State of Wisconsin
Joint Committee on Legislative Organization
January 28, 2000
The Honorable, The Legislature:
On behalf of the joint committee on Legislative Organization (JCLO), we are pleased to announce the appointment of Terry C. Anderson as the Director of the Legislative Council Staff. Mr. Anderson will begin on March 13, 2000. Mr. Anderson has 23 years' experience with the nonpartisan South Dakota Legislative Research Council, serving as its Director for the past 17 years. Mr. Anderson has also been very active in the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), serving the NCSL as its staff chair, a member of its Executive Committee and in numerous other capacities.
We look forward to Terry Anderson's tenure as Director of the Legislative Council Staff, and ask that you join us in wishing him well in this position.
Sincerely,
President Fred A. Risser
Cochairperson
Speaker Scott R. Jensen
Cochairperson
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State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Joint Legislative Council
January 27, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following report to the 1999 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council.
RL 99-14 Legislation on Discipline of Health Care
Professionals (1999 Senate Bills 317 and 318)
I would appreciated your including this letter in the journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of this report are available at the Legislative Council Staff offices, One East Main, Suite 401, or from our web page at
www.legis.state.wi.us/lc/jlc99recs.htm.
Sincerely,
Jane R. Henkel
Acting Director
State of Wisconsin
Milwaukee Public Schools
January 28, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
Enclosed you will find a copy of the report entitled "State-Funded High/Scope All-Day Five-Year-Old Kindergarten Program and State-Funded High/Scope first Grade Program." this report summarizes the projects and the data collected for the 1998-1999 school year.
This report was prepared in response to Sections
119.71,
119.73, and
119.75 of the current state statutes.
Sincerely,
Mickey Beil
Governmental Relations Specialist
Office of Governmental Relations
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
January 24, 2000
The Honorable, The Legislature:
This report is transmitted as required by sec. 20.002(11)(f) of the Wisconsin Statutes, (for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under sec. 13.172(3) Stats.), and confirms that the Department of Administration has found it necessary to exercise the "temporary reallocation of balances" authority provided by this section in order to meet payment responsibilities and cover resulting negative balances during the month of December, 1999.
On December 1, 1999 the Wisconsin Health Education Loan Repayment Fund balance was -$5 thousand. This Shortfall increase to -$6 thousand on December 6, 1999 and continued into the month of January. As of the date of this letter, it is expected to be resolved in the near future. This shortfall is due to the timing of revenues.
On December 1, 1999 the Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan Fund balance was -$59 thousand. This Shortfall increase to -$68 thousand on December 15, 1999, to -$77 thousand on December 30, 1999, and continued into the month of January. As of the date of this letter, it is expected to be resolved in the near future. This shortfall is due to the timing of revenues.
The Wisconsin Health Education Loan Repayment Fund and Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan Fund shrotfalls were not in excess of the statutory interfund borrowing limitation and did not exceed the balances of the Funds available for interfund borrowing.
The distribution of interest earnings to investment pool participants is based on the average daily balance in the pool and each fund's share. Therefore, the monthly calculation by the State Controller's Office will automatically reflect the use of these temporary reallocations of balance authority.
Sincerely,
George Lightbourn
Secretary
Referred to the joint committee on Finance.
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 30 ,1999
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed a financial audit of the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board Television Network to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats., and as requested by the Educational Communications Board to fulfill the audit requirements of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation requires audited financial statements of public broadcasting entities to determine future funding levels.
The Educational Communications Board, which is an agency of the State of Wisconsin, operates a television network of five stations, as well as a radio network of ten FM stations and one AM station. The television network received $10.6 million in support and revenue during fiscal year 1998-99, including state support, member contributions, funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and various other grants.
Our audit report contains the financial statements and related notes for the period July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999. We were able to issue an unqualified independent auditor's report on these statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by Educational Communications Board staff during the audit.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 30 ,1999
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed a financial audit of the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board Radio Network to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats., and as requested by the Educational Communications Board to fulfill the audit requirements of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation requries audited financial statements of public broadcasting entities to determine future funding levels.
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The Educational Communications Board, which is an agency of the State of Wisconsin, operates a radio network of ten FM stations and one AM station, as well as a television network of five stations. The radio network received over $6.2 million in support and revenue during fiscal year 1998-99, including state support, member contributions, funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and various other grants.
Our audit report contains the financial statements and related notes for the period July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999. We were able to issue an unqualified independent auditor's report on these statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by Educational Communications Board staff during the audit.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
January 27, 2000
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of county nursing home funding, as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. In fiscal year (FY) 1998-99, the State provided $698.1 million in state and federal funds to care for Medical Assistance recipients requiring skilled care in 417 skilled nursing facilities, including 47 that are county-owned.
Administrators of county-owned facilities have expressed concern that current Medical Assistance funding is not sufficient to cover their costs. In FY 1998-99, 44 of the 47 facilities reported deficits, which totaled $66.6 million. County officials argue these deficits were incurred, in part, because their facilities provide care to a disproportionate share of residents who present challenging behaviors in addition to their other medical needs and who are more costly to care for than other nursing home residents.
Based on our analysis, it appears that residents of county-owned facilities generally present more challenging behaviors than residents of privately owned facilities. For example, as part of the most recently completed facility certification survey, the percentage of residents reported to exhibit challenging behaviors was 41.9 percent in county-owned facilities, and 27.1 percent in privately owned facilities.
To address their concerns, county officials have suggested the State increase reimbursement through the Intergovernmental Transfer program, which provides direct supplemental payments to county-owned facilities. County officials believe additional reimbursement is justified because the percentage of county losses funded by this program has declined each year since the program's creation, from 86.1 percent in FY 1993-94 to 55.7 percent in FY 1998-99.
If the Legislature believes additional funding is warranted, it has a number of options for increasing reimbursements to counties and other skilled nursing facilities that serve individuals exhibiting challenging behaviors. However, such increases would require the Legislature to appropriate additional general purpose revenue to fund program costs, may serve as a disincentive to controlling county nursing home costs, and may hamper efforts to increase the amount of care provided in less restrictive, community-based settings.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Department of Health and Family Services and by the county officials and administrators of the nursing facilities we contacted during the course of the audit. The Department's response is Appendix IV.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
February 1, 2000
The following lobbyists have been authorized to act on behalf of the organizations set opposite their names.
For more detailed information about these lobbyists and organizations and a complete list of organizations and people authorized to lobby the 1999 session of the legislature, visit the Ethics Board's web site at
http://ethics.state.wi.us
Beglinger, Robert Wisconsin Federation of Teachers
