Children and Families and Workforce Development (5)
Commerce, Utilities, Energy, and Rail (7)
Economic Development (7)
Education (7)
Environment (5)
Ethics Reform and Government Operations (5)
Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue (7)
Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing (5)
Labor, Elections, and Urban Affairs (5)
Public Health, Senior Issues, Long-Term Care, and Job Creation (5)
Rural Issues, Biofuels, and Information Technology (5)
Small Business, Emergency Preparedness, Technical Colleges, and Consumer Protection (5)
S10
Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources (7)
Veterans and Military Affairs, Biotechnology, and Financial Institutions (5)
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Decker, Risser, Hansen, Fitzgerald, and Grothman..
Sincerely,
russ decker
Majority Leader
Chair, Committee on Senate Organization
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Majority Leader
December 15, 2008
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
20 (2) (a), I have made the following appointments:
Senate Standing Committees:
To the Senate committee on Agriculture and Higher Education: Senators Vinehout (Chair), Kreitlow, Plale, Harsdorf, and Kapanke.
To the Senate committee on Children and Families, and Workforce Development: Senators Jauch (Chair), Lassa, Vinehout, Kedzie, and Hopper.
To the Senate committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy, and Rail: Senators Plale (Chair), Wirch, Erpenbach, Kreitlow, Cowles, Harsdorf, and Kedzie.
To the Senate committee on Economic Development: Senators Lassa (Chair), Lehman, Vinehout, Kreitlow, Kanavas, Darling, and Leibham.
To the Senate committee on Education: Senators Lehman (Chair), Jauch (Vice Chair), Erpenbach, Hansen, Olsen, Grothman, and Hopper.
To the Senate committee on Environment: Senators Miller (Chair), Jauch, Wirch, Kedzie, and Olsen.
To the Senate committee on Ethics Reform and Government Operations: Senators Risser (Chair), Robson, Kreitlow, Ellis, and Lasee.
To the Senate committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue: Senators Erpenbach (Chair), Carpenter (Vice Chair), Robson, Lassa, Lazich, Kanavas, and Darling.
To the Senate committee on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing: Senators Taylor (Chair), Sullivan (Vice Chair), Erpenbach, Grothman, and Hopper.
To the Senate committee on Labor, Elections, and Urban Affairs: Senators Coggs (Chair), Wirch, Lehman, Lasee, and Grothman.
To the Senate committee on Public Health, Senior Issues, Long-Term Care, and Job Creation: Senators Carpenter (Chair), Coggs, Vinehout, Schultz, and Kapanke.
To the Senate committee on Rural Issues, Biofuels, and Information Technology: Senators Kreitlow (Chair), Jauch, Holperin, Kapanke, and Kanavas.
To the Senate committee on Small Business, Emergency Preparedness, Technical Colleges, and Consumer Protection: Senators Wirch (Chair), Plale, Holperin, Hopper, and Lazich.
To the Senate committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources: Senators Holperin (Chair), Sullivan, Plale, Hansen, Leibham, Kedzie, and Grothman.
To the Senate committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, Biotechnology, and Financial Institutions: Senators Sullivan (Chair), Coggs, Carpenter, Leibham, and Kanavas.
Joint Committees:
To the joint committee for Review of Administrative Rules: Senators Holperin (Co-Chair), Lehman, Risser, Grothman, and Cowles.
To the joint Legislative Audit Committee: Senators Vinehout (Co-Chair), Jauch, Miller, Cowles, and Lazich.
To the joint review committee on Criminal Penalties: Senators Taylor (Co-Chair), Erpenbach, and Sullivan.
To the joint committee on Finance: Senators Miller (Co-Chair), Hansen, Taylor, Lehman, Robson, Lassa, Darling, and Olsen.
To the joint committee on Information Policy and Technology: Senators Kreitlow (Co-Chair), Jauch, Miller, Cowles, and Leibham.
To the joint Legislative Council (Senators Risser, Kreitlow, Decker, Miller, Fitzgerald, and Darling are all ex-officio): Senators Risser (Co-Chair), Kreitlow, Decker, Miller, Coggs, Robson, Wirch, Fitzgerald, Darling, Schultz, and Harsdorf.
To the joint survey committee on Retirement Systems: Senators Wirch (Co-Chair), Carpenter, and Schultz.
To the joint survey committee on Tax Exemptions and Tax Credits: Senators Erpenbach (Co-Chair), Decker, and Ellis.
With regard to members of the minority party, appointments are made based on nominations by the Minority Leader.
Sincerely,
russ decker
Majority Leader
Chair, Committee on Senate Organization
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Majority Leader
January 6, 2009
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
20, I am appointing Senator Jeff Plale to the Wisconsin Building Commission, as well as Senator Fred Risser from 1/6/09 - 1/5/10 and Senator Pat Kreitlow beginning 1/6/10.
Thank you and please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
russ decker
Majority Leader
__________________
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 11, 2008
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed an evaluation of the efforts of the Department of Health Services (DHS), formerly the Department of Health and Family Services, to ensure the integrity of Wisconsin's Medical Assistance program, including its certification of providers and audits of provider payments. In fiscal year (FY) 2006-07, expenditures for DHS's program integrity activities, excluding payments made to contractors that assist DHS in these activities, totaled $3.2 million.
Most providers must be certified by the State to receive Medical Assistance reimbursement for services rendered. We found that the initial certifications are generally processed on a timely basis. Some provider recertifications, which are generally required every three years, have not been completed since at least 2002, in part because of delays DHS has encountered in implementing its new Medicaid Management Information System. Delays in recertification increase the risk that unallowable payments will be made because some providers no longer meet certification requirements.
From FY 2002-03 through FY 2006-07, DHS conducted 8,517 audits of Medical Assistance providers and recovered $31.8 million, which was used to offset state and federally funded Medical Assistance expenditures. We independently analyzed 9.4 million claims paid to four types of providers during one year-FY 2005-06 and found an additional $268,000 in payments for provider claims that appear to be unallowable. We make several recommendations to improve the audit process, including seeking recovery of the payments we identified, imposing sanctions on providers found to repeatedly violate program rules, and charging interest to providers that fail to promptly return unallowable claims payments.
We also reviewed the role of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in prosecuting cases of Medical Assistance fraud. From FY 2002-03 through FY 2006-07, DOJ obtained 34 criminal convictions and negotiated 16 civil settlements between the State and Medical Assistance providers. During that period, courts ordered convicted providers to pay a total of $2.9 million, and the State received $11.7 million from civil settlements.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DHS and DOJ staff. A response from DHS follows our report.
Sincerely,
janice mueller
State Auditor
__________________
University of Wisconsin System
December 15, 2008
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 2007-08, 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
