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State of Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Administration
Madison
August 25, 1995
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
Attached to this letter is the Clean Water Fund Biennial Finance Plan for the 1995-1997 biennium. Submission to and review of the Biennial Finance Plan by the Joint Committee on Finance, environmental legislative standing committees and the Building Commission is required under s.
144.2415(3), Wis. Stats. The statute allows the Joint Committee on Finance and each standing committee to submit to the Building Commission its recommendations and comments regarding each version of the Biennial Finance Plan.
This plan was prepared jointly by the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Administration Capital Finance Office. This final version of the plan reflects
1995 Wis. Act 27. Previous Biennial Finance Plans included a list of grant and loan funds received by municipalities during the last biennium. That list will be part of the Biennial Finance Report which will be distributed on November 1, 1995.
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 Environmental Loans, DNR
FRANK R. HOADLEY
Capital Finance Director
DOA
Referred to committee on Environment and Utilities.
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Communications
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
August 29, 1995
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board's bonus compensation plan and private placement investment activities, as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. This is in addition to report 95-16, which examined the Board's investment practices.
Administration of the bonus compensation plan has improved since 1991, when the Legislature required changes to ensure that awards were based on merit. Nevertheless, the Investment Board remains concerned that staff turnover and recruiting efforts are affected by its ability to compete with private-sector investment firms for staff. In Assembly Bill 150, the Governor proposed increasing the amount of funds available for bonuses and the size of bonuses and the size of bonuses available to individual staff. However, bonuses that have been paid have seldom approached the current limit of 25 percent of an individual's salary, because funds available are limited to 10 percent of annual salaries and because the Board's policy allows some available funds to lapse.
Private placements are loans or other direct investments in businesses. In 1995, the Investment Board's private placement portfolio includes almost $3.6 billion, of which 12 percent is invested in Wisconsin companies. A 1994 review by Price Waterhouse found only one instance in which investment staff did not follow all of the Board's investment guidelines for private placements. However, Price Waterhouse recommended more investment authority be delegated to staff and that investment procedures be made more explicit.
We also reviewed the Board's investments with companies controlled by Mr. Irwin Jacobs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although several steps in the transactions involving Mr. Jacobs raise questions, Investment Board staff indicate the process used in approving these investments was similar to that used in other private placement transactions.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board's staff. A response from the Board's Executive Director is Appendix II.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale Cattanach
State Auditor
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REFERENCE BUREAU CORRECTIONS
Assembly Bill 94
1. Page 4, line 16: substitute "deceased" for "decreased".
