September 2, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Section
227.485 (9) of the Wis. Stats. requires the Department to submit a report concerning decisions and resulting payments of attorney fees and related legal costs. Attorney fees and other legal costs are to be paid whenever the opposing party to an agency's Chapter
227 hearing prevails and it is determined the agency's position was not substantially justified. As indicated in the attached chart, five payments totaling $51,613.82 were made during SFY2010.
In addition, under 814.245 (10) of the Wis. Stats., the Department is required to report any awards granted to the Department regarding frivolous motions brought against this Department. In SFY 2010, no motions of opposing parties were found to be frivolous. Consequently, the Department has no awards to report.
Sincerely,
Karen Timberlake
Secretary
Referred to committee on Health and Healthcare Reform.
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Housing and Economic Development Authority
Madison
August 24, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 234.931 (5), enclosed please find the following report relating to the Wisconsin Development Reserve Fund:
A1008
Annual Report of Guarantee Funds as of June 30, 2010
Should you have any questions or comments on the reports, please feel free to call me at 266-1640.
Sincerely,
Laura B. Morris
Chief Financial Officer
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State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
September 2, 2010
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
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 Justice Gateway information system developed by the Office of Justice Assistance (OJA). This system was designed for local law enforcement agencies to share information that is not currently available in other statewide information systems. Concerns were raised about the progress made in development and implementation of the system and whether it is meeting its objectives.
Through fiscal year 2008-09, OJA spent $6.4 million in federal funds to develop and maintain the Justice Gateway system. OJA is continuing its efforts to gain access to local law enforcement agencies' information, register users, and increase Justice Gateway's use. However, implementation has proceeded relatively slowly. OJA staff assert that Justice Gateway will play a role in the ongoing development of a similar voluntary federal system. However, there are challenges to OJA's plans to increase Justice Gateway's use, including the ability and willingness of local law enforcement agencies to participate in either the State's or the federal initiative. In addition, because several programs and initiatives are supported with Homeland Security funds, establishing the Justice Gateway's priority as it relates to the State's overall information sharing objectives may be important.
During 2011-13 biennial budget deliberations, the Legislature is likely to consider whether Justice Gateway merits state resources, especially in light of other information sharing systems under development. To help inform the debate, we include a recommendation that OJA report in early 2011 to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the Joint Committee on Information Policy and Technology on the system's current status and its future plans for Justice Gateway.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by OJA, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Administration's Division of Enterprise Technology staff in conducting this review.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
