To the Honorable, the Assembly:
This letter is to inform you of the Technical College System (WTCS) Board's need for additional time to comply with a new reporting requirement. The 1997-99 state budget (
1997 Wisconsin Act 27) included a provision which requires the WTCS Board to submit a report regarding high school pupils attending technical colleges. The report is to be submitted annually to the Legislature and three state agencies (the Departments of Administration, Public Instruction, and Workforce Development) by the third Monday in February. The new statutory provision (s.38.04(21)) is attached.
Another provision in the budget bill (Section 9340(5x)) which relates to the initial applicability of s.
38.04(21) has created some ambiguity as to whether or not the Legislature intended the first report to be submitted by the WTCS Board by February 16, 1998. Nevertheless, the WTCS Board will provide the report this year. However, our agency will need additional time to obtain the necessary data from the 16 technical college districts. We will submit the first report to the Legislature by June 1, 1998.
I apologize for this delay, but I want to assure you that the additional time will improve the accuracy of the data included in the first report. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact either me or Dan Clancy at the WTCS Board office.
Sincerely,
Edward Chin
State Director, WTCS
Referred to committee on Colleges and Universities.
__________________
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
Madison
February 13, 1998
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
The Wisconsin Board on Hunger, in their meeting on January 23, 1998, determined that it would be advantageous to delay the preparation of the annual plan required under provision in
1993 Wisconsin Act 168 until April 1, 1998. The reason for this delay is to allow for the Board to review and examine several key reports that recommend strategies and policy changes to address hunger. The reports to be reviewed include:
* A national report from Second Harvest (which will include extensive data from Southeast Wisconsin).
* A food security indicators report from the Wisconsin Nutrition Project.
* A summary of efforts in sixteen Wisconsin communities participating in the Transforming Anti-Hunger Leadership Project (TAHL), directed by the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee.
* A demographic analysis by county of indicators suggesting risk of food insecurity prepared by UW-Extension.
* A report regarding emergency food provision in Wisconsin prepared by Wood Communications with support from Miller Brewing.
All of the above reports are available with the exception of the Second Harvest Report which will be released March 10, 1998 - Attachment A. In closing, the Board decided that these reports could form the basis for an analysis of the extent of problems related to food insecurity and provide an improved perspective on the status of hunger in Wisconsin.
Thank you for your continued commitment to Wisconsin families.
Sincerely,
Joseph Leean
Secretary, DHFS
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
February 23, 1998
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
We have completed an evaluation of Menominee County as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Menominee County faces unique financial problems because just 1 percent of its land is subject to local property taxes, while nearly all the rest is held in federal trust for the benefit of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
A598
The county's financial condition is poor; its expenditures have exceeded revenues for five of the last seven years, and it ended 1997 with a deficit of approximately $75,684. Although the county's taxable property is mostly lake property and has therefore increased rapidly in value, the total assessed value of $144 million is lowest among all counties. Tax bills paid by county residents are high in comparison to surrounding towns and towns in other counties with lake property, and services such as road maintenance and fire protection provided to county residents are limited. At the same time, the county's high poverty, unemployment, and crime rates place high demands on the human services programs and law enforcement.
If property taxes are to be held to a reasonable level and residents of Menominee County are to be provided even minimally acceptable services, the State may have to provide financial assistance to Menominee County, at least for a time. During that time, the Legislature will need to pursue federal legislation that will cause the federal government to assume greater responsibility for the burdens associated with federal trust lands.
We also identified a series of needed management improvements, which we discuss in a management letter to the Menominee County Board.
We appreciated the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by officials of Menominee County and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale Cattanach
State Auditor
__________________
REFERENCE BUREAU CORRECTIONS
Assembly Bill 514
1. Page 22, line 2: delete "5" and substitute "5".
Assembly Bill 579
1. Page 6, line 17: substitute "amortization" for "amoritization".
2. Page 10, line 5: delete "10% of" and substitute "10% or".
Assembly Bill 651
1. Page 263, line 1: substitute "9356 (1)" for "9356 (3)".
Assembly Bill 790
1. Page 5, line 6: substitute "administrator" for "administer".
Senate Substitute Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 315
1. Page 2, line 3: after "records," insert "storage and disposal of documents containing medical and financial information,".
