Friday, October 31, 2008
Ninety‐Eighth Regular Session
The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date:
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Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Madison
October 14, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Enclosed is the biennial report of the Medical College of Wisconsin, prepared according to the statutory requirement under section 13.106. This report contains information in the following areas:
• The financial status of the family practice residency sites.
• The number of family practice residents choosing to practice in medically underserved areas of the state upon graduation.
• The number of graduates entering family practice as a career.
Please feel free to contact me at (414‐955‐8217) if you have any questions or would like additional information.
Sincerely,
Kathryn A. Kuhn
Associate V.P.
Government Affairs
Referred to committee on Colleges and Universities.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
October 15, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
This report presents statements of fund condition and operations (budgetary basis) of the State of Wisconsin for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. This satisfies the requirements of sec. 16.40(3), Wisconsin Statutes. Displayed are major sources of revenues and major categories of expenditures for the General Fund and other funds compared to the prior year.
The General Fund has an undesignated balance of $130.7 million as of the end of the fiscal year. This is $50.2 million higher than the balance of $80.5 million projected in the estimate for
2007 Wisconsin Act 226. The higher ending balance was due to tax collections exceeding estimates for the fiscal year made in February 2008.
General‐purpose revenue taxes were $13.043 billion compared to $12.618 billion in the prior year, an increase of $425 million or 3.4 percent. This increase was $174.6 million higher than the
2007 Wisconsin Act 226 estimate of $12.868 billion. General‐purpose revenue expenditures, excluding fund transfers, were $13.526 billion compared to $13.105 billion in the prior year, an increase of $421 million or 3.2 percent This increase reflects funding associated with continuing support for two‐thirds of local school costs, including associated increases in school levy tax credits, as well as increased higher education financial aid and child care assistance.
In fiscal year 2008, the State of Wisconsin continued to devote the major share of state tax collections to assistance to local school districts, municipalities and counties. Local assistance accounted for 55.8 percent of total general purpose revenue spending. Aid payments to individuals and organizations represented 20.7 percent of total general purpose revenue expenditures. The University of Wisconsin accounted for 7.8 percent of total general purpose revenue spending and state operations spending for all other state agencies accounted for 15.7 percent of the total.
The State of Wisconsin expects to publish its comprehensive annual financial report in December of 2008. The report will be prepared under generally accepted accounting principles.
Sincerely,
Michael L. Morgan
Secretary
Stephen J. Censky, CPA
State Controller
Referred to committee on Ways and Means.
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State of Wisconsin
Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
Madison
October 15, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
A843
Pursuant to s.
601.423 Wis. Stats., I am submitting a social and financial report on Senate Bill 88, relating to requiring health insurance coverage of hearing aids and cochlear implants for infants and young children.
Please contact Eileen Mallow at 266‐7843 or Jennifer Stegall at 267‐7911 if you have any questions regarding this report.
Sincerely,
Sean Dilweg
Commissioner
Referred to committee on Insurance.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
October 15, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Included with this correspondence, I am submitting the report from the Department of Administration, Division of Gaming (Gaming), for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008). As required by s.
562.02(l)(g), Wis. Stats., the attached materials contain pari‐mutuel wagering and racing statistical information, as well as the revenues for the program areas of Racing, Charitable Gaming, Bingo and Indian Gaming.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this report, please do not hesitate to contact Rachel Meek at (608) 270‐2535.
Sincerely,
Robert W. Sloey
Administrator
Referred to committee on State Affairs.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Revenue
Madison
October 23, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
I am submitting the quarterly report of the Wisconsin Lottery for the quarter ending September 30, 2008. As required by s.
565.37(3), Wis. Stats., the attached materials contain unaudited Wisconsin Lottery year‐to‐date Revenue and Expenditure information.
Lottery sales were down 6% from the first quarter of last year. The decline is primarily because of lower Powerball sales which were down 18%, due to the absence of a large jackpot. Instant ticket sales were off 5%.
The information reported here is a summary and is not intended to be a complete financial accounting of Wisconsin Lottery operations.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this report, please feel free to contact me at (608) 266‐6466.
Sincerely,
Roger M. Ervin
Secretary
Referred to committee on State Affairs.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Transportation
Madison
October 29, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
I am pleased to present to you, for distribution to the Wisconsin Senate, 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 86.53 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 OWl (Operating While Intoxicated) offense. Offender participation may be voluntary or court ordered. 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. Overall, offenders who successfully completed the program were less likely than non‐participants to be re‐arrested for subsequent OWl 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,
Major Daniel W. Lonsdorf
Director, Bureau of Transportation Safety
Referred to committee on Transportation.
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State of Wisconsin
Healthy Lifestyles Cooperative
Green Bay
October 29, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As required by s.
185.99(5) of the Wisconsin Statutes, the Healthy Lifestyles Cooperative is submitting the attached progress report to the Wisconsin Legislature and the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance.
Please let us know if you have any questions concerning our report.
Randall Connour
Executive Director
Referred to committee on Health and Health Care Reform.
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