the Wisconsin Statutes. That subsection requires the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Administration to submit to the legislature and the Building Commission any amendments to the Biennial Finance Plan which are necessary to reflect material approved by the Governor for inclusion in the biennial budget.
A153
After the biennial budget bill is enacted a revised version of the Biennial Finance Plan will be distributed with changes that reflect actions taken in the budget.
If you have any questions regarding the Biennial Finance Plan, please contact Kathryn A. Curtner at 266-0860 or Frank Hoadley at 266-2305.
Sincerely,
Kathryn A. Curtner, Director
Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, Department of Natural Resources
Frank R. Hoadley
Capital Finance Director, Department of Administration
Referred to committee on Natural Resources.
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
March 16, 2001
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed a review of the use of private-sector computer consultants, as requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. We estimate that executive branch state agencies exclusive of the University of Wisconsin System spent $93.6 million for information technology (IT) consulting services during fiscal year 1998-99, the last year for which statewide purchasing data are available. These services supplemented the work of 1,383 full-time equivalent state IT employees.
When agencies need to develop large new information systems, manage peak workload periods, or use special skills on an intermittent basis, use of contracted IT services is consistent with state purchasing statutes. However, agencies also routinely engage contractors to perform more routine tasks without conducting cost analyses anticipated by the statutes, largely because of past labor market conditions and restrictions on their numbers of authorized positions. Among a sample of 32 hourly contractors performing routine responsibilities, hourly costs of 29 were higher than those of comparable state employees, and 4 of these were more than twice the hourly cost of state employees. In light of recent improvements in the State's ability to attract and retain IT staff, we recommend that cost analyses be performed before IT contractors are hired for routine work.
It is not uncommon for large-scale IT systems development projects to exceed original budgets for cost or time, or to perform fewer functions than originally planned. Based on our review of the professional literature, we have described a series of best practices for contracting and monitoring large IT projects.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by all of the 50 state agencies that provided information for this review, particularly the departments of Administration, Corrections, Health and Family Services, Justice, Transportation, and Workforce Development, where we conducted additional work. A response from the Department of Administration is Appendix 3.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
