Referred to committee on Ways and Means.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
Madison
October 15, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
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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.
__________________
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.
__________________
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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State of Wisconsin
Gathering Waters Conservancy
Madison
October 30, 2008
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
It is my pleasure to share with you a report on Gathering Waters Conservancy's activities and accomplishments for Fiscal Year 2008. This report is being submitted in accordance with the statutory requirements of s.
23.0955(2)(b)5. Gathering Waters Conservancy has had an extremely successful year, thanks to the ongoing support of the state legislature and the Department of Natural Resources. The more than 50 land trusts in Wisconsin have, together, permanently protected over 200,000 acres in communities across Wisconsin. Land trusts in Wisconsin have a combined membership of close to 50,000 individuals and thousands of local volunteers; they have raised millions of dollars to protect critical lands that benefit the public; and they work with private landowners every day to promote stewardship and protection of our natural resources.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Department and the state legislature to achieve our mutual conservation goals. Please do not hesitate to contact me for additional information. I have also enclosed Gathering Waters Conservancy's audited financial reports for FY 2008 for your review.
Sincerely,
Michael Strigel
Executive Director
Referred to committee on Natural Resources.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
October 31, 2008
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 September 2008.
On September 1, 2008, the Utility Public Benefits Fund cash balance closed at a negative $2.9 million. This negative balance continued through September 18, 2008, when the fund's cash balance closed at a positive $13.1 million. The Utility Public Benefits Fund cash balance reached its intra‐month low of a negative $3.4 million on September 11, 2008. The negative balance was due to a delayed cash transfer.
On September 1, 2008, the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund cash balance closed at a negative $139.5 million. This negative balance continued through September 30, 2008, when the fund's cash balance closed at a negative $141.0 million. The Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund cash balance reached its intra‐month low of a negative $142.5 million on September 4, 2008. The negative balance was due to the transfer of $200 million to the Medical Assistance Trust Fund per
2007 Wisconsin Act 20, and the pending liquidation of fund securities necessary to offset this shortfall.
The Utility Public Benefits Fund and Injured Patients and Families Compensation 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,
Michael L. MOrgan
Secretary
Referred to committee on Ways and Means.
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Agency Reports
DATE: October 22, 2008
TO: Patrick E. Fuller, Assembly Chief Clerk
Robert J. Marchant, Senate Chief Clerk
FROM: Robert N. Golden, MD, Dean, UWSMPH
Eileen Smith, Director, Wisconsin Partnership Program
Lisa Maroney, UW Health Legislative Liasion
SUBJECT: Wisconsin Partnership Program Annual Report
As you may recall, in 1999 Blue Cross & Blue Shield of WI (BC/BS) submitted an application to OCI to convert to a for‐profit entity and transfer the proceeds from the sale of the company to the two Wisconsin medical schools, the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin. OCI approved this conversion and the distribution of the proceeds to the two schools. The proceeds were equally divided and each school received $297 million in March, 2004. The UW School of Medicine and Public Health created the Wisconsin Partnership Program to be responsible for the administration of the distribution and allocation of the annual income from the endowed funds.
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Attached is a link to the Wisconsin Partnership Program's 2007 Annual Report. In the past four years 167 grants have been awarded, totaling $61.7 million - with the singular purpose of improving the health of the people of Wisconsin. Grants have gone to local governmental and community organizations throughout the state on a wide array of public health topics, such as: fitness and nutrition, obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, oral health, maternal and child health, and access to health services.
If you would like to receive additional information, a hard copy of the report or past reports, or would be interested in meeting with us, please contact Lisa Maroney at 265‐1653.
Thank you for taking the time to review this report. We are privileged to have this unprecedented opportunity to partner with communities throughout Wisconsin on health improvement projects.
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
