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Communications
June 27, 2005
Patrick Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 208
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Fuller:
Please be advised as to the reason for my excused absence from legislative activity/session on Tuesday, June 21, 2005. I suffered the loss of a relative, coupled with another family emergency that required my personal attention.
As it relates to Assembly Bill 100 (AB 100) that was voted on that day, I would like the records to show that my vote on behalf of the 10th Assembly district would be "No/Nay".
Thank you for your attention to this request.
Sincerely,
Annette "Polly" Williams
State Representative
10th Assembly District
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Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Council on Small, Veteran and
Minority Business Opportunities
Madison
June 8, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The Council on Small, Veteran and Minority Business Opportunities, respectfully submit the Council's 2003-2004 Annual Report.
The Council on Small, Veteran and Minority Business Opportunities has legislative authority (Wis Stat. 15.107) to make recommendations to the Governor and the Chief Clerk of each House of the legislature on a variety of procurement policies and practices related to increasing Small, Veteran and Minority business participation.
The Council continues to invite representatives from various State Agencies to quarterly meetings to assess both the opportunities and challenges that they face in meeting the states purchasing goals. The process also includes the Council making recommendations to the presenting agencies. The agencies are diverse, which also presents diverse opportunities and challenges. Therefore, it is essential that each agency research, analyze and utilize good faith efforts to determine what is in effect "best practice" for them.
The Council's recommendations are outlined in the attached Annual Report. Effective capacity building initiatives and ownership of the MBE participation goals by State Agencies and prime contractors will be key factors in improving State purchases from Small, Veteran and Minority Businesses. We urge you to hold the Director of each State Agency accountable for improving purchasing from Veteran, Minority and Small Businesses. It is the Council's experience that what is monitored and measured happens. This responsibility should not be left to Purchasing Managers, but should be the responsibility of all State Employees. The meager 5% State goal has never been met and in the past couple of years the State's MBE purchases have decreased rather than increase.
We hope that our recommendations will assist the Administration in meeting its goals of ensuring opportunity and participation by all.
Sincerely,
Augistine (Tina) Murray, Chair
Council on Small, Veteran and Minority Business Opportunities
Referred to committee on Small Business.
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Administration
Madison
June 8, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The attached report is submitted to the Legislature pursuant to s.
46.27 (11g) and s.
46.277(5m) of the state statutes. The state statutes require the Department of Health and Family Services to submit an annual report for the Community Options Program (COP) and the Home and Community-Based Waivers (COP-W/CIP II). The attached report describes the persons served, program expenditures, and services delivered through the COP, COP-Waiver and CIP II programs in calendar year 2003.
The Community Options Program provides services to people who are elderly or who have a physical, developmental or mental disability, and is closely coordinated with all of Wisconsin's Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waivers. With the Department's oversight, county agencies are able to ensure that a comprehensive and individualized care plan is provided, while maintaining program flexibility and integrity, and maximizing federal matching funds.
Sincerely,
Helene Nelson
Secretary
Referred to committee on Aging and Long-Term Care.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction
Madison
June 13, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
In accordance with Wisconsin Administrative Code, PI 11.37 (2)(a)-(f), the Department of Public Instruction submits this report relating to special education eligibility criteria.
The report provides the final results of a study of the effects of the modifications of special education eligibility criteria in the areas of cognitive disabilities, emotional behavioral disabilities, hearing impairments, specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, and visual impairments.
If you have any questions regarding this document, please contact Lynn Boreson, Consultant, Emotional Behavioral Disabilities, at (608) 266-1218.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Burmaster
State Superintendent
Referred to committee on Education.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
June 17, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As required by s.
14.065, and on behalf of the Governor, I am transmitting a recommended modification to the Stripper XX Oil Overcharge Plan, and requesting the Joint Committee on Finance consider this modification at their next s.
13.10, Wis. Stats., meeting.
The modification is to the Ethanol Refueling Infrastructure program, which was allocated $230,000 of Stripper XX monies. The oil overcharge monies were for the development, installation and promotion of an E-85 refueling infrastructure in southeastern Wisconsin. E-85 is a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
I am proposing that the program be modified so that the remaining unspent oil overcharge monies ($77,495), along with approximately $22,605 of matching monies from the Wisconsin Corn Growers can be used to fund E-85 infrastructure development and installation throughout Wisconsin. This will allow the monies to be used most effectively in responding to the statewide demand for E-85 refueling facilities.
I appreciate your support in helping Wisconsin increase its use of a home grown renewable energy resource. If you have any questions or need additional details regarding the proposed program modification, please contact Kimberly R. Walker, Administrator for the Division of Energy, at 261-6357.
Sincerely,
Gina Frank-Reece,
Deputy Secretary
Department of Administration
Referred to committee on Energy and Utilities.
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
June 22, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have examined the Indian Gaming, Racing, and Charitable Gaming programs administered by the Division of Gaming in the Department of Administration, as required by s.
13.94(1)(eg), Wis. Stats. We have issued an unqualified opinion on the Division's budgetary financial schedules for the three-year period from fiscal year (FY) 2001-02 through FY 2003-04.
A346
Under the terms of the tribal-state gaming compacts, this office and the Department of Administration receive copies of independent financial audits of all Class III gaming operations for the 11 tribes that operate gaming facilities in Wisconsin. Based on these audited statements, total tribal revenue increased from $889.5 million in 2000 to almost $1.2 billion in 2004, or by 34.1 percent. Tribal expenditures increased from $470.8 million in 2000 to $676.2 million in 2004, or by 43.6 percent. Gaming profits, which are used by the tribes for payments to tribal members or for other purposes, increased from $418.7 million to $516.3 million, or by 23.3 percent.
Payments to the State increased under the 2003 compact amendments that were signed by 10 of the 11 tribes. The State received tribal payments of nearly $24.9 million in FY 2002-03 and $69.6 million in FY 2003-04. However, projecting future tribal payments is difficult pending the outcome of negotiations in response to a 2004 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that invalidated certain compact provisions. In addition, because future payments to the State will be based on a percentage of net revenues, rather than on the lump-sum amounts most tribes paid in the past, it will be important for the Department of Administration to ensure that payments are correctly calculated and received in a timely manner. We note a number of potential concerns in these areas.
From FY 2001-02 through FY 2003-04, pari-mutuel tax revenue generated from greyhound racing and bingo tax revenue has declined. Nevertheless, during the three-year period we examined, the Racing and Charitable Gaming programs provided nearly $4.0 million to the Lottery Fund for property tax relief.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Department of Administration and the 11 tribal nations located in Wisconsin. A response from the Department of Administration follows the appendix.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
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Representative Bies moved that the Assembly stand adjourned until 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, June 30.
The question was: Shall the Assembly stand adjourned?
Motion carried.
The Assembly stood adjourned.
10:46 A.M.
