January 31, 1995
To the Honorable the Legislature:
1993 Act 254 requires the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct two studies:
1. A study of the current state programs for veterans and of the use of the federal definition of "veteran" for determining eligibility for all veterans programs under ch.
45 of the statutes. The study shall include:
a. The eligibility criteria, income limits, usage and purposes of each program and whether each program should be continued, with or without modification.
b. A review of both of those categories of persons who would be made eligible for Wisconsin veterans programs through the adoption of the federal definition of "veteran" and those who are currently eligible, but may become ineligible if the federal definition is adopted.
c. The desirability of using the federal definition of "veteran" as is applies to each program.
d. The fiscal effects on each program of any changes recommended under this paragraph and of the adoption of the federal definition of "veteran".
2. A study of the Health Care Aid Grant program, including a review of, and development of recommendations for, improving coverage and delivery of health care aid under the program.
The department is pleased to submit its report on these studies. Because the issues contained in the study of the Health Care Aid Grant were part and parcel of the larger study of the current state programs for veterans, the department has combined the results of the studies into one report.
A167
Some of the recommendations in this report have little or no fiscal impact and should be considered for implementation as soon as possible. Others have a significant fiscal impact and will require that department resources be increased or reallocated. As we have for the past several years, the department will continue to look for ways to provide needed benefits to Wisconsin's veterans in a fiscally responsible manner.
I am confident that the information and recommendations provided will be useful to policy makers and will allow Wisconsin to remain in the forefront of providing assistance and benefits to its citizens who have served their country in the armed forces.
Sincerely,
raymond g. boland
Secretary, DVA
Referred to committee on Veterans and Military Affairs.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Social Services
Madison
January 31, 1995
To the Honorable the Legislature:
1993 Wisconsin Act 290, Section
10, directs the Department of Health and Social Services to carry out a study of nursing home design and construction and their relationship to the formula for determining approvable proposed bed costs under the Resource Allocation Program. Attached is the Department's study for distribution to the appropriate standing committees of the Legislature as provided under s.
13.172(3) of the statutes.
Sincerely,
Richard Lorang
Acting Secretary, DHSS
Referred to committee on Health.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations
Madison
January 31, 1995
To the Honorable the Assembly:
Pursuant to Chapter
109 of Wisconsin Statutes, I am providing you with the annual report on business closings and/or mass layoffs. The Statute requires that this report is due no later than March 1 annually and that it include the number, type and disposition of all determinations made by the Department under ss.
109.07(5)(N)(6)(b).
The Department in 1994 received four complaints, of which two complaints were dismissed as no violation, one complaint was referred to the Attorney General, and one complaint is still pending.
Two 1992 complaints were carried forward on January 1, 1994. One was dismissed as no violation and one is still under appeal with our Department's legal counsel.
Six 1993 complaints were carried forward on January 1, 1994. Two were dismissed as no violation, one was withdrawn by the complainant, one was dismissed as no jurisdiction, an two were referred to the Attorney General.
Should you have any questions regarding the information in this report, please contact me immediately.
Sincerely,
carol skornicka
Secretary, DILHR
Referred to committee on Labor and Employment.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Social Services
Madison
February 8, 1995
To the Honorable the Assembly:
The biennial budget bill,
1983 Wisconsin Act 27, enacted s.
46.275, Community Integration Program (CIP) for Residents of State Centers. The intent of this program "is to relocate persons from the state centers for the developmentally disabled into appropriate community settings with the assistance of home and community-based services and with continuity of care. The intent of the program is also to minimize its impact on state employees through redeployment of employees into vacant positions. S. 46. 275 (5m) requires the Department to submit a report to the Joint Committee on Finance and the Chief Clerk of each house of the Legislature describing the program's impact during the preceding calendar year on state employees, including the Department's efforts to redeploy employees into vacant positions and the number of employes laid off.
For the period of January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1994, there were 70 CIP placements, 5 CIP returnees, and 1 CIP diversion. For fiscal year 1994, reductions of $1,405,472 and 63.12 FTE were made in the budget for the purpose of CIP placements. For the period July 1, 1994 through December 31, 1994, sufficient reductions will be made in the fiscal year 1995 operating budget to reflect reductions for CIP placements. Reductions of positions and dollars have been made for calendar year 1994 with no layoff of employees
Sincerely,
richard w. lorang
Acting Secretary, DHSS
Referred to committee on Children and Families.
__________________
Department of Administration
Madison
February 22, 1995
To the Honorable the Legislature:
Chapter 34, Laws of 1979, requires that when the Department of Administration maintains an office in Washington, DC, for the purposes of promoting federal/state cooperation, it should submit a report detailing the activities of the office and reporting the status of federal legislation of concern to the Legislature and others state agencies (Wis. Stats. 16. 548 (2)).
The report for the period October 1, 1994 through December 31, 1994 is attached.
Sincerely,
James r. klauser
Secretary, DOA
Referred to Special Committee on State-Federal Relations.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Transportation
Madison
February 28, 1995
To the Honorable the Legislature:
1993 Wisconsin Act 198, published on April 20, 1994 provides for double fines for certain moving traffic violations committed in construction and maintenance zones.
Section 18 of Act 198 requires that:
"The Department of Transportation shall develop and construct a highway sign to inform motorists that forfeitures and fines for certain traffic violations committed in highway maintenance or construction areas are doubled under state law. On or before January 1, 1995, the department shall submit a report on the highway signs to the legislature in the manner as provided under section 13.172(2) of the statutes and the Governor. The report shall include a plan for erecting and maintaining such signs on the highways of the state."
The attached report fulfills the obligations of the department with respect to actions that occurred in 1994, subsequent to the effective date of Act 198. This report also details a plan for sustaining the program into the future. We would also like to point out that the Department conducted an extensive public education campaign to inform the public of the new law and it's emphasis on worker and motorist safety. Information from the campaign is included in the report. A cassette of the TV spot is available if requested.
We do apologize that this report was not submitted by January 1, 1995. Because the 1994 construction season had already begun when the law became effective, there were not clear expectations about the location or use of the signs for the 1994 season. Most of the large signs were placed at locations near cities that have TV stations. Other signs, both large and small, were placed at project specific locations or at locations to maximize exposure to the traveling public. The Green Bay Transportation District did prepare a map of all their sign locations which is included in the report as an example. The extra time for submittal of this report is a result of developing a specific plan for 1995 and future years. The plan will include a program evaluation mechanism for 1995 and future years as well as what occurred related to sign installation and maintenance required by Act 198.
Sincerely,
Charles H. Thompson
Secretary, DOT
Referred to committee on Highways and Transportation.
