Assembly Bill 24344 December 15, 1997
Assembly Bill 27045 December 15, 1997
Assembly Bill 34346 December 15, 1997
Assembly Bill 40347 December 15, 1997
Assembly Bill 43348 December 15, 1997
Respectfully submitted,
Tommy G. Thompson
Governor
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources
Madison
December 10, 1997
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Enclosed please find a copy of the Department's report entitled, "Funding Wisconsin's Fish and Wildlife Account."
This report fulfills the Legislative directive from Wisconsin Act 1, signed in March, requesting the Department to analyze alternative sources of funding for the Fish and Wildlife Account and "include recommendations as to the preferable options for the alternative funding sources" (see attached Legislative Charge).
We hope that you will find the report a satisfactory fulfillment of this directive. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
George E. Meyer
Secretary, DNR
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
December 15, 1997
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
A454
We have completed an audit of the Kids Information Data System (KIDS), as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The $51.4 million automated child support enforcement system, which was developed by the former Department of Health and Social Services and is currently the responsibility of the Department of Workforce Development, was implemented statewide in September 1996.
Although several factors influenced the development of KIDS, in order to avoid serious financial consequences the Department gave priority to ensuring the system would meet the requirements of the federal Family Support Act of 1988. While this helped to ensure conditional federal certification of KIDS in September 1997, it also led to the development of a system that does not fully meet the needs of the county staff who rely on it to fulfill their day-to-day responsibilities.
Currently available management information is inadequate for reaching conclusions about the system's overall effect on the child support program. However, we were able to determine that collections for cases that involved county enforcement services increased by $19.3 million, to $459.6 million, during the first full year of the system's operation. This is a 4.4 percent increase over the previous year, but it is less than the increase in each of the four years that preceded the implementation of KIDS.
The Department has requested the release of funding necessary to operate the system for the remainder of fiscal year 1997-98, as well as to modify it so additional state and federal requirements can be met. The Department has not, however, requested funds to address the outstanding county needs. We have identified a source of funding to address these needs and include a recommendation to the Department for developing a plan and establishing a deadline to address the continuing operational problems experienced by the counties.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the many county staff who assisted us during the course of this evaluation, as well as by the Department of Workforce Development. The Department's response is Appendix III.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale Cattanach
State Auditor
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REFERENCE BUREAU CORRECTIONS
Assembly Resolution 9
1. Page 1, line 11: substitute "assembly" for "legislature".
Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 463
In engrossing, the following correction was made:
1. Page 19, line 1: before "Subchapter" insert "Section 49x.".
Assembly Bill 651
1. Page 53, line 4: delete the comma.
