2004-10-05 Assembly Journal

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State of Wisconsin
Department of Commerce
Madison

September 29, 2004

To the Honorable, the Assembly:

Please find enclosed a copy of the State of Wisconsin 2004 Consolidated Annual Plan to address statewide housing and community development needs. The Plan was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the State's annual funding application for:

* Small Cities Community Development Block Grants (CDBG),
* HOME Investment Partnership (HOME),
* Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG), and
* Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA).

Section 560.9802 (4), Wis. Stats., requires the Department to submit a copy of this state housing strategy plan to the Governor and the Chief Clerks of each house of the legislature before October 1 of each year.

If you have any questions regarding the plan, please contact Marty Evanson, Director, Bureau of Housing, at [phone].

Sincerely,

James O'Keefe, Administrator

Division of Community Development

Referred to committee on Housing.

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State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
Department of Natural Resources
Madison

September 30, 2004

To the Honorable, the Legislature:

Attached please find the Environmental Improvement Fund Biennial Finance Plan for the 2005-2007 biennium.

Environmental Improvement Fund program legislation (s. 281.59 (3), Wis. Stats.) requires the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Administration to submit the final version of the Biennial Finance Plan to the Legislature and to the State Building Commission. The purpose of the plan is to provide information on loan, loan subsidy, and bonding levels for program operations in the 2005-2007 biennium.

If you have any questions regarding the Biennial Finance Plan, please contact Robert Ramharter at 266-3915 or Michael Wolff at 267-2734.

Sincerely,

Michael Wolff

Finance Program Administrator, Department of Administration

Thomas J. Niebauer

Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, Department of Natural Resources

Referred to committee on Natural Resources.

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State of Wisconsin
Office of State Employment Relations
Madison

September 30, 2004

To the Honorable, the Assembly:

A990 I am pleased to submit the Fiscal Year 2004 report on employment of costumers of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program. This report includes a description of each agency's efforts to employ W-2 job seekers, shows the number of W-2 job seekers employed by each agency, and the classification title of each position filled, from July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004.

If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this report, please contact Kathryn A. Moore at 266-9472 or by e-mail at [e-mail].

Sincerely,

Karen E. Timberlake

Director

Referred to committee on Children and Families.

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Supreme Court of Wisconsin
Director of State Courts
Madison

October 1, 2004

To the Honorable, the Legislature:

Pursuant to s. 758.19 (5)(i), Wis. Stats., the information reported to the Director of State Courts under ss. 758.19 (5)(e) and 758.19 (6)(d), Wis. Stats., by Wisconsin's counties has been compiled and is herein submitted. Under ss. 758.19 (5)(e) and 758.19 (6)(d), Wis. Stats., each county is required to submit an annual report to the Director of State Courts which provides information on the actual amount expended in the previous calendar year for court costs relating to the circuit court support and the guardian ad litem payments programs. Statutes prohibit the Director of State Courts from requiring counties to submit audited annual reports to ensure accurate, uniform information. As a result, due to the differing and inconsistent accounting practices among and within counties, the following reported expenditures are not comparable among counties.

Sincerely,

A. John Voelker

Director of State Courts

Referred to committee on Children and Families.

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State of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Women's Council
Madison

October 1, 2004

To the Honorable, the Legislature:

Wisconsin Statutes § 16.01 (2)(g) requires the Council to submit a biennial report on its activities to the Governor and to the Chief Clerk of each house of the legislature. This letter is intended to fulfill this statutory requirement. A list of Council Members and a budget/staffing summary for the 2001-2003 biennium are provided in Attachments.

Questions about the Wisconsin Women's Council and requests for additional copies of this report may be directed to the Wisconsin Women's Council, 101 East Wilson, 8th Floor, Madison, WI 53703, or by telephone at [phone].

Respectfully submitted,

Christine Lidbury

Executive Director

Referred to committee on Children and Families.

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State of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics
Madison

October 2004

To the Honorable, the Legislature:

The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority (UWHCA) was created in 1995 by Chapter 233, Wisconsin Statutes, to assume operations of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics (UWHC), effective June 29, 1996. Section 233.04 (1) requires the Authority to submit an annual report to the Wisconsin Legislature on its "patient care, education, research and community service activities and accomplishments." UWHCA is governed by a Board of Directors. The composition of the Board and means of selecting members are specified by Chapter 233, Wisconsin Statutes, which provides for 13 voting members and two non-voting members.

Referred to committee on Health.

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Agency Reports

State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison

September 28, 2004

To the Honorable, the Legislature:

As requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, we have completed an evaluation of Wisconsin's process for determining eligibility for Medical Assistance program benefits, including BadgerCare. The State's Medical Assistance program is administered by the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS), which contracts with counties to determine eligibility and provide case management services. A total of $4.3 billion in state and federal funds is budgeted for Medical Assistance benefits in fiscal year (FY) 2004-05.

Concerns have been raised about the accuracy of the eligibility determination process, in part because applicants are no longer required to provide supporting documentation for wages and other information used to establish eligibility. We found that eligibility determinations are generally correct. However, in 6.5 percent of the 200 cases we reviewed, worker errors affected program eligibility. In addition, improving the mail-in application and allowing workers greater discretion in requesting documentation of income may improve the accuracy of eligibility determinations.

A991 In 12.9 percent of an additional 101 cases we reviewed, individuals had been inappropriately denied benefits. Moreover, we estimate that approximately 1,100 individuals were inappropriately denied benefits in January 2004, the month we reviewed, because a longstanding computer system problem was not resolved until July 2004, only after we had raised the issue with DHFS staff during the course of our fieldwork.

Although we found limited evidence of recipient fraud, program integrity efforts to prevent fraud and abuse are important program functions. We found that program integrity efforts vary substantially across counties and that Wisconsin appears to be unusual in relying on benefit recoveries to fund these efforts. County officials have raised concerns about the nature and level of program integrity funding and are concerned about the sustainability of these efforts. We include a recommendation for DHFS to report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on its plans to address program integrity needs.

We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DHFS and county staff. DHFS's response follows the appendices.

Sincerely,

Janice Mueller

State Auditor