Wednesday, June 10, 1998
Ninety-Third Regular Session
The Chief Clerk makes the following entries under the above date.
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State of Wisconsin
June 4, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
As you know, State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Benson has appointed me Assistant State Superintendent, division of Libraries and Community Learning. Therefore, I hereby submit my resignation as State Senator from the 9th District effective June 8, 1998.
Sincerely,
Calvin Potter
State Senator
9th Senate District
State of Wisconsin
June 8, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
20, I have made the following appointment to a Senate committee:
To the committee on Education and Financial Institutions: Senator Moore.
With regards to the members of the minority party, the appointments reflect the recommendations of that caucus.
Sincerely,
Michael Ellis, Chair
Committee on Senate Organization
State of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Technical college System Board
June 3, 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am please to share with you the following report in compliance with section
38.04(21) of the statutes.
The 1997-99 state budget bill (
1997 Wisconsin Act 27) included a provision which requires the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) to submit a report regarding high school pupils attending technical colleges. The report is to be submitted annually to the Legislature and to three state agencies (Department of Administration, Public Instruction and Workforce Development).
If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact Dan Clancy, Assistant State Director, at (608) 266-7983.
Sincerely,
Edward Chin
State Director
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
June 9, 1998
The Honorable, The Legislature:
As required by s.
13.94(1)(de), Wis. Stats., we have completed a financial audit of the Patients Compensation Fund, which provides medical malpractice insurance coverage in excess of statutory minimums to Wisconsin's health care providers. The Fund is governed by the Board of Governors of the Patients Compensation Fund/Health Care Liability Insurance Plan and administered by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. We were able to provide an unqualified auditor's report on the Fund's financial statements for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1997, 1996, and 1995.
Prior audit reports discussed concerns regarding the Fund's accounting deficit. Actions by the governing board and the Legislature, as well as recent favorable claims loss experience, have caused the deficit to decrease from $67.8 million as of June 30, 1994, to $44.1 million as of June 30, 1997. At the same time, assets of the Fund increased from $271 million to $377 million. Although the deficit appears to be a less-serious concern than it had been in earlier years, the Board will need to continue to monitor the Fund's financial status to ensure it addresses any concerns that might arise in the future. For example, the Legislature recently passed
1997 Wisconsin Act 89, which increases the cap on damages for wrongful death from $150,000 to $350,000 for adults and $500,000 for children and allows minor siblings to be plaintiffs. According to the Fund's actuaries, the change in law is not expected to have a material effect on the Fund because only future claims will be affected, and it appears the new provisions would not significantly increase the amounts paid for individual claims.
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The Fund has complied with our prior audit recommendation to resolve a potential conflict of interest regarding the purchasing of claim settlement annuities. In addition, we found the Fund's internal controls to be adequate overall. However, we are issuing a management letter to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to suggest improvement in controlling access to the Fund's computer system and in technical accounting matters.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the staff of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and the contractors who help administer the Patients Compensation Fund program.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules
May 28, 1998
The Honorable, The Legislature:
As you may know, the governor has signed 1997 Assembly Bill 254 in law as Wisconsin Act 185. In addition to giving the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules expanded powers related to the extension of emergency rules, the legislation also imposes additional reporting requirements upon the co-chairs once an emergency rule has been extended.
According to Section 4 of the act, the Joint Committee is required, upon extending an emergency rule or part of an emergency rule, to file a statement of its action with the "presiding officer of each house of the legislature, (and) the appropriate committees of each house of the legislature, as determined by the presiding officer of each house of the legislature . . . ." We have discussed with Ron Sklansky, counsel to the Joint Committee, the compliance issues related specifically to sending notification to the standing committees as designated by the presiding officers, to wit: How do we send notification to those committees when the presiding officers have not yet designated them? Attorney Sklansky suggested that we forward the standing committee notification letters to your offices, and that you then forward them to the standing committee chair in your house after you have chosen the committee to receive the notice.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact either of us at our offices, or Attorney Ron Sklansky at the Joint Legsilative Council. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Robert T. Welch
Senate Co-Chair
Glenn Grothman
Assembly Co-Chair
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