December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am requesting the removal of Senator Russell Decker from the Senate Committee on Audit and from the Joint Committee on Audit effective today.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please contact me should you need further information.
Sincerely,
Senator Charles Chvala
Senate Democratic Leader
State of Wisconsin
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am requesting the removal of Senator Brian Burke from the Senate Committee on Judiciary effective today, per his request.
I am also writing to resign as a member of the Senate committee on Insurance, effective immediately.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please contact me should you need further information.
Sincerely,
Senator Charles Chvala
Senate Democratic Leader
State of Wisconsin
Committee on Senate Organization
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
20, I have made the following appointments to Senate Standing Committees:
To the committee on Insurance, Senator Robert Jauch;
Sincerely,
Senator Michael Ellis
Chair
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Adit Bureau
December 19, 1995
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of methods for allocating district attorney positions, as requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. District attorney positions were transferred from the county to state employment in 1990.
Currently, there are 360.5 authorized full-time equivalent state prosecutor positions. State expenditures for prosecutorial responsibilities totaled $28.4 million in fiscal year 1994-95. The current distribution of district attorney positions is largely a result of county staffing decisions made before the transfer to state employment. Although there has been an 8.6 percent increase in positions since 1990, the majority of requests have been denied, in part because of insufficient information about district attorney workload and questions concerning the accuracy of available information in portraying actual workload.
We include a number of recommendations to make the existing caseload measure more accurate by including more types of cases in the measure, recognizing the effect of homicides on case weights, and improving reporting to make data more comparable among counties. Once the caseload measure is made more accurate, it could be used to compare actual workload against a standard in order to evaluate position increase requests. To do so, a workload goal or standard would need to be established, similar to workload standards established for circuit court judges.
We also note that under current statutes, legislative control over the authorization of additional prosecutor positions can be bypassed by appointment and local funding of certain special prosecutor positions. If the Legislature wishes to restrict such activity in order to maintain property tax relief efforts by ensuring that only state funds are used for prosecutors, statutes governing the appointment and funding of public service special prosecutors need to be modified.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the State Prosecutors Office staff, district attorneys, and court staff throughout the state. The response of the State Prosecutors Office is Appendix V.
Sincerely,
dale cattanach
State Auditor
Legislative Council
December 15, 1995
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following report to the 1995 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council:
RL 95-6 Legislation on State Fire Programs
(1995 Assembly Bill 746)
I would appreciate your including this letter in the Journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of this report are available, on request, in the Legislative Council Staff offices, One East Main, Suite 401.
Sincerely,
david j. stute
Director
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
December 12, 1995
To the Honorable the Senate:
At the direction of s.
13.685(7), Wisconsin Statutes, I am notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers.
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:
Federated Investors, Inc
Miller, Andrew
Police Assn, Wisconsin Professional
Urso, Steven
Termination of lobbying authorizations:
The following individuals are no longer authorized to lobby on behalf of the organizations listed below, as of the dates indicated.
Firstar Corp
Theo, Peter J. 12/5/95
Homecare Organization, Wisconsin
Burns, Kathleen 12/6/95
Police Assn, Wisconsin Professional
Taranto, Mindy 12/6/95
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
Ethics Board
December 19, 1995
To the Honorable the Senate:
At the direction of s.
13.685(7), Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board that employ 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 each 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.
Organizations recently registered:
Below are the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board as employing one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules.
AMEX Life Assurance Company
Long term care insurance, specifically the amendment and creation of sec. Ins 3.455, Wisc. Adm. Code.
Bablitch, Stephen
UNUM Life Insurance Company of America
Long Term Care Insurance Regulation
Essie, Patrick
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:
Builders Assn, Wisconsin
Wendle, William
Children's Health System, Inc.
