The committee on Agriculture and Higher Education reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 353
Relating to: collective bargaining process for University of Wisconsin System faculty and academic staff and making appropriations.
Passage.
Ayes, 4 - Senators
Vinehout, Lassa, Plale and Kapanke.
Noes, 1 - Senator
Harsdorf.
Kathleen Vinehout
Chairperson
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State of Wisconsin
Office of the Senate President
January 9
, 2008
The Honorable, the Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
46 (2)(c), I am writing to inform you that I have directed the following proposal(s) to be withdrawn from committee and rereferred. I have obtained the consent of the appropriate standing committee chairperson and the chairperson of the committee on Senate Organization.
Senate Bill
366
withdrawn from joint survey committee on Retirement Systems and rereferred to committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs.
Sincerely,
FRED A. RISSER
Senate President
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State of Wisconsin
Senate
December 12, 2007
The Honorable, The Senate:
As the new Senate Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance, I am writing to inform you I am appointing Senator Judy Robson to the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinic Authority Board, as well as the governing body of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Board.
As my designee, I know Senator Robson will serve on your board in the best interest of the State of Wisconsin.
Please let me know if you have any questions or I can ever be of service to you.
Sincerely,
senator MARK MILLER
16th Senate District
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State of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin System
December 15, 2007
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 2006-07, 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.
Please contact Lynn Paulson at (608) 263-7481, if you have any questions related to this report.
Sincerely,
Deborah A. Durcan
Vice President for Finance
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State of Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
December 17, 2007
The Honorable, Legislature:
Enclosed please find the Medical College of Wisconsin's (MCW) annual report for the Breast Cancer Research Program funded through the income tax check-off created by
2003 Wisconsin Act 176. The document represents the annual report highlighting the fiscal reporting period of September, 2006 - June 30, 2007.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the report, please contact me at (414) 456-8217.
Sincerely,
Kathryn A. Kuhn
Associate Vice President of Government Affairs
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 18, 2007
The Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed a financial audit of the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB) Television Network to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats., and as requested by ECB 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.
S492
ECB, which is an agency of the State of Wisconsin, operates a television network of 5 digital stations and 5 analog stations, as well as a radio network of 13 FM stations and 1 AM station. The Television Network reported $11.2 million in support and revenue during fiscal year (FY) 2006-07, including state support, member contributions, funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and various other grants.
Our audit report contains the ECB Television Network's financial statements and related notes as of and for the periods ending June 30, 2007, and June 30, 2006. We were able to issue an unqualified independent auditor's report on these statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by ECB staff during the audit.
Respectfully submitted,
janice Mueller
State Auditor
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 18, 2007
The Honorable, the Legislature:
We have completed a financial audit of the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB) Radio Network to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats., and as requested by ECB 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.
ECB, which is an agency of the State of Wisconsin, operates a radio network of 13 FM stations and 1 AM station, as well as a television network of 5 digital stations and 5 analog stations. The Radio Network reported $8.9 million in support and revenue during fiscal year (FY) 2006-07, including state support, member contributions, funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and various other grants.
Our audit report contains the ECB Radio Network's financial statements and related notes as of and for the periods ending June 30, 2007, and June 30, 2006. We were able to issue an unqualified independent auditor's report on these statements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by ECB staff during the audit.
Respectfully submitted,
janice Mueller
State Auditor
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
December 19, 2007
The Honorable, The Senate:
The Department of Health and Family Services is pleased to provide you this annual report of the Wisconsin Food Security Consortium's plans to address food insecurity, as required under s.46.76(4) and (5). The Wisconsin Food Security Consortium continues to make progress in devising strategies to end hunger and food insecurity in Wisconsin. Highlights include:
• The Consortium continued to expand its membership to include several more local food security representatives. A website was established during 2007 to establish a primary communication link with members and other partners. (See
http://www.wisconsinfoodsecurityconsortium.org/.) A series of Topic Papers were developed for the Hunger Summit related to the four areas of food insecurity: Emergency Food Programs, Nutrition Assistance Programs, Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food, and Family Economic Security.
• The full Consortium met quarterly throughout 2007, while the Steering Committee met monthly. The by-laws were finalized and the Committee elected Jane Voichick as Consortium Chair.
• The Consortium planned and hosted a statewide Hunger Summit on October 4, 2007, in Stevens Point. The Summit was very well attended. Nearly 200 food providers, activists, state and local public and private hunger prevention agencies, public health nutritionists, FoodShare eligibility workers, business leaders, food pantry staff and volunteers, members of the faith community and other interested parties were present. Speakers included Senator Julie Lassa, Representative Louis Molepske, Patti Whitney-Wise (Executive Director of the Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force), Lynn Parker (Director of Child Nutrition Programs and Nutrition Policy, Food Research and Action Center, Washington D.C.), and Consortium members. The purpose of the Summit was to bring partners from around Wisconsin together to learn about food insecurity and hunger in the state, to network and collaborate, and to be inspired with ideas and actions. Input was collected to draft a statewide action plan that will serve as a blueprint as we move forward.
• The Wisconsin WIC Program conducted its WIC Food Insecurity Survey in 2007, a repeat of the survey conducted in 2002. Low food security increased from 44% in 2002 to 51% in 2007. However, very low food security (formerly described as food insecurity with hunger) decreased from 19% in 2002 to 15% in 2007.
• The major activities of the Consortium for 2008 will include finalizing the Statewide Action Plan and facilitating regional hunger forums throughout Wisconsin. The goal of the regional forums is to further engage local partners in strategies to reduce hunger. These strategies will be included in the final Action Plan which the Consortium will distribute statewide and begin implementing in 2008.
The Department is also a partner with the University of Wisconsin-Extension in the Wisconsin Food Security Project, which provides up-to-date county and state-level information about food security, economic well-being, and the availability and use of public and private programs to increase access to affordable and nutritious foods. An interactive map is available on the Wisconsin Food Security Project's website, showing each county's food security profile as measured by different indicators, including federal nutrition assistance program, food production and marketing, community infrastructure, and economic well-being, at
http://www.wisstat.wisc.edu/uwex/
foodmaps.aspx. The Department, along with the Food Security Consortium, continues its commitment to fighting hunger in Wisconsin.
With warm regards,
KEVIN R. HAYDEN
Secretary
Referred to committee on Agriculture and Higher Education.
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