To committee on Rules.
Assembly Bill 157
Relating to: vehicle stops at railroad crossings.
Assembly Amendment 1 adoption:
Ayes: 12 - Representatives Steinbrink, Zigmunt, Vruwink, Garthwaite, Fields, Bernard Schaber, Sinicki, Petrowski, A. Ott, Stone, Bies and Ripp.
Noes: 0.
Passage as amended:
Ayes: 12 - Representatives Steinbrink, Zigmunt, Vruwink, Garthwaite, Fields, Bernard Schaber, Sinicki, Petrowski, A. Ott, Stone, Bies and Ripp.
Noes: 0.
To committee on Rules.
Assembly Bill 158
Relating to: driver education instruction.
Passage:
Ayes: 12 - Representatives Steinbrink, Zigmunt, Vruwink, Garthwaite, Fields, Bernard Schaber, Sinicki, Petrowski, A. Ott, Stone, Bies and Ripp.
Noes: 0.
To committee on Rules.
Assembly Bill 177
Relating to: operating a motor vehicle while suspended, revoked, or disqualified.
Passage:
Ayes: 12 - Representatives Steinbrink, Zigmunt, Vruwink, Garthwaite, Fields, Bernard Schaber, Sinicki, Petrowski, A. Ott, Stone, Bies and Ripp.
Noes: 0.
To committee on Rules.
Assembly Bill 178
Relating to: motor vehicle operating privileges, seizures by courts or law enforcement officers of operator's licenses, and reinstatement of canceled identification cards.
Passage:
Ayes: 12 - Representatives Steinbrink, Zigmunt, Vruwink, Garthwaite, Fields, Bernard Schaber, Sinicki, Petrowski, A. Ott, Stone, Bies and Ripp.
Noes: 0.
A202
To committee on Rules.
John Steinbrink
Chairperson
Committee on Transportation
__________________
The following Assembly proposals, which have been approved by both the Assembly and Senate, have been enrolled by the Legislative Reference Bureau:
Assembly Joint Resolution 9
Assembly Joint Resolution 23
Assembly Joint Resolution 41
Assembly Joint Resolution 48
Assembly Joint Resolution 50
Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
May 12, 2009
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
In response to a complaint reported to the Fraud, Waste, and Mismanagement Hotline established by
2007 Wisconsin Act 126, we have completed a limited-scope review of the role of construction engineers in the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) quality assurance process on state highway projects. Construction engineers, who include both DOT staff and private consultants, ensure that construction contractors build highways according to contractual requirements. In fiscal year (FY) 2007-08, construction engineering expenditures totaled an estimated $56.8 million, including $20.8 million in spending related to state staff and $36.0 million paid to private consultants.
Our analysis is focused on state highway projects built with concrete pavement. We reviewed in detail projects begun from FY 2006-07 through FY 2007-08. None of 20 projects we reviewed had any measurements that indicated unacceptable concrete pavement thickness. However, documentation for 11 of the 20 projects indicated that contractors measured the concrete pavement's thickness less frequently than contractually required. State staff served as the lead construction engineer on 7 of the 11 projects, while consultants served in that role on the remaining 4. It is possible the measurements were actually taken but not documented, but we cannot independently confirm this.
To help ensure state highway projects are appropriately constructed, DOT recently modified a number of its quality assurance practices for contractors and construction engineers. However, we provide several additional recommendations to help ensure that highways are consistently constructed according to contractual requirements. This is particularly important because the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will provide Wisconsin with $529.1 million in federal transportation funds, much of which will be used for state highway projects.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DOT in completing this review.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
__________________
Representative Seidel moved that the Assembly stand adjourned until 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, May 21.
The question was: Shall the Assembly stand adjourned?
Motion carried.
The Assembly stood adjourned.
12:46 P.M.
