State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
February 11
, 2010
To the Honorable, the Senate:
The following bill(s), originating in the Senate, have been approved, signed and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State:
Bill Number Act Number
Date Approved
Senate Bill 191
Act 113
February 11
, 2010
Senate Bill 242
Act 115
February 11
, 2010
Senate Bill 284
Act 116
February 11
, 2010
Senate Bill 182
Act 120
February 11
, 2010
Senate Bill 498
Act 121
February 11
, 2010
Senate Bill 137
Act 122
February 11
, 2010
Respectfully Submitted,
JIM DOYLE
Governor
__________________
Supreme Court of Wisconsin
February 11, 2010
The Honorable, The Legislature:
On February 3, 2010, my Office re-issued our October 1, 2009 report to correct a material reporting error. Specifically, Milwaukee County misclassified a portion of their indigent counsel and guardian ad litem (GAL) costs for calendar year 2008. Milwaukee County re-submitted our October 1st report to correct the statewide GAL total costs for 2008.
To ensure there is no misinterpretation of the February 3rd memo, I want to take this opportunity to clarify that the misclassification of their data. The reporting of 2008 financial data was the first time counties, including Milwaukee County, used the new circuit court uniform chart of accounts as required in
2007 Wisconsin Act 20 when preparing their annual reports. Milwaukee County believe the new instructions required that a specific category of indigent counsel expenditures be included as GAL costs. However, our subsequent discussions with Milwaukee County regarding their reporting of GAL costs concluded that these indigent counsel expenditures should not be classified as GAL costs but should more appropriately be reported in a different section of their annual report. Milwaukee County immediately complied with our request to re-classify this expenditure data. We are reviewing our instructions to determine how they can be clarified so similar reporting errors do not occur in the future.
It is important to note that we are beginning to discover through our new audit process that all counties need guidance to ensure they are properly classifying the counties' revenues and expenditures in compliance with the uniform chart of accounts. We are looking forward to visiting each county over the next few years to improve all counties' reporting of revenue and expenditure data and work towards consistent reporting practices among counties to provide accurate information on county financial support of the circuit courts.
I hope that our re-submission of our October 1st report was not misconstrued in any way. Please direct any questions regarding our re-submission to the court system's Fiscal Officer Brian Lamprech. He can be reached at 608.266.6865 or at
brian.lamprech@wiscourts.gov.
Sincerely,
A. john voelker
Director of State Courts
__________________
Relating to care management organizations and affecting small business.
Submitted by Insurance Commissioner.
Report received from Agency, February 10, 2010.
Referred to committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue,
February 11, 2010.