Tuesday, April 4, 2000
1:10 P.M.
Ninety-Fourth Regular Session
The Senate met.
The Senate was called to order by Senator Fred Risser.
The Chair, with unanimous consent, asked that the proper entries be made in the Journal.
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Senate Petition 13
A petition by 419 volunteer Firefighters and EMT Professionals, in support of proclaiming March 28 - April 4, 2000 as "Volunteer Firefighter and E.M.T. Professional Appreciation Week", and in support of Senate Bill 75 and Assembly Bill 187, relating to length of service awards.
By
Senators
Zien and Shibilski.
To committee on Labor.
State of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Technical College System Board
April 4, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am please to share with you the attached report in compliance with section
38.04(21) of the statutes. This provision requires the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) Board to submit an annual report regarding high school students attending technical colleges. The report is to be submitted to the Legislature and to three state agencies (Department of Administration, Public Instruction and Workforce Development). The reporting requirement was established in the 1997-99 biennial budget (
1997 Wisconsin Act 27).
This is the third year that the WTCS Board has issued a report under this provision. This report provides enrollment information from the 1998-99 fiscal year. The prior two reports covered fiscal years 1996-97 and 1997-98 respectively.
In summary, the report indicates that the number of technical college courses taken by high school students continues to grow each year, especially under the Youth Options program. For 1998-99, the following level of activity occurred:
•Nearly 3,600 high school students attended the WTCS under the 118.15 Compulsory Education Option.
•1,542 high school students attended the WTCS under the Youth Options Program (formerly know as the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program) compared to 624 students in 1997-98. In addition, the number of WTCS courses and credits taken under the Youth Options Program was three times greater in 1998-99 than in 1997-98. This significant growth was due in part to the changes made to the program that were enacted in the 1997-99 biennial budget.
•Over 6,700 high school students enrolled in WTCS postsecondary level courses through means other than 118.15 Compulsory Education or Youth Options.
If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact Dan Clancy, Assistant State Director, at (608) 266-7983.
Sincerely,
Edward Chin
State Director
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
March 29, 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 February 2000.
On February 1, 2000 the Wisconsin Health Education Loan Repayment Fund balance was -$7 thousand. This shortfall increased to -$12 thousand on February 22, 2000 and to -$28 thousand on February 28, 2000. This shortfall decreased to -$6 thousand on February 29, 2000 and continued into the month of March. As of the date of this letter, it is expected to be resolved soon. This shortfall is due to the timing of revenues.
On February 1, 2000 the Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan Fund balance was -$138 thousand. This shortfall increased to -$145 thousand on February 11, 2000 and continued until February 15, 2000 when the balance reached $5 thousand. This shortfall was due to the timing of revenues.
On February 2, 2000 the University Trust-Income Fund balance was -$26 thousand. This shortfall increased to -$50 thousand on February 3, 2000 and continued until February 4, 2000 when the balance reached $1.96 million. This shortfall was due to the timing of revenues.
The Wisconsin Health Education Loan Repayment Fund, Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Plan Fund, and University Trust-Income Fund shortfalls 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.
Department of Commerce
March 31, 2000
The Honorable, The Legislature:
In accordance with s.
560.38, Wis. Stats., I am please to provide the Department's evaluation of the Certified Capital Company (CAPCO) program as of December 31, 1999. As you are aware, the CAPCO program was created by
1997 Wisconsin Act 215 to stimulate the development of small high-growth businesses in Wisconsin by improving accesss to venture capital. The program went into effect July 1, 1999.
Sincerely,
Brenda J. Blanchard
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
March 29, 2000
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the Special Needs Adoption program, as requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. The Department of Health and Family Services arranges adoptions for children determined to have special needs because of disability, age, ethnicity or other factors that may make placement difficult.
Since we last reviewed this program, the Department has increased the number of children placed for adoption from 273 in fiscal year 1993-94 to 415 in calendar year 1998. However, because of changes in federal law that are designed to reduce the amount of time children spend in foster care, caseloads of children awaiting placement are likely to increase in the future.
The Department has used available federal funding to hire project staff, contract with private agencies for placement services, and contract for aggressive promotional efforts to attract adoptive families. These efforts are positive and may eventually increase placements. Nevertheless, our audit identified a number of program inefficiencies that continue to hamper prompt, appropriate placement of children and equitable treatment of families. For example, the Department's process for evaluating potential adoptive families have not been applied consistently. Consequently, some families have been rejected while others have been approved despite receiving lower or identical scores. In addition, information about available qualified families and children in need of placement is not shared systematically among the Department's five regions to help speed placements.
Our report includes a number of recommendations to the Department for improving program management and increasing the efficiency with which children can leave foster care and be placed with families that meet the Department's standards.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Department of Health and Family Services. The Department's response in Appendix IV.
Sincerely,
Jan Mueller
State Auditor
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State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 24, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
This is to inform you that I am withdrawing the nomination of Robert E. Morris for appointment to the Public Defender Board.
Mr. Morris has notified my office that he wishes his nomination to be withdrawn at this time.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Tommy G. Thompson
