State of Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Administration
Madison
March 19, 1997
RE: Clean Water Fund Program Biennial Finance Plan Revisions
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
The attached information regarding the Wisconsin Clean Water Fund Biennial Finance Plan is submitted in accordance with subsection 281.59 (3) (bm) of the Wisconsin statutes. That subsection requires the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Administration to submit to the legislature and the Building Commission any amendments to the Biennial Finance Plan which are necessary to reflect material approved by the Governor for inclusion in the biennial budget.
After the biennial budget is enacted a revised version of the Biennial Finance Plan will be distributed with changes which reflect actions taken in the budget.
If you have any questions regarding the Biennial Finance Plan, please contact Kathryn A. Curtner at 266-0860 or Frank Hoadley at 266-2305.
Sincerely,
KATHRYN A. CURTNER
Director, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, DNR
FRANK R. HOADLEY
Capital Finance Director, DOA
Referred to committee on Environment.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Madison
March 31, 1997
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As required by s.
16.045(5), I an submitting the fifth Wisconsin Gasahol and Alternative Fuel Use Report for distribution to the appropriate standing committees.
Should you or legislative members have questions, please contact the Division of Energy and Intergovernmental Relations, Nathaniel E. Robinson, Administrator, at 608/266-7257.
Sincerely,
MARCH D. BUGHER
Secretary, DOA
Referred to committee on Environment.
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Department of Revenue
Madison
April 3, 1997
RE: Wisconsin Lottery Quarterly Report
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Included with this correspondence, I am submitting the quarterly report of the Wisconsin Lottery for the quarter ending March 31, 1997. As required by s.
565.37 (3), Wis. Stats., the attached materials contain Wisconsin Lottery year to date sales and financial information.
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If you have any questions or comments regarding this report, please do not hesitate to contact me at (608) 266-6466.
Sincerely,
CATE ZEUSKE
Secretary, DOR
Referred to committee on State Affairs.
__________________
DATE: April 14, 1997
TO: Charles R. Sanders
Assembly Chief Clerk
FROM: Katharine C. Lyall, President
University of Wisconsin System
RE: Report pursuant to s.
36.25(14m)(c),
Wis. Stats.
At its meeting April 11, 1997, the Board of Regents accepted the attached report for submission to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the appropriate standing committee under s.
13.172 (3).
Section
36.25 (14m)(c), Wis. Stats., requires the Board of Regents to submit a report to the governor and to the chief clerk of each house of the Legislature annually by April 15 on its precollege, recruitment, and retention plan for minority and disadvantaged students. The report must also include information on financial aid programs serving those students. the report for 1995-96 is attached.
If you need additional information regarding this report, please contact Andrea-Teresa Arenas at 262-8636.
Referred to committee on Colleges and Universities.
__________________
DATE: April 14, 1997
TO: Charles R. Sanders
Assembly Chief Clerk
FROM: Katharine C. Lyall, President
University of Wisconsin System
RE: Report pursuant to s.
36.11(22)(b),
Wis. Stats.
At its meeting April 11, 1997, the Board of Regents accepted the attached report for submission to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the appropriate standing committee under s.
13.172 (3).
Section
36.11 (22) (b), Wis. Stats., requires the Board of Regents to submit a report to the chief clerk of each house of the Legislature annually on the methods each UW System institution used to disseminate information to students on sexual assault and sexual harassment.
The law requires UW System institutions to incorporate into their orientation programs for newly entering students oral and written information on sexual assault and sexual harassment, including information on: 1) sexual assault by acquaintances of the victims; 2) the legal definitions and penalties for sexual assault; 3) generally available national, state, and campus statistics on sexual assault; 4) the rights of victims; and 5) protective behaviors including methods of recognizing and avoiding sexual assault and sexual harassment. In addition, each institution must annually supply to all students enrolled in the institution printed material that includes information on all of these topics.
This law was enacted in April 1990 and this is the sixth report to be compiled for the Legislature since its enactment.
If you need additional information regarding this report, please contact Mark A. Schemmel at 262-5504.
Referred to committee on Colleges and Universities.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Investment Board
Madison
March 18, 1997
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
As provided under section
25.17(14m) of the Statutes, attached is the Investment Board's annual performance report to the Legislature. This report discusses our progress in meeting investment goals, the types of investments managed by the Board, our performance in 1996 and investments in Wisconsin.
Key points of note in this report:
* The Fixed (or balanced) Retirement Fund returned 14.4% in 1996. The Fund outperformed its investment benchmark for the one-, five- and ten-year periods. SWIB's performance over the benchmark resulted in $1.5 billion in added returns for the Fixed Fund over the last five years. Gains in the Fixed Fund surpassed the 14.24% median return for a peer group of public funds in 1996. Additional performance information and cost of management data for our peers should be available within the next several months.
* The Variable Retirement Fund returned 19.8% for the year as compared to 23.0% for the S&P 500. The Variable Fund is primarily a stock fund but is diversified into a number of markets which are not represented in the S&P 500, including smaller company stocks, international stocks, venture capital and emerging markets. On a risk adjusted basis, the Variable Fund outperformed the S&P 500 index over five years.
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* The Board continues to give priority to strengthening systems for measuring and managing investment risk. The planned upgrade of our information systems includes automated tracking of risk across portfolios. We currently monitor the volatility of returns, interest rate sensitivity, foreign currency exposure, emerging market risk, liquidity and the use of derivatives. There has been no significant overall change in these risk elements for the Fixed and Variable Retirement Funds since our report to the Legislature in July 1996.
* The State Investment Fund (SIF) returned 5.3% for the year and outperformed its benchmark for the one-, five- and ten-year periods. The SIF is the short-term cash management fund for local governments, state agencies and the Fixed and Variable Trust Funds. The SIF return ranked second out of 227 government funds in the IBC/Donoghue Government Index and 95th out of 813 money market funds in the IBC/Donoghue All Taxable Money Market Index.
* SWIB's investments in companies headquartered in Wisconsin totaled $1.9 billion as of June 30, 1996. An additional $6.1 billion was invested in companies not headquartered here but with 20 or more Wisconsin employes. Our investments in Wisconsin are made within the context of our fiduciary responsibility to the Retirement Funds.
The additional resources we received in 1996 were an important factor in our solid returns last year. We greatly appreciate the support of the Governor and Legislature in addressing those needs.
Please contact me if you have any questions about this report or other mattes.
Sincerely,
PATRICIA LIPTON
Executive Director, SWIB
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Investment Board
Madison
April 14, 1997
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
Section
25.17 (14r) of the Statutes requires that the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) submit a report to the Joint Committee on Audit, Joint Committee on Finance, and Chief Clerks of each House summarizing any change in the board's investment policies, upon adoption of the change.
On April 2, 1997, the Board approved the attached modifications to the Investment Policy Guidelines for certificates of deposit (CDs) purchased by the State Investment Fund (SIF) from Wisconsin banks and thrifts. Additions to the previous guidelines are shaded and deletions are stricken material. The guidelines for the Wisconsin Bank Program" have been replaced by the guidelines entitled Wisconsin Certificate of Deposit Program".
* The new guidelines simplify the process for judging the credit quality of banks and thrifts who want to participate in the CD program. Eligibility is now based upon whether the bank/thrift qualifies for pass-through" insurance by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). That determination is made by the FDIC according to whether the bank/thrift is well capitalized " or adequately capitalized". this change enables each public depositor and retirement fund participant to have FDIC coverage for up to $100,000. Combined with the State's guarantee fund, this would make available to each public depositor up to $500,000 of insurance coverage.
The new process enables SWIB to eliminate a bank/thrift evaluation program that was being provided by an outside vendor. As a result, there will be an annual cost savings of $4,000.
* The maximum exposure which SIF may have to any bank or thrift has been reduced from the lesser of $25 million or 3% of assets to the lesser of $10 million or 3% of assets. This change was made to ensure that larger banks would not dominate the program.
* Under the previous guidelines, the maximum maturity for a CD purchased by SIF was three years. Under the new guidelines, the amount of exposure which SIF may have to CDs with maturities of up to three years is also limited to address concerns about control over duration of the overall SIF portfolio.
* The $100,000 minimum size requirement for CDs purchased by SIF has been eliminated. We anticipate that the new minimum size will be $25,000 as part of a plan to use an outside vendor in administering the CD program. The authority for the Investment Director to use third-party vendors is explicitly stated in the Guidelines. We continue to have discussions about ways that third-party vendors could play a role that would make the program more attractive to banks and thrifts without impairing our ability to earn a competitive rate of return.
These changes will simplify and improve the program. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
PATRICIA LIPTON
Executive Director, SWIB
