Referred to committee on Transportation, Agriculture and Local Affairs.
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Social Services
June 30, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
1989 Wisconsin Act 31, Section
1118i, requires the Department of Health and Social Services to submit to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature a report on June 30 annually on the allocation and expenditure of funds for services for homeless individuals. Attached is the Department's fourth annual report.
Departmental staff are available if you have any questions or require any additional information.
Sincerely,
richard Lorang
Acting Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction
July 5, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Attached is a report on the After School and Summer School grant program as required by State Statute, Sec. 115.361(5)(c)3.
Please contact me or my staff should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
john t. benson
State Superintendent
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
July 10, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the investment practices of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, as requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. A second report, to be released later this summer, will examine the structure of the Investment Board's employe salary bonus plan and the process used to select investments for the Board's private placement portfolio.
On March 17, 1995, the Investment Board publicly disclosed that the State Investment Fund, which at the time had assets of approximately $6.8 billion, had incurred a $95 million loss. The loss resulted from the Investment Board's efforts to enhance earnings through the use of derivatives without an adequate understanding of the risk some investments presented. Staff contend they were misled in the purchase of a Mexican interest rate swap by an investment dealer, but a careful analysis of documents presented and a few simple calculations would have identified the risk in this transaction. Further, when this and another derivative investment experienced substantial losses, investment staff restructured the investment agreements in an effort to minimize loss, but in doing so put even more funds at risk.
Effective management oversight mechanisms might have prevented the loss, but the Investment Board's decentralized organizational structure and existing oversight mechanisms were inadequate to detect potential problem investments. We make recommendations for the Executive Director and the Board of Trustees to improve investments reporting and oversight.
Since the $95 million loss was disclosed, $1.4 billion has been withdrawn from the State Investment Fund's Local Government Investment Pool. The loss, together with local officials' concerns about the Fund's management and state officials' concerns about local governments' ability to leave the Fund without penalty, suggest that changes in the State Investment Funds are needed.
The loss in the State Investment Fund also raised questions about derivative holdings in the Wisconsin Retirement Funds. On May 30, the Investment Board disclosed a net unrealized loss of $93 million from approximately 200 derivatives in the Retirement Funds. However, this is not as significant as the loss in the State Investment Fund because it is a loss based on market prices, which regularly change, and because of the size of the Retirement Funds and the long-term nature of their investments.
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We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board's trustees and staff. A response from the Board's Executive Director is Appendix VI.
Sincerely,
dale cattanach
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
July 5, 1995
To the Honorable the Senate:
At the direction of s.
13.685(7), Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the name of an organization recently registered with the Ethics Board that employs one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules, and notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers. For the recently registered organization I have included the organization's description of the general area of legislative or administrative action that it attempts to influence and the name of each licensed lobbyist that the organization has authorized to act on its behalf.
Organization recently registered:
Below is the name of an organization recently registered with the Ethics Board as employing one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules.
Midway Hotel - Highway 100
Subjects: Any matter affecting the company in any way by any agency or the legislature.
Broydrick, Bill
Broydrick, Cindi
Organization's authorization of additional lobbyists:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board as employers of lobbyists have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
Consulting Engineers, Wisconsin Assn of
Stitt, Donald
Firstar Corp
Bablitch, Stephen
Petroleum Marketers Assn of Wisconsin & Wisconsin Assoc. of Convenience Stores, Inc
Solie, Denise Leigh
Organization's termination of lobbyists:
Each of the following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board as the employer of a lobbyist has withdrawn, on the date indicated, its authorization for the lobbyist identified to act on the organization's behalf.
Automotive Trades Assn, Inc, Wisconsin
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Delta Dental Plan of Wisconsin, Inc
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Health Insurance Assn of America
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Metropolitan Milwaukee Assn of Commerce
Hilbert, Lisa 6/30/95
Tenuta, James 6/30/95
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Physical Therapy Assn, Wisconsin
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Theatre Owners, National Assn of
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Truck Stop Operators, Inc, Wisconsin Assn of
Gundermann, Robert 6/30/95
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by the organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
June 30, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
In accordance with s.619.15 (2), Wis. Stat., I am pleased to submit the annual Report of the Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP). The plan was established in 1981 and now offers health insurance to 11,264 Wisconsin residents.
I am confident that the HIRSP Board of Governors will continue to explore additional cost-containment options for the plan, which will prove to be beneficial to both HIRSP enrollees and the state of Wisconsin.
The data continues to show that HIRSP remains as a viable alternative for health insurance for Wisconsin citizens. Please contact Eileen Mallow of my staff if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Josephine Musser
Commissioner of Insurance
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
June 30, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Attached is the annual report of the Small Employers Insurance Board (Board) as required under Section
635.23, Wis. Stat.
The report discusses, among other issues, the performance of the Small Employer Health Insurance Basic Plan. In evaluating the performance of this Plan which requires small group health insurers to offer a guarantee issue product, the Board expressed a desire to communicate opinions to the Legislature on how the performance of this plan could be improved.
Since some of the proposals discussed by the Board lie outside of its jurisdiction, it was felt that they be communicated separate from the annual report. In particular, the Board identified the following suggestions:
1. The provisions in the state statute for the Basic Plan should be amended to allow for two policies, one with a high annual limit on coverage and one with a low annual limit. The low annual limit of $30,000 in benefits was identified in a recent survey as one of the more negative aspects of the benefit design preventing employers from purchasing policies.
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2. Statutes mandating an employer contribution should be amended to allow for employees to pay more of the premium, rather than not be eligible for the Basic Plan because an employer could not afford to contribute to premiums.
3. Expand the effects of Chapter
635, Wis. Stat. to apply to larger groups (for example up to 100 employees).
The Board felt that these changes would improve the marketability of Basic Plan policies by insurers.
