Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Ninety-Fifth Regular Session
The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date.
__________________
Senate Joint Resolution 35
Relating to: abolishing the office of lieutenant governor (first consideration).
By
Senator
Wirch
; cosponsored by Representative Wasserman
.
Read first time and referred to committee on Universities, Housing, and Government Operations.
Senate Joint Resolution 36
Relating to: urging the U.S. and Canadian governments to prohibit diversion of Great Lakes water.
By
Senators
Cowles, Burke, Risser, Rosenzweig, Decker, Baumgart, Schultz, Roessler, Harsdorf, Darling, Grobschmidt, Hansen and Plache; cosponsored by Representatives Kedzie, Gunderson, Huber, Plale, Ryba, Sherman, Musser, Richards, Krawczyk, F. Lasee, Hahn, Lippert, Krug, Staskunas, Bock, Pocan, Hundertmark, Plouff, Owens, Ladwig, Ott, Meyerhofer, Miller, Nass, Lassa, Skindrud and Boyle.
Read and referred to committee on Environmental Resources.
__________________
Read first time and referred:
Senate Bill 179
Relating to: requiring crossing gates on school buses, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.
By
Senators
Grobschmidt, Plache, Burke, Risser and Shibilski; cosponsored by Representatives Plale, Urban, Sinicki, Turner, Ryba, Ott, Morris-Tatum and Wasserman.
To committee on Education.
Senate Bill 180
Relating to: requirements for applying for and issuing licenses for game bird and animal farms and wildlife exhibits having bears, cougars, or wolves.
By
Senators
Roessler, Breske, Cowles and Baumgart; cosponsored by Representatives Owens, Townsend, Ott, Wade, Vrakas, Musser, Lippert, Hahn and Krawczyk.
To committee on Environmental Resources.
Senate Bill 181
Relating to: an individual's ownership of his or her personal identifiers and providing a penalty.
By
Senators
Erpenbach, Robson and Darling; cosponsored by Representatives Schneider, Sinicki, Suder, Ryba, Musser, J. Lehman, Ott, Coggs, Gronemus, Albers and Boyle.
To committee on Privacy, Electronic Commerce and Financial Institutions.
Senate Bill 182
Relating to: phasing out the annual delay in school aid payments.
By
Senators
Cowles, Moen, Plache, Schultz, Darling, Huelsman, Lazich and Roessler; cosponsored by Representatives Ladwig, Townsend, Ryba, Krawczyk, La Fave, Hahn, M. Lehman, Musser, J. Lehman, Gronemus, Powers and Boyle.
To committee on Education.
__________________
The joint committee on Employment Relations reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 183
Relating to: expansion of the catastrophic leave program administered by the department of employment relations.
Introduction.
Ayes, 8 - Senators
Risser, Burke, Chvala and Panzer. Representatives Jensen, Foti, Gard and Black.
Noes, 0 - None.
To committee on Universities, Housing, and Government Operations.
Fred Risser
Senate Chairperson
__________________
State of Wisconsin
May 15, 2001
The Honorable, The Senate:
As President of the Wisconsin State Senate, under Wisconsin Statutes Section
15.177, I am empowered with the responsibility to appoint one member of the Senate majority party to the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
I am writing to notify you that I am appointing Senator Jon Erpenbach to this position effective immediately.
If you have questions or comments regarding this appointment, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Senator Fred A. Risser
President, Wisconsin State Senate
Legislative Audit Bureau
May 15, 2001
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of health care in Wisconsin's adult prisons, as requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. In fiscal year (FY) 1999-2000, the Department of Corrections spent $37.2 million and employed 232.5 full-time equivalent medical professionals and other support staff to provide health care to approximately 14,900 adult inmates.
The Department currently receives as many as 1,000 requests for health services from inmates each working day, approximately 60 percent of which are for prescription refills. Staff also responded to 8,137 emergencies during FY 1999-2000. We found that approximately 5,000 inmates, or one-third of the population suffers from at least one chronic illness, and we conclude that improvements are needed in the management of chronic illnesses, contract oversight, and mental health services.
The Governor's 2001-2003 Biennial Budget Proposal provides an additional $37.6 million in general purpose revenue and an additional 157.5 positions for prison health care, including $17.3 million and 118.0 positions for new institutions and facility expansions. We reviewed this proposal and several alternatives to determine whether costs associated with additional prison health care staff could be offset through management improvements or other changes. We found limited opportunities and significant challenges for reducing health care expenditures as costs for certain medical services and pharmaceuticals, which are not subject to the Department's control, continue to increase.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by Department of Corrections management and staff. The Department's response is Appendix 6.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
May 15, 2001
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 2001 session of the legislature, visit the Ethics Board's web site at
http://ethics.state.wi.us/
Bybee, Roger Wisconsin Citizen Action
Dilweg, Sean WEA Insurance Corporation
Essie, Patrick WEA Insurance Corporation
Hermes, Ronald Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
Kuehn, Ronald W Wisconsin Coalition for Fair Competition
O'Meara, Jack WEA Insurance Corporation
Osborne, Patrick Joint Water Quality Commision of Danbury & St. Croix Chippewa Indians
of Wisconsin
Schwartzer, Daniel Wisconsin Association of Health Underwriters
Tenuta, James Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
Winters, Amy American Crop Protection Association
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 organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
Roth Judd
