The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
July 7, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Section
15.227(8), Wis. Stats., I am appointing Senator Robert Welch to serve on the Council on Migrant Labor.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Ellis
Senate Majority Leader
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
June 30, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
1989 Wisconsin Act 31, Section
1118i, requires the Department of Health and Family 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 eighth annual report.
Department staff are available if you have any questions or require any additional information.
Sincerely,
Joe Leean
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
July 1, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
As required by s.
252.04(11), Wis. Stats., enclosed is the Annual Statewide Immunization Program Report. Please distribute this report to the appropriate standing committees.
Sincerely,
Joe Leean
Secretary
Referred to committee on Health, Family Services and Aging.
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
June 30, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate/Legislature:
At the direction of §
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.
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.
Counties Assn, Wisconsin
Markeland, Kathy 6/30/98
Electricity, Coalition for Competition in
Fassbender, Robert I 6/30/98
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HMOs, Assn of Wisconsin
Kammer, Peter A 6/29/98
Public Service Corporation, Wisconsin
Sandberg, Walter 6/30/98
Organization's cessation of lobbying activity:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board as employers of lobbyists have indicated a cessation of all lobbying activity effective on the dates shown.
Magellan Health Services, Inc. 6/29/98
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,
Roth Judd
Director
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
July 1, 1998
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the Department of Natural Resources' expenditures that support Wisconsin's fish and wildlife programs. In fiscal year (FY) 1996-97, the Department spent $81.2 million on fish and wildlife activities. The majority of expenditures, 78.9 percent, were made from the Fish and Wildlife Account, which is primarily funded by fishing and hunting user fees. Although Wisconsin is not unique in its use of user fees to fund fish and wildlife programs, it depends on these fees to a larger extent than most other states.
Because the Department uses funds from the Fish and Wildlife Account for many activities, hunters and anglers have been concerned about whether the fees they pay are used exclusively for hunting and fishing activities, or whether they are used for more broad-based environmental programs. The Department's accounting systems do not allow revenues from specific licenses, such as deer hunting licenses, to be linked directly with particular expenditures. Nevertheless, we could determine that of the $50.4 million in user fees spent in FY 1996-97, 39.7 percent primarily benefited hunters and anglers; 35.3 percent benefited multiple users, who included but were not limited to hunters and anglers; 23.0 percent was used to finance a portion of the Department's overhead costs; and 2.0 percent was spent on activities that did not directly support hunting and fishing opportunities. In addition to expenditures supported by user fees, the Department spent $11.3 million from sources other than user fees on activities that primarily benefited hunters and anglers, and $18.7 million from other sources on activities that benefited multiple users.
The Department has substantial flexibility in how it spends fish and wildlife funds. This flexibility has led some to question the Department's accountability to the Legislature and hunters and anglers, whose fees fund most program costs. We have included recommendations to improve the Department's reporting methods through the development of appropriate performance measures and the reporting of expenditures in the context of progress toward meeting performance goals.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by staff of the Department of Natural Resources. A response from the Department is Appendix VII.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
July 6, 1998
The Honorable, The Legislature:
As requested by the Public Service Commission (PSC), we have completed a financial audit of the Universal Service Fund, which was established under
1993 Wisconsin Act 496 to ensure that all state residents receive essential telecommunication services and have access to advanced telecommunication capabilities, such as the Internet. Our audit report contains our unqualified opinion on the Fund's financial statements and related notes for the calendar years ending December 31, 1997 and December 31, 1996.
During the course of our audit, we found that PSC has not fully developed all of the programs it established to enhance telecommunication capabilities around the state. Consequently, the Fund's 1997 expenditures were significantly less than its $8 million budget for programs and administration, and its balance increased by $1.91 million to reach $6.27 million at the end of its second year of operation. To reduce this balance, PSC temporarily suspended revenue assessments against telecommunication providers effective January 1998.
The Legislature also intends to fund the Educational Telecommunications Access Program, which is one of five programs related to the Technology for Educational Achievement (TEACH) initiative established in
1997 Wisconsin Act 27, from the Universal Service Fund. The program is intended to provide eligible school districts, technical college districts, private colleges, and private library boards with enhanced telecommunication services such as direct access to the Internet and two-way interactive video, which allows participants to view and respond to instructional presentations made from off-site locations. The Legislature appropriated $12.32 million from the Universal Service Fund to support this program during the 1997-99 biennium.
As of May 31, 1998, the Universal Service Fund had not incurred any expenditures under the Educational Telecommunications Access Program. However, because the entire $12.32 million is available to the TEACH Board for expenditure at any time during the 1997-99 biennium, PSC will need to re-institute assessments against telecommunication providers. The Joint Committee on Finance may wish to ensure that the fees assessed against the telecommunication providers are sufficient and timely to fund all Universal Service Fund expenditures when it receives a report concerning certain financial activities, which the Legislature required from PSC and the TEACH Board under non-statutory provisions in
1997 Wisconsin Act 27. That report is due in August 1998.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the staff at PSC and at the Fund's administrator, Williams, Young and Associates, LLC, during the audit. A response from Public Service Commission is the appendix.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Higher Educational Aids board
June 30, 1998
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Per
1997 Act 27, section
9156(1)(h) the Higher Educational Aids Board along with the Educational Approval Board have conducted a study to identify all statutes relating to the functions and duties of each board that are obsolete or antiquated. Attached are the findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
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If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (608)264-6181. Thank you for your time and consideration.
