Referred to committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources, September 8, 2009.
__________________
The committee on Children and Families and Workforce Development reports and recommends:
Senate Bill 257
Relating to: emergency assistance grants.
Passage.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Jauch, Lassa, Vinehout, Kedzie and Hopper.
Noes, 0 - None.
Robert Jauch
Chairperson
Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (5), Representative Petersen added as a cosponsor of
Senate Bill
258
.
Pursuant to Senate Rule 17 (5), Representative Spanbauer withdrawn as a cosponsor of
Senate Bill
127
.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of Senator Lena C. Taylor
August 21, 2009
The Honorable, the Senate:
I am writing in my capacity as the chairperson of the Senate committee on
Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing to request that the Joint Review Committee on
Criminal Penalties prepare a report on the bill under s.
13.525 (5) (b), Wis. Stats. on
Senate Bill 66, which creates a new crime or revises an existing criminal penalty.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
lena c. taylor
Senator, 4th Senate District
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health Services
September 1, 2009
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, two payments totaling $7,679.14 were made during SFY 2009.
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 2009, no motions of opposing parties were found to be frivolous. Consequently, the Department has no awards to report.
Sincerely,
karen e. timberlake
Secretary
Referred to committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health Services
September 4, 2009
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Section
55.14 (11) of the Wis. Stats. requires the Department of Health Services to submit a report concerning any orders for the involuntary administration of psychotropic medications to individuals who are receiving protective services. Counties and their contract agencies are required to submit copies of these orders to the Department. Sections
51.14(3) and
(8) establish the criteria for issuance of court orders. Six counties (Dodge, Oneida, Pierce, Rock, Washburn and Richland) provided copies of protective placement court orders for psychotropic medications in the last year.
Sincerely,
karen e. timberlake
Secretary
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
September 9, 2009
The Honorable, The Legislature:
S301
We have completed a review of the State's purchasing card program under which state employees use credit cards to make purchases for state business purposes. The program is administered by the Department of Administration (DOA). In 2008, executive branch agencies and University of Wisconsin (UW) institutions made over 693,000 purchasing card transactions totaling $161.7 million.
Agency and UW institution employees held approximately 18,000 cards as of December 2008. To control spending, each purchasing card is assigned both a credit limit, which is its maximum account balance for each two-week billing cycle, and a single purchase limit, which is the maximum amount chargeable in a single transaction. In many instances cards' spending limits were higher than necessary, and the potential financial risk to the State could be reduced by establishing spending limits at levels that are more consistent with cardholder needs.
Our review of a sample of 3,071 purchasing card transactions found generally adequate internal controls for purchasing card oversight. The use of purchasing cards for personal gain has been rare. However, we found 131 exceptions totaling $74,499, including examples of unnecessary, excessive, or inappropriate transactions. Through their own oversight procedures, agencies and UW institutions had already identified and addressed 52 of these transactions, totaling $7,286, with measures ranging from staff training to termination of employment.
While we found no evidence of widespread fraud or abuse, compliance with documentation requirements and other program rules could be improved. We include recommendations for DOA to clarify program policies and to work with agencies and UW institutions to ensure that cardholders receive adequate training.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DOA and by the agencies and UW institutions we reviewed. Responses from DOA and UW System Administration follow the appendices.
Sincerely,
janice mueller
State Auditor
__________________
The committee on Environment reports and recommends:
Relating to the management of accumulated sediment from storm water management structures.
No action taken.
Mark Miller
Chairperson
__________________
The committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue reports and recommends:
Relating to fair hearings and continuation of benefits pending the outcome of a grievance, department review, or fair hearing under the family care program.
No action taken.
Jon Erpenbach
Chairperson
__________________
The committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources reports and recommends:
Relating to the administration of the forest crop law and managed forest law.
No action taken.
Jim Holperin
Chairperson
