The Honorable, The Legislature:
Pursuant to
2007 Wisconsin Act 46, the members of the Depleted Uranium Study Committee provide this letter and enclosures to show compliance with the statutory provisions created by this act.
If you have any questions pertaining to the enclosed materials or the information or assistance provided to veterans or National Guard members who may have been exposed to depleted uranium, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and thank you for your dedication to the health and well-being of our veterans and service members.
Sincerely,
Kenneth b. black
Secretary
Referred to committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, Biotechnology, and Financial Institutions.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction
December 3, 2010
The Honorable, The Legislature:
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is submitting the 2009 annual report on the status of bilingual-bicultural education programs as required under s.
115.996, Wis. Stats. The report provides data from the state-aided bilingual-bicultural education programs for the 2009 fiscal year (July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009).
This annual report presents details on the state's administration and funding of bilingual education in Wisconsin, including:
• The number of pupils served in bilingual-bicultural
education programs for each language group by school district;
• The cost of the program per pupil for each school district; and
• The number of pupils in each school district and language group who as a result of participation in a bilingual-bicultural education program improved their English language ability and no longer need program services.
In addition, the report comments on factors contributing to program growth.
Sincerely,
tony evers, phd
State Superintendent
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Health Services
December 6, 2010
The Honorable, The Legislature:
Section
20.907(1m) of the Wis. Stats. requires the Department to submit a report on expenditures made by the agency during the preceding fiscal year from nonfederal funds received as gifts, grants, bequests or devises. The expenditure report is attached. In addition, the Department has no in-kind contributions to report.
Sincerely,
karen e. timberlake
Secretary
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Government Accountability Board
December 10, 2010
The Honorable, The Senate:
The following lobbyists have been authorized to act on behalf of the organizations set opposite their names.
For more detailed information about these lobbyists and organizations and a complete list of organizations and people authorized to lobby the 2009-2010 session of the legislature, visit the Government Accountability Board's web site at:
http://gab.wi.gov/
Keckhaver, John Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,
The
Pugh, Lisa Disability Rights Wisconsin
Quick, Joseph Wisconsin Association of School
Boards Inc
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Also available from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
kevin kennedy
Director and General Counsel
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health Services
December 15, 2010
The Honorable, The Legislature:
The Department of Health Services (DHS) is pleased to provide you this annual report of plans and progress in addressing food insecurity, as required under s.49.76(4) and (5).
Highlights from the report include:
The Wisconsin Food Security Consortium remained active during 2010 despite critical staffing challenges:
•Kadi Row, the Food Security Coordinator for UW Extension and Lead for the Consortium, resigned earlier this year. DHS attempted to identify resources to assume leadership of the Consortium, since UW Extension will not be able to do so.
• The Consortium made efforts to visit different areas of the state to study local issues that have an impact on food security. The Consortium met August 11 with the Hunger Prevention Coalition for Eau Claire County, and had the pleasure of also visiting the Community Table meal site and two local community gardens.
•The Steering Committee met monthly and added new members representing two critical food security programs (FoodShare and DPI school meals).
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided resources to strengthen Wisconsin's food assistance safety net:
• TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) provided $1.6 million in food to distribute through food pantries, soup kitchens and meal sites; and over $800,000 for distribution, storage, and program costs.
• FoodShare benefits were increased in April 2009 as a result of ARRA. Through July of 2010, about $258 million was added to Wisconsin FoodShare benefits.
Wisconsin FoodShare Program:
• Monthly average participation increased from 595,025 in 2009 to 737,393 (January through October 2010).
• More than 200 community leaders and partners dedicated to ending hunger in Wisconsin attended the first annual FoodShare outreach conference, "Swipe Out Hunger: Putting Food on Your Table and Money in your Community Through Food Share."
• USDA recently released the Household Food Security in the United States, 2009. Wisconsin food insecurity increased from 10.1% (2006-2008) to 11.4% (2007-2009); very low food security (also known as hunger) increased from 3.7% to 4.4% for the same time period.
These successes and challenges indicate the need for continued commitment by DHS to fight hunger in Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Karen Timberlake
Secretary
Referred to joint committee on Finance.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 17, 2010
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed our financial audit of the State of Wisconsin as of and for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010. The State's financial statements, and our unqualified audit opinion on them dated December 10, 2010, were included in the State's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which can be found on the Department of Administration's Web site.
During the course of our audit, we identified internal control concerns that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards. The enclosed management letter includes our report on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance. In that report, we make recommendations for various state agencies to improve their financial reporting and to strengthen internal controls, including those over security of computer programs and electronic data. The management letter was provided to the Department of Administration and to other agencies to which we made recommendations for improvement. We will follow up during next year's audit to determine the extent to which state agencies have addressed these concerns.
In addition, early next year, we plan to report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee certain budgetary accounting concerns identified during our audit.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the Department of Administration and other state agencies during the audit.
Sincerely,
janice mueller
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
December 17, 2010
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed a financial audit of the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB) Radio Network to meet our audit requirements under s.
13.94, Wis. Stats., and as requested by ECB to fulfill the audit requirements of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation requires audited financial statements of public broadcasting entities to determine future funding levels.
ECB, which is an agency of the State of Wisconsin, operates a radio network of 14 FM stations and 1 AM station, as well as a television network of 5 digital stations. The ECB Radio Network reported $11.2 million in support and revenue during fiscal year 2009-10, including state support, member contributions, funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and various other grants.
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Our audit report contains the ECB Radio Network's financial statements and related notes as of and for the periods ending June 30, 2010, and June 30, 2009. We were able to issue an unqualified independent auditor's report on these statements. However, our report on internal control and compliance includes recommendations that ECB implement additional steps to simplify its financial reporting process to prevent and detect financial statement errors and take steps to improve program change controls over its invoice system.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by ECB staff during the audit.
