Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
__________________
Communications
State of Wisconsin
Revisor of Statutes Bureau
Madison
DATE: April 1, 2003
TO: Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
Donald J. Schneider
Senate Chief Clerk
FROM: Gary L. Poulson
Deputy Revisor of Statutes
SUBJECT: Rules published in the March 31, 2003,
Wisconsin Administrative
Register, No. 567.
The following rules have been published:
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Joint Legislative Council
Madison
April 1, 2003
Mr. Patrick Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 208
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Patrick:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following report to the 2003 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council:
RL 2003-05 Special Committee on Relative Caregivers
I would appreciate your including this letter in the Journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of this report are available in the Legislative Council Staff offices, One East Main, Suite 401, or from our web page at
www.legis.state.wi.us/lc/reports_by_topic.htm.
Sincerely,
Terry C. Anderson
Director
__________________
A153
Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Department of Natural Resources
Madison
March 20, 2003
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
Below is information regarding the Wisconsin Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF) Biennial Finance Plan, submitted in accordance with subsection 281.59 (3)(bm) of the Wisconsin Statutes. That subsection requires the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Administration to submit to the legislature and the Building Commission any amendments to the Biennial Finance Plan which are necessary to reflect material approved by the Governor for inclusion in the biennial budget. The one amendment is as follows:
The Governor recommends that no additional funds be earmarked for each fiscal year of the biennium for the Land Recycling Loan Program.
After the biennial budget bill is enacted a revised version of the Biennial Fiance Plan will be distributed with changes that reflect actions taken in the budget.
If you have any questions regarding the Biennial Finance Plan, please contact Kathryn A. Curtner at 266-0860 or Frank Hoadley at 266-2305.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Hoadley
Capitol Finance Director, Department of Administration
Kathryn A. Curtner, Director
Bureau of Community Financial Assistance,
Department of Natural Resources
Referred to committee on Natural Resources.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Building Commission
Madison
April 1, 2003
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Section
13.48 (2)(e) stipulates that the State of Wisconsin Building Commission shall report to the Legislature at each regular session the progress on projects authorized in the two preceding and current biennia. This report is submitted in accordance with that provision and covers the period from July 1997 through December 2002. Projects having budgets over $100,000 are listed in detail. Those of lesser amounts have been grouped for each agency as one item for the biennium in which they were authorized.
In summary, during this five and one-half-year period, the Building Commission approved projects with a total value of $2,206,630,405.84. Of that amount, $1,564,673,326.06 has been spent or encumbered, leaving a balance of $641,957,079.78 to be used to complete projects in progress. The sources of funds for the projects are either cash or borrowed funds which flow through the Building Trust Fund, the Capital Improvement Fund, or agency operating budgets.
Each section of this report is organized by the state agency for which the facilities are being built. The Wisconsin State Controller's office and user agencies have provided information presented in this report. Building Commission staff has not attempted to verify the figures that were obtained by user agencies. The staff has assembled the material provided by each agency and presents it for your review.
In the future we will include additional qualitative information in this report. In November 2002, the Building Commission approved draft performance measures that will help answer key questions related to the substance and implementation of the State Building Program, including measures of project selection, completion of projects on time and within budget and the total cost of ownership of state facilities.
Sincerely,
Robert G. Cramer
Secretary
Referred to committee on Government Operations and Spending Limitations.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
March 31, 2003
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed our financial and compliance audit of the State of Wisconsin, as requested by state agencies to meet the audit requirements of the federal Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended, and the provisions of federal Office of Management and Budget Circular A-133. Our audit covered the period July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002. In addition to satisfying federal audit requirements, the audit assists us in meeting state audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats.
A154
Audit procedures performed at the larger state agencies that administer federal financial assistance programs, including the University of Wisconsin System, consisted of gaining an understanding of the internal controls at the agencies, assessing the propriety of revenues and expenditures, and testing compliance with laws and regulations related to the administration of federal grant programs. For the smaller agencies and selected University of Wisconsin campuses, our audit procedures were limited to verifying information included in the federally required State of Wisconsin Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and following up on prior-year audit findings. Our review focused on the 25 federal grants that either exceeded the $22.2 million threshold used to define major grants or were below this threshold but were selected for review based on the risk-based assessment criteria established by the federal government.
Our report contains the auditor's reports on compliance and internal control. Because of material noncompliance by the Department of Health and Family Services and the Department of Corrections related to the Foster Care - Title IV-E program, we qualify our opinion on the State's compliance with federal requirements. Our audit opinion on the State of Wisconsin Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards for the audited period is unqualified.
The agency narratives contain our comments on internal control deficiencies related to the administration of federal grants, findings of noncompliance for each agency, and the results of our follow-up to prior audit findings. A summary schedule of findings and questioned costs for the current year's audit is also provided, as well as a summary of the status of findings included in our prior audit report for the State of Wisconsin (report 02-7). We note that, overall, state agencies have complied with federal grant requirements and have taken steps to address findings included in the prior year's single audit report. However, we report internal control deficiencies and several areas of noncompliance, and we identify $847,283 in questioned costs. While higher than last year's questioned costs, this year's amount represents a small portion of the $8.1 billion in federal financial assistance to the State of Wisconsin.
The federal government will resolve the findings and questioned costs included in our report. Federal agencies are expected to contact state agencies regarding resolution. To assist federal officials in their efforts, state agency contact information is provided in appendices to this report.
In addition to the comments and recommendations included in our report, separate audit communications will be issued to various state agencies addressing technical accounting and internal control issues, including those relating to the preparation of the State's financial statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by agency staff during our audit. Agencies' comments on individual findings, along with their corrective action plans to address our concerns, are included within the agency narratives.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
April 4, 2003
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed a review of the Office of Justice Assistance's (OJA's) administration of the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants program at the request of several legislators, including Representative David Cullen, who first requested it. The purpose of the program is to assist states and localities in making delinquent juveniles accountable for the crimes they commit. From the program's inception in 1998 through September 2001, the State received $17.3 million in federal grant funds, and an additional $1.1 million in interest earnings from these funds.
We found serious deficiencies in OJA's management of the program, which resulted from a noncompetitive grant award process, inadequate oversight by the 27-member Juvenile Justice Commission, and the significant discretion allowed OJA's former Executive Director. We question a total of $279,033 in expenditures that were funded primarily by the program and are either inconsistent with its purpose or excessive for a state agency. This amount includes $149,784 in expenditures incurred during fiscal year 2001-02, which are reported in our 2001-02 single audit report (report 03-5).
From federal fiscal year 1997-98 through federal fiscal year 2001-02, the Department of Corrections was awarded $3.7 million in Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants funds without consideration of statewide priorities, which had not been developed. We include a recommendation for OJA to establish a competitive process for distributing all program funds to local governments and state agencies.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by OJA staff during our review.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
