__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Bill Number Act Number
Publication Date
Senate Bill 164 Act
138
March 30
, 2006
Sincerely,
DOUGLAS LA FOLLETTE
Secretary of State
__________________
The Chief Clerk records:
Senate Bill 282
Senate Bill 463
Presented to the Governor on March 21, 2006.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
February 28, 2006
The Honorable, The Legislature:
This report is transmitted as required by sec. 20.002(11)(f) of the Wisconsin Statutes, (for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under sec. 13.172(3) Stats.), 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 balances during the month of January 2006.
On January 1, 2005, the General Fund cash balance closed at a negative $118.9 million. This negative balance continued until January 13, 2006, when the fund's cash balance closed at a positive $53.3 million. The General Fund cash balance reached its intramonth low of 173.7 million on January 11, 2006. The negative balance was due to the difference in the timing of revenues and expenditures.
The General Fund shortfall was 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,
stephen e. bablitch
Secretary
Referred to joint committee on Finance.
State of Wisconsin
Department of Workforce Development
February 27, 2006
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to 109.12(2) and (3), Wis. Stats., I hereby submit the Department of Workforce Development's (DWD) 2005 annual report on the administration and enforcement of 109.07 and 109.075, Wis. Stats. The report contains three sections. The first section lists all employers in 2005 that notified DWD of business closings and mass layoffs planned in Wisconsin. The second section of the report lists employers against whom DWD has received business closing or mass layoff notification complaints and the current status or outcome of those complaints. The third section of the report lists employers against whom DWD has received healthcare cessation notification complaints, DWD's actions and the current status or outcome of those complaints.
If you have any questions regarding the information contained in this report please contact LeAnna Ware, acting administrator of the Equal Rights Division at (608) 266-1997.
Sincerely,
ROBERTA GASSMAN
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Joint Legislative Council
March 8, 2006
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following report to the 2005 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council:
RL 2005-15 Special Committee on Election Law Review
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/lc/
Sincerely,
TERRY C. ANDERSON
Director
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
March 2, 2006
The Honorable, The Legislature:
As required by
2001 Wisconsin Act 57, we have completed an evaluation of the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which is a statewide educational resource for students and their parents and teachers. The program is administered by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). As part of the program, Act 57 directed DPI to continue operating the residential Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan, to offer youth summer programs, and to provide outreach services to school districts statewide. In fiscal year 2004-05, the program spent $11.0 million and was authorized 135.6 full-time equivalent positions. Outreach activities accounted for $1.1 million, or 10.0 percent, of all expenditures in that year.
Enrollment in the residential school decreased from 165 students in the 2000-01 school year to 142 students in the 2004-05 school year. If enrollment continues to decline, staffing changes may need to be considered. We include a recommendation for DPI to report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on its efforts to monitor classroom staffing ratios.
Outreach services have grown significantly, corresponding with additional statutory authority. Outreach staff now provide consultation services for local school districts. In addition, training sessions have increased, and distance learning courses in American Sign Language are provided. We include a recommendation for DPI to update the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on the results of its efforts to increase the technological resources needed to provide additional distance learning courses statewide.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DPI. Its response follows the report.
Sincerely,
JANICE MUELLER
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
February 23, 2006
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed a review of the Environmental Cooperation Pilot Program (ECPP). The program is administered by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and was established by
1997 Wisconsin Act 27 to test innovative environmental regulatory methods. Statutes require the Legislative Audit Bureau to monitor ECPP and report annually to the Legislature on our findings.
S751
DNR manages seven agreements with six companies. We have reviewed the terms of the agreements and DNR's administration of them and make several recommendations to ensure adequate public involvement in ECPP and comprehensive performance measures for quantifying its economic and environmental effects.
Addressing the need for effective performance measures is important given that the initial five-year ECPP agreements will expire in 2006 and 2007. DNR anticipates renewing all seven agreements for a second five-year period, and performance information will help DNR ensure the agreements are structured to promote program success.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DNR and the ECPP companies we contacted during our review.
Sincerely,
JANICE MUELLER
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
February 28, 2006
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am writing regarding Assembly Bill 69 (AB 69), relating to the authority of the Justice Department.
As those who are familiar with this bill, I have steadfastly maintained my opposition to this legislation. However, my vote on final passage Feb. 23 was somehow recorded as supporting AB 69. As this is in error, I would like to be recorded as voting no on this bill.
Please take whatever steps necessary so that the record reflects my true position on AB 69 in the appropriate publications.
Sincerely,
SPENCER COGGS
State Senator
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
February 28, 2006
The Honorable, The Legislature:
At your request, we have completed a review of the number of University of Wisconsin (UW) System employees convicted of felonies, as part of a comprehensive evaluation of UW System personnel policies and practices approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. That evaluation will be completed later this year.
Using Department of Corrections' felony data and UW System's payroll data, we identified 40 felons employed by UW System in September 2005 and under state supervision in November 2005. UW-Madison employed 27 of the 40 felons we identified, including 4 who are incarcerated.
Section
111.321, Wis. Stats., generally prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of arrest or conviction record, but under s.
111.335(1)(c), Wis. Stats., employment can be terminated when a conviction is substantially related to the circumstances of an individual's job. The decision to terminate is typically determined by an internal investigation. Because UW institutions were unaware of most of the 40 felons and could not provide complete information on how many internal investigations had been conducted, we have recommended that internal investigations be conducted to determine whether the convictions of any of the felons we identified are substantially job-related and any action is appropriate.
Terminating employment is often a lengthy process. In February 2006, the Board of Regents approved changes to expedite the termination of faculty who are convicted of serious criminal misconduct. We have recommended that it also clarify its termination process for academic staff and discuss the process for classified staff.
Finally, we found great variation in how UW institutions conduct background checks of candidates for employment. We have recommended that the Board of Regents promulgate uniform policies to identify the types of jobs for which background checks should be conducted.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by UW System during the course of our review.
Sincerely,
JANICE MUELLER
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin