December 15, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
20(2)(a) and
(b) I have appointed Senator Meyer to the Joint Committee on Finance and removed Senator Decker.
With regard to members of the minority party, appointments are made based on the nominations of that caucus.
Sincerely,
Senator Mary Panzer
Senate Majority Leader
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Department of Revenue
December 5, 2003
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Section
565.45, Wisconsin Statutes, requires the Department of Revenue to submit a biennial report to the legislature regarding the impact on lottery operations of the 10% expense limitation under s.
25.75(3)(b). Attached is that report.
Sincerely,
Michael L. Morgan
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 16, 2003
The Honorable, The Legislature:
At the request of the departments of Commerce and Administration, and to meet our audit responsibilities under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats., we have completed a financial audit of the State of Wisconsin Petroleum Inspection Fee Revenue Obligations Program for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2003, and June 30, 2002. We were able to express our unqualified opinion on the program's Statement of Changes in Program Assets and related notes.
Under the Petroleum Inspection Fee Revenue Obligations Program, the State issues revenue obligations, such as bonds and commercial paper, to provide financing for payment of claims under the Wisconsin Petroleum Environmental Cleanup Fund Award (PECFA) program. The obligations are not general obligation debt of the State. Instead, the revenue obligations are to be repaid from the $0.03 per gallon fee charged suppliers for petroleum products sold in Wisconsin and collected by the Department of Revenue.
As of June 30, 2003, the State had issued $342.55 million in revenue obligations, which was the maximum permitted under s.
101.143(9m), Wis. Stats., at that time. However, it is expected that PECFA claims submitted for payment will continue to exceed the amount of petroleum inspection fees available to pay them. In addition, as a of June 30, 2003, the Department of Commerce had a backlog of nearly $6 million in approved claims awaiting payment, nearly $37 million in additional claims that had been received but not yet approved for payment, and an estimated $99 million in costs incurred by landowners under the program but not yet claimed for reimbursement. As a result, in
2003 Wisconsin Act 33, the Legislature increased the statutory limit for the program's revenue obligations to $436 million, plus an amount to pay issuance or administrative costs, to make any necessary deposits to reserve funds, or to pay accrued or capitalized interest. On September 17, 2003, the Building Commission authorized the sale of $95.88 million in revenue obligations, which are expected to be issued during the current fiscal year.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us during the audit by staff of the departments of Commerce, Administration and Revenue.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Joint Legislative Council
December 9, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following reports to the 2003 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council:
RL 2003-13 Special Committee on Recodification of Town Highway Statutes
I would appreciate your including this letter in the Journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of this report are available at the Legislative Council Staff offices, One East Main, Suite 401, or from our web page at
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lte/reports_by_topic.htm.
Sincerely,
Terry C. Anderson
Director
State of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin System
December 12, 2003
The Honorable, The Legislature:
The 1999-2001 State of Wisconsin Biennial Budget,
1999 Wisconsin Act 9, included a provision to change the University of Wisconsin System's appropriation for tuition and fee revenues (Academic Student Fees, Fund 131) from an annual, sum certain appropriation to a continuing appropriation.
Wisconsin Act 9 required the Board of Regents to report annually, beginning on December 15, 2000, the amount by which actual expenditures in the previous fiscal year, in this case, 2002-2003, exceeded the amount in the schedule for that appropriation in the previous fiscal year. That report, including the purposes for which the additional revenues were spent and the amount spent for each purpose, is attached. The Board of Regents approved this report for submission at its December 5, 2003 meeting.
Please contact Freda Harris at (608) 262-6423, if you have any questions related to this report.
Sincerely,
Deborah A. Durcan
Vice President
Ethics Board
December 16, 2003
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 2003 session of the legislature, visit the Ethics Board's web site at
http://ethics.state.wi.us
Cook, Sharon Milwaukee Brewers
Essie, Patrick Independence First Inc.
Gallucci, Anita Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin
Kammer, Peter Independence First Inc.
Kent, Paul Charles Industries Ltd
Kuehn, Ronald W Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association
Kuehn, Ronald W Wisconsin Health Freedom Coalition
Levin, Jeremy Wisconsin Medical Society
McKenzie, Ellyn Sixteenth Street Community Health Center
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,
R. Roth Judd
Director
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
December 9, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Erickson, Larry D.,
of Hurley, as a member of the Snowmobile Recreational Council, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2006.
Sincerely,
JIM DOYLE
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
__________________
Relating to the transfer of personnel commission responsibilities to the equal rights division and other revisions to civil rights rules.
Submitted by Department of Workforce Development .
Report received from Agency, December 12, 2003.
Referred to committee on Labor, Small Business Development and Consumer Affairs, December 17, 2003.
Relating to circulator residency requirements.
Submitted by Elections Board
.
