May 2, 2001
The Honorable John Scocos
Assembly Chief Clerk
Dear Chief Clerk:
As Assembly Speaker, I have appointed Representative Spencer Coggs to the Joint Committee on Finance on the nomination of the Minority Leader to fill the vacancy created by Representative Antonio Riley. Please find a copy of the Minority Leader's letter herewith. This appointment is in accordance with Assembly Rule
3 and
9 (c) and is effective today.
If you have any questions, please contact Adam Peer in my office.
Sincerely,
Scott R. Jensen
Assembly Speaker
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Communications
May 2, 2001
Speaker Scott Jensen
State Assembly
State Capitol, 211 West
Madison, WI 53702
Dear Speaker Jensen:
Yesterday, Representative Antonio Riley resigned from the Joint Finance Committee.
Effective today, I appoint Representative Spencer Coggs as a member of the Joint Finance Committee to replace Representative Riley.
Sincerely,
Spencer Black
State Representative
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Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Board on Health Care Information
Madison
April 23, 2001
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you about the Wisconsin Consumer Guide to Health Care, an Internet-based resource that enables the state's citizens to make informed choices about their health care. It fulfills the
1997 Wisconsin Act 231 mandate, which requires that the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) produce a guide to assist consumers in choosing health care providers and plans.
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The Bureau of Health Information in the Department's Division of Health Care Financing developed the Guide. The Guide serves as a single online site that the public can use to access information about a broad variety of health care topics. In some cases, the Guide provides information specifically developed about health care in Wisconsin. In other cases, the Guide enables the public to quickly draw upon existing information from national sites; that is, the Guide does not duplicate the work of others.
The Guide was developed under the principle that health care information is useful to the public only if it is both easily found and understood. Numerous people provided input to the Guide's development, including members of our Board, members of the state Interagency Coordinating Council, the University of Wisconsin, DHFS staff, and focus groups representing a wide cross-section of Wisconsin's consumer population.
Consumer input had a significant role in shaping the Guide's format and content so that it meets the public's health ,care information needs. Upon reviewing the completed Guide, consumer focus groups commented that it was easy to understand, contained a wealth of well-organized material, provided valuable Wisconsin-specific information and, most importantly, recognized the health information.
Topics covered in the Guide include finding and choosing health care, paying for care, and dealing with health care problems. There are special sections for various groups such as seniors and parents (and parents-to-be). The Guide also includes computer links to Wisconsin-based organizations and/or databases, as well as links to key national sites. The Bureau of Health Information plans to continue to expand the site over time to include information on additional Wisconsin-specific data and organizations. A Wisconsin Physician Directory will be added in the coming months, which will help consumers identify and locate physicians in their communities by specialty, practice location, hospital and plan affiliations and educational background.
We believe that the Guide is a valuable resource for Wisconsin's citizens. Never before has access to such a comprehensive set of health information resources been available to the state. We urge that you visit the Guide yourself and also bring it to the attention of your constituents. To view the Guide, you can go through the DHFS Web site (
http://www/dhfs.state.wi.us) or access it directly (
http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/guide). The Bureau of Health Information also has brochures, which are available for your distribution, describing the Guide's contents and how to access it. To obtain this brochure, please call Joan Gugel at (608) 267-7955 or send her a fax at (608) 261-6380.
Sincerely,
Ronald H. Dix, Chairperson
Board on Health Care Information
Referred to committee on Health.
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
April 30, 2001
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed our financial and compliance audit of the State of Wisconsin, as requested by state agencies to meet the audit requirements of the federal Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended, and the provisions of federal Office of Management and Budget Circular A-133. Our audit covered the period July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000. In addition to satisfying federal audit requirements, the audit assists us in meeting state audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats.
The audit procedures performed at the larger state agencies that administer federal financial assistance programs, including the University of Wisconsin System, consisted of gaining an understanding of the internal controls at the agencies, assessing the propriety of revenues and expenditures, and testing compliance with laws and regulations related to the administration of federal grant programs. For the smaller agencies and selected University of Wisconsin campuses, our audit procedures were limited to verifying information included in the federally required Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and following up on prior-year audit findings. Our review focused on the 28 federal grants that either exceeded the $16.7 million threshold used to define major grants or were below this threshold but were selected for review based on the risk-based assessment criteria established by the federal government.
The first section of our report contains the auditor's reports on compliance and internal control. Because of material noncompliance by the Department of Workforce Development related to the Vocational Rehabilitation Program, we qualify our opinion on the State's compliance with federal regulations. Next are the agency narratives that contain our comments on internal control deficiencies related to the administration of federal grants, findings of noncompliance for each agency, and the results of our follow-up to prior audit findings. A summary schedule of findings and questioned costs for the current year's audit is also provided, as well as a summary of the status of findings included in our prior audit report for the State of Wisconsin (report 00-5).
We note that, overall, state agencies have complied with federal grant requirements and have taken steps to address findings included in the prior year's single audit report. However, we do report internal control deficiencies and several areas of noncompliance, and we identify $1,027,571 in questioned costs. While higher than in recent prior years, the amount of questioned costs represents a small portion of the $6.3 billion in federal financial assistance to the State of Wisconsin in fiscal year 1999-2000.
Also included in this report is the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards for the audited period, and related notes. Our audit opinion on the schedule is unqualified.
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The federal government will resolve the findings and questioned costs included in our report. Federal agencies are expected to contact state agencies regarding resolution. To assist federal officials in their efforts, state agency contact information is provided in appendices to this report.
In addition to the comments and recommendations included in our report, management letters will be issued to the larger state agencies addressing technical accounting and internal control issues, including those relating to the preparation of the State's financial statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by agency staff during our audit. Agencies' comments on individual findings, along with their corrective action plans to address our concerns, are included within the agency narratives.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
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Assembly Bill 196
Relating to: the disclosure of public library records.
The question was: Shall Assembly Bill 196 be ordered engrossed and read a third time?
Motion carried.
Representative Duff in the chair.
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Assembly Bill
196 be given a third reading. Granted.
The question was: Assembly Bill 196 having been read three times, shall the bill be passed?
The roll was taken.
The result follows:
Ayes - Representatives Ainsworth, Albers, Balow, Bies, Colon, Cullen, Duff, J. Fitzgerald, Foti, Freese, Friske, Gard, Gronemus, Grothman, Gunderson, Gundrum, Hahn, Hebl, Hoven, Huber, Hubler, Huebsch, Hundertmark, Johnsrud, Kaufert, Kedzie, Kestell, Krawczyk, Kreibich, Kreuser, Krusick, Lassa, M. Lehman, Leibham, Lippert, Loeffelholz, McCormick, D. Meyer, Meyerhofer, Montgomery, Morris-Tatum, Musser, Nass, Olsen, Ott, Owens, Petrowski, Pettis, Plale, Plouff, Powers, Rhoades, Riley, Schooff, Seratti, Sherman, Shilling, Skindrud, Starzyk, Staskunas, Steinbrink, Stone, Suder, Sykora, Townsend, Travis, Underheim, Vrakas, Wade, Walker, Ward, Wasserman, Wieckert, Williams, Wood, Ziegelbauer and Speaker Jensen - 77.
Noes - Representatives Berceau, Black, Bock, Boyle, Carpenter, Coggs, Krug, La Fave, J. Lehman, Miller, Pocan, Reynolds, Richards, Schneider, Sinicki, Turner and Young - 17.
Absent or not voting - Representatives Jeskewitz, Ladwig, F. Lasee, Ryba and Urban - 5.
Motion carried.
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Assembly Bill
196 be immediately messaged to the Senate. Granted.
Assembly Bill 222
Relating to: changing the name of a minor.
Speaker Pro Tempore Freese in the chair.
Representative Turner asked unanimous consent to be made a coauthor of Assembly Bill 222. Granted.
The question was: Shall Assembly Bill 222 be ordered engrossed and read a third time?
Motion carried.
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Assembly Bill
222 be given a third reading. Granted.
The question was: Assembly Bill 222 having been read three times, shall the bill be passed?
The roll was taken.
The result follows:
Ayes - Representatives Ainsworth, Albers, Balow, Berceau, Bies, Black, Bock, Boyle, Carpenter, Coggs, Colon, Cullen, Duff, J. Fitzgerald, Foti, Freese, Friske, Gard, Gronemus, Grothman, Gunderson, Gundrum, Hahn, Hebl, Hoven, Huber, Hubler, Huebsch, Hundertmark, Johnsrud, Kaufert, Kedzie, Kestell, Krawczyk, Kreibich, Kreuser, Krug, Krusick, La Fave, Lassa, J. Lehman, M. Lehman, Leibham, Lippert, Loeffelholz, McCormick, D. Meyer, Meyerhofer, Miller, Montgomery, Morris-Tatum, Musser, Nass, Olsen, Ott, Owens, Petrowski, Pettis, Plale, Plouff, Pocan, Powers, Reynolds, Rhoades, Richards, Riley, Schneider, Schooff, Seratti, Sherman, Shilling, Sinicki, Skindrud, Starzyk, Staskunas, Steinbrink, Stone, Suder, Sykora, Townsend, Travis, Turner, Underheim, Vrakas, Wade, Walker, Ward, Wasserman, Wieckert, Williams, Wood, Young, Ziegelbauer and Speaker Jensen - 94.
Noes - None.
Absent or not voting - Representatives Jeskewitz, Ladwig, F. Lasee, Ryba and Urban - 5.
Motion carried.
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that the rules be suspended and that Assembly Bill
222 be immediately messaged to the Senate. Granted.
Assembly Bill 322
Relating to: water quality certification for nonfederal wetlands, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.
Representative Foti asked unanimous consent that Assembly Bill 322 be laid on the table. Granted.
Representative Olsen asked unanimous consent to be removed as a cosponsor of Senate Bill 154. Granted.
