Sincerely,
Roth Judd
Director
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
September 5, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
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
Reed, Holly Ameritech (Wis Bell Inc)
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
Department of Administration
August 15, 2000
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Chapter
34, Laws of 1979, requires that when the Department of Administration maintains an office in Washington, DC, for the purpose of promoting federal/state cooperation, it should submit a report detailing the activities of the office and reporting the status of federal legislation of concern to the Legislature and other state agencies (Wis. Stats. 16.548(2)).
The report for the period April, 2000, through June, 2000, is attached.
Sincerely,
George Lightbourn
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
August 25, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
We have completed financial audits of the Mendota and Winnebago Mental Health Institutes for fiscal year 1998-99, at the request of the Department of Health and Family Services. We were able to provide unqualified opinions on the Institutes' financial statements. We note that, on an accrual basis, Mendota Mental Health Institutes had net income of $787,000 and Winnebago Mental Health Institute had net income of $2.6 million.
For several years, the Department did not maintain an adequate system to accumulate accurate and reliable information on patient revenues and outstanding patient accounts receivables and to summarize that information for financial reporting purposes. In January 1999, the Department began implementing a new billing and receivable system, but the system has not yet been able to produce receivable balances that we could rely upon for financial statement purposes. We anticipate that as the Department completes an analysis of receivable balances and works with its software vendor to address system issues, the new system will be more reliable and will allow for more accurate financial reporting in the future.
Copies of the audit report have been distributed to members of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and those required by law to receive them. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this report, please contact our office and request report number 00-9. The report is also available on line at
www.legis.state.wi.us\lab\windex.htm.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
Department of Revenue
August 25, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
The Benevolent Retirement Home for the Aged Task Force was created under
1997 Wisconsin Act 27 to investigate the property tax exemption for benevolent retirement homes and all problems that are associated with it.
The task force has completed its work. The reports to be submitted in the manner provided under s.
13.172)2), Wis. Stats., are attached. One report is submitted on behalf of the five members representing the not-for-profit perspective. The other report (entitled "The Government 5 Report") is submitted on behalf of the five members representing for-profit facilities and taxing jurisdictions.
Other attachments include a Department of Revenue Staff Summary of the work of the task force and an appendix consisting of presentations at task force meetings and materials distributed to members.
Sincerely,
Tom Ourada
Executive Assistant
State of Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources
September 1, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to
1999 Wisconsin Act 9 section
9136 (7), the Department is required to study the state's program for regulating the application of septage to land and submit a report presenting the results of the study to the Legislature in the manner provided in section
13.172 (2) of the statutes.
That study, the Audit Report of DNR Septage Management Program, prepared by Dr. Aga Razvi of the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources is attached. The Department believed it best to contract the program audit to an independent neutral party.
Dr. Razvi attempted to contact as many parties involved in various aspects of the septage program as possible to gain a panoramic perspective of the issues and the effectiveness of DNR's oversight. This included County staff, septage pumpers, publicly owned treatment works representatives, DNR staff, and Town chairpersons.
The Department believes the audit contains numerous beneficial recommendations. The audit particularly emphasizes that the Department has inadequate staff assigned to the septage program to ensure effective oversight. The conclusions bear out recommendations which have been proposed through several Department initiatives over the past several years. The Department had requested additional staff as part of a far-reaching septage proposal including a funding mechanism in the 1999-2001 biennial budget. While maintenance of septic systems was beyond the scope of this audit, it was a major portion of the Department budget proposal and is a component which may merit further examination.
Please feel free to contact Greg Kester of my staff, at 608-267-7611, if you have any questions or comments regarding the enclosed report, or if you would like additional copies.
Sincerely,
George E. Meyer
Secretary
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
August 24, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Mejchar, James D.,
of West Allis, as a member of the State Fair Park Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2004.
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Agriculture, Environmental Resources and Campaign Finance Reform.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
August 24, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Wilson
, R. Douglas,
of Shawano, as a member of the State Fair Park Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2003.
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Agriculture, Environmental Resources and Campaign Finance Reform.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
August 24, 2000
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Markos
, Dennis A.,
of Madison, as a member of the State Fair Park Board, to serve for the interim term ending May 1, 2001 and for the full tem ending May 1, 2006.
Sincerely,
TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Agriculture, Environmental Resources and Campaign Finance Reform.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor