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State of Wisconsin
Department of Transportation
Madison
March 9, 2004
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
I am pleased to present to you, for distribution to the Wisconsin Assembly, the annual evaluation report on the Pretrial Intoxicated Driver Intervention Grant Program. It is also available on our website
www.dot.wisconsin.gov/library/publications/topic/safety.htm. The program, created by section 85.53 Wis. Stats., was established by the legislature in 1997 with the requirement that the Department study its impact and report on its findings.
The Pretrial Intoxicated Driver Intervention Grant Program is intended for offenders who are arrested for their second or subsequent OWI (Operating While Intoxicated) offense. Offenders participation may be voluntary or court order. It is an intervention model designed to get offenders into counseling, treatment and supervision as soon as possible after the arrest. The program is individual to each community.
As you will see in the report, no community that has begun a program has dropped it. Offenders who successfully completed the program were less likely than non-participants to be re-arrested for subsequent OWI violations. Those who were re-arrested went significantly longer between arrests than non-participants. Currently there are seven counties on a waiting list for funding to begin programs.
I commend those people who have dedicated themselves to making this innovative program a success. There are no "silver bullets" in eradicating impaired driving, but I feel this effort is a vital piece in the total transportation safety effort.
Sincerely,
Daniel W. Lonsdorf, Director
Bureau of Transportation Safety
Referred to committee on Highway Safety.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Regulation and Licensing
Madison
March 10, 2004
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Enclosed please find the State of Wisconsin Controlled Substances Board's annual report for 2003. The Controlled Substances Board is required to submit this report to you annually, pursuant to Wis. Stat. §
961.36 (3). It includes findings with respect to the Board's effect on the distribution and abuse of controlled substances, including recommendations for improving control and prevention of the diversion of controlled substances.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Benning, Chair
Controlled Substances Board
Referred to committee on Criminal Justice.
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
March 15, 2004
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
This report is transmitted as required by s.
20.002(11)(f), Wisconsin Statutes, (for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s.
13.172(3), Wisconsin Statutes), 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 cash balances during the month of February 2004.
On February 1, 2004, the Medical Assistance Trust Fund cash balance closed at a negative $57.3 million. The negative balance continued until February 9, 2004, when the fund's cash balance closed at a positive $157.8 million. The fund's cash balance reached its monthly low of a negative $58.7 million on February 4, 2004. The negative balance was due to the difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures, and a delay in processing interfund transfers.
On February 1, 2004, the Historic Preservation Partnership Fund cash balance closed at a negative $42.0 thousand. Negative balances persisted throughout the month, with intermittent positive balances. The Historic Preservation Partnership Fund closed at an intramonth low of a negative $45.0 thousand on February 20, 2004. The fund's cash balance closed at a negative $29.0 thousand on February 29, 2004. The negative balance was due to the startup of the fund and a difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures.
The Medical Assistance Trust Fund and the Historic Preservation Partnership Fund shortfalls were not in excess of the statutory interfund borrowing limitations 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, and as a result, the funds requiring the use of the authority will effectively bear the interest cost.
Sincerely,
Marc J. Marotta
Secretary
Referred to committee on Ways and Means.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
Madison
March 16, 2004
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The Bureau of Health Information, Department of Health and Family Services, is pleased to submit to the Governor and Legislature the Wisconsin Inpatient Hospital Quality Indicators Report, 2001. The data for this report were collected under section 153.05, Wisconsin Statutes, and are published as authorized by the requirements of HFS 120.26, Wisconsin Administrative Code.
This report provides information about quality of care in Wisconsin hospitals. The quality measures included in this report were derived from hospital data submitted to the Bureau of Health Information by general medical and surgical hospitals in the state for 2001 inpatient stays. The report provides information about procedure volume, utilization and inpatient mortality for common conditions and procedures. As required by HFS 120, the report is consistent with national recognized indicators of quality, displays quality indicator variation across Wisconsin hospitals, protects the anonymity of individual hospitals, and provides hospitals with useful information for internal quality improvement.
Sincerely,
Helene Nelson
Secretary
Referred to committee on Health.