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The following Assembly proposals, which have been approved by both the Assembly and Senate, have been enrolled by the Legislative Reference Bureau:
Assembly Bill
2
Assembly Bill
9
Assembly Bill
19
Assembly Bill
42
Assembly Bill
48
Assembly Bill
71
Assembly Bill
106
Assembly Bill
126
Assembly Bill
187
Assembly Bill
204
Assembly Bill
329
Assembly Bill
344
Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
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Communications
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
Madison
To Whom It May Concern:
Acts, Joint Resolutions and Resolutions deposited in this office have been numbered and published as follows:
Bill Number Act Number Publication Date
Assembly Bill 3156October 17, 2003
Sincerely,
Douglas La Follette
Secretary of State
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A426
Referral of Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Department of Revenue
Madison
October 6, 2003
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
I am submitting the quarterly report of the Wisconsin Lottery for the quarter ending June 30, 2003. As required by §
565.37(3), Wis. Stats., the attached materials contain unaudited Wisconsin Lottery year to date Sales and Expenditure information.
The information reported here is a summary and is not intended to be a complete financial accounting of Wisconsin Lottery operations.
Lottery sales were $435 million during the last fiscal year: the highest sales mark in seven years. These sales resulted in net operating income of $122.5 million - money that was deposited in the Lottery Fund for property tax relief.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this report, please feel free to contact me at (608) 266-6466.
Sincerely,
Michael L. Morgan
Secretary
Referred to committee on State Affairs.
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Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Reference Bureau
Madison
August 2003
To the Honorable, the Legislature:
The Legislative Reference Bureau's essential quality is its orientation to the Wisconsin Legislature and legislative activities. As illustrated in this report, the great bulk of our workload is drafting legislation, providing legal advice, researching public policy, writing memos, preparing publications, and providing library services that address the wide range of issues facing the legislature, its committees, and members. These documents and related services contribute to the thorough study of issues by legislative committees and to informed debates on the floors of the senate and assembly. Ultimately, our products and services help the legislature to make Wisconsin a better place to live.
Our goal is to meet every legislator's need for information and drafts of legislation. We try to anticipate these needs so that we can answer questions more quickly and completely. We continually look for ways to improve our services, both in content and in manner of delivery. One exciting new initiative described in this report is our adoption of the "Really Simple Syndication" standard (RSS) for distribution of new information.
Our mission to deliver legislative drafting services and information about issues to the legislature requires that we integrate our efforts into the legislative workflow. With 102 years of experience, the LRB does this well. The legislature determines the public policies for the state. The LRB supports that process, and that support takes many forms. As each new policy issue emerges, the LRB begins to accumulate relevant library materials, develop annotated bibliographies, research the related policy areas, answer questions at the reference desk, respond to information requests, and draft proposed legislation at the request of members. In some cases, the LRB offers a seminar on a "hot topic," which normally serves as a general orientation to a policy issue.
During the past fiscal biennium, the LRB has worked hard to maintain its high level of service, both in terms of quality and quantity of services, while facing significant budget reductions. I believe we have managed to do this through a series of cost savings, careful planning, and simple hard work.
During the past year, the LRB's general counsel has taken the lead in defending the director of the Legislative Technology Services Bureau (LTSB) in litigation related to a subpoena for confidential legislative records. This litigation reaches fundamental constitutional and legal issues of the separation of powers and the legislature's independence from the executive branch. The issues involved are strictly nonpartisan, and given the importance of the issues, the LRB is pleased to support the LTSB and the institutional prerogatives of the legislature in this litigation.
Also notable in the past year is the enormous amount of work done by the LRB to prepare for its move across the capitol square. In October 2003, we will move to One East Main Street. This move, which is the culmination of five years of planning, holds major strategic importance for the LRB because the new layout matches the LRB's workflow and situates the entire bureau on one floor, rather than having it spread out over four floors as in our current space. This building also houses our sister agencies, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau and the Legislative Council. Although most of the new office space will reuse the fixtures and finishes left behind by the State Law Library when it vacated the space, the public counters at the entry to the bureau will be decorated in a classic style reminiscent of the public areas in the capitol.
There are some disadvantages to the move. As a way to finance the renovation costs without affecting the state budget, the LRB temporarily forfeited a considerable amount of library space. A large part of the library collection will be placed in storage for the next few years. But overall, the new office location will poise the LRB to work better within the legislative community.
Sincerely,
Stephen R. Miller
Chief
