By
Representatives Musser, Petrowski, Gundrum, Boyle, Pettis, Townsend, Sinicki, Jeskewitz, Hubler, Kerkman, Owens, Suder, Lehman, Kreibich, Hines, Bies, Pope-Roberts, Ott, LeMahieu, Hahn, Freese, Wood, Kaufert, Gunderson, McCormick, Albers, Ainsworth and Kestell; cosponsored by Senators Leibham, Erpenbach, Roessler, Kanavas and Hansen.
To joint survey committee on Retirement Systems
.
Assembly Bill 82
Relating to: the age at which a person who is alleged to have violated a criminal law, a civil law, or a municipal ordinance is subject to circuit court or municipal court rather than juvenile court jurisdiction.
By
Representatives Grigsby and Kessler; cosponsored by Senator Taylor
.
To committee on Criminal Justice and Homeland Security.
Assembly Bill 83
Relating to: payment of stipend to state employees who do not elect coverage under the state employee health care coverage plan.
By
Representatives Towns, Hundertmark, Ward, Kaufert, Nischke, Kestell, Gunderson, Kerkman, Hines, Musser, Fields, Lehman, Moulton, Owens, Sheridan, Stone, McCormick, Wood and Vrakas.
To committee on Government Operations and Spending Limitations.
Assembly Bill 84
Relating to: the number of school days required each school term.
By
Representatives Towns, Jensen, Hundertmark, Hines, Townsend, Lehman, Gottlieb, Gunderson, Petrowski, Gronemus, Wood, F. Lasee, Kreibich, Friske, Vrakas, Hahn, Jeskewitz, Nischke, Kerkman, Owens, Musser, Van Roy, Gielow, Moulton, Lothian, Vruwink, Vukmir and Mursau; cosponsored by Senators Kedzie, Grothman, Reynolds and Lassa.
To committee on Education.
Relating to: prohibiting the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority from making, buying, or assuming a home mortgage loan for an individual who does not have a social security number.
By
Representatives Kestell, Suder, Gottlieb, Gunderson, Hahn, Hines, Jeskewitz, F. Lasee, LeMahieu, McCormick, Meyer, Nass, Ott, Owens, Pridemore, Petrowski, Towns, Van Roy, Vos, Vrakas, Vukmir and Ziegelbauer; cosponsored by Senators Grothman, Cowles, Ellis, Kanavas, A. Lasee, Lazich, Leibham and Roessler.
To committee on Housing.
Assembly Bill 86
Relating to: prohibiting certain real estate closing fees.
By
Representatives Gunderson, Nass, Albers, Ballweg, Gottlieb, Hahn, Jeskewitz, F. Lasee, Lehman, Musser, Ott, Nelson, Owens and Vrakas; cosponsored by Senators Lassa and Miller.
To committee on Financial Institutions
.
Assembly Bill 87
Relating to: nonresident tuition exemption for dependents of certain active members of the armed forces.
By
Representatives Krawczyk, Kreibich, Montgomery, Jeskewitz, Gronemus, Jensen, Musser, Friske, Kerkman, Lehman, Shilling, Owens, Van Roy, Ballweg, Nass, Ott, Petrowski, Towns, Townsend, Pocan, Hines, Ainsworth, F. Lasee, Vrakas, McCormick, Suder, Gunderson and Nischke; cosponsored by Senators Roessler, Olsen, Grothman and Lassa.
To committee on Colleges and Universities
.
Assembly Bill 88
Relating to: income tax and property tax exemptions for the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
By
Representatives Wood, Suder, Pettis, Musser, Owens, Bies, McCormick, Freese, Gunderson, Hundertmark, Gronemus, Hines, Lothian, F. Lasee, Boyle, Vrakas, Kreibich, Ott, Petrowski, Gundrum, Nischke and Pridemore; cosponsored by Senators Zien, Leibham and Hansen.
To committee on Ways and Means.
To joint survey committee on Tax Exemptions
.
__________________
From: Robert J. Marchant, Senate Chief Clerk.
Mr. Speaker:
I am directed to inform you that the Senate has
Passed and asks concurrence in:
Senate Bill 2
__________________
Senate Bill 2
Relating to: regional emergency response team requirements.
By
Senators
Brown, Cowles, Lassa and Olsen; cosponsored by Representatives Gunderson, Kerkman, Berceau, Gielow, Gronemus, Hines, Jeskewitz, Krawczyk, Lehman, LeMahieu, Lothian, Ott, Petrowski and Townsend.
To committee on Criminal Justice and Homeland Security.
__________________
Communications
February 3, 2005
Mr. Patrick Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
Risser Justice Center, Room 208
Dear Mr. Fuller:
Please add Senator Dave Zien (23rd Senate District) to the list of co-sponsors for Assembly Bill 63. This is the bill that would require a person to show ID at the poll before voting. His name was submitted to our office however an error was made when transferring our list onto the jacket. Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Sincerely,
Representative Jeff Stone
__________________
Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Office of State Employment Relations
Madison
November 2004
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The Written Hiring Reasons Report for Wisconsin State Government is enclosed. The report, covering the period July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2004, is required under ss.
230.25 (1p) and
230.27 (2k), Wis. Stats. The law requires "written hiring reasons" for certain hiring transactions and requires the Office of State Employment Relations to summarize the hiring reasons and prepare the report. Retrospectively, this information can be useful as a monitoring tool for your agency's classified and project appointments. Prospectively, you may want to use the information for plans of action in 2005 and beyond.
A62
Information for this report came from summary information provided by each agency and the entire UW System. Your efforts and cooperation in compiling the summary reports are greatly appreciated. The report includes a synopsis of the information provided by each state agency and UW System unit.
Sincerely,
Karen E. Timberlake
Director
Referred to committee on Labor.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
January 27, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, we have completed an evaluation of the process by which the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) determines eligibility for the SeniorCare program, which provides subsidized prescription drug benefits to individuals who are 65 or older. A similar review of eligibility determinations for the Medical Assistance and BadgerCare programs was provided in report 04-11, released in September 2004.
SeniorCare operates under the terms of a federal waiver, which allows states to receive federal Medical Assistance matching funds to provide program services. Only four states operate programs under this waiver, and Wisconsin's is the most comprehensive, both in terms of program eligibility and in benefits provided. In fiscal year (FY) 2004-05, the SeniorCare budget is $117.4 million, including $40.1 million in general purpose revenue. In June 2004, a total of 90,211 individuals were enrolled in the program.
Individuals apply for SeniorCare by mail. The application form requests an estimate of their income over the next 12-month period; no income verification is required. To determine the degree to which income is accurately reported, we reviewed a randomly selected sample of 1,000 applications approved in 2003. Participants were placed in the correct benefit level in 82.5 percent of the cases we reviewed. However, underestimated or under-reported income led to cost-sharing requirements that were lower than appropriate in 11.9 percent of cases. The opposite was true in 2.3 percent of cases. We were unable to determine actual income in 3.3 percent of the cases. Had placements been made in accordance with participants' actual income, we estimate annual net program savings of $6.9 million, which includes $3.0 million in general purpose revenue.
Given the under-reporting of income in our sample, we recommend DHFS increase its efforts to prevent, identify, and correct participant errors in income reporting. In addition, we recommend DHFS establish procedures for recovering SeniorCare benefits paid in error, as it is required to do under administrative rule.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DHFS staff in conducting this review.
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
January 27, 2005
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed a financial audit of WHA Television, as requested by the University of Wisconsin-Extension to fulfill the audit requirements of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation requires audited financial statements of public broadcasting entities to determine future funding levels.
WHA Television is licensed to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and is operated by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. WHA Television earned $15.9 million in revenues during fiscal year 2003-04, including state support, member contributions, funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and various other grants.
Our audit report contains the financial statements and related notes for the period July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004. We were able to issue an unqualified independent auditor's report on these statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by University of Wisconsin-Extension
Respectfully submitted,
Janice Mueller
