Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Secretary of State
To the Honorable, the Senate:
Sincerely,
Douglas La follette
Secretary of State
State of Wisconsin
Department of Administration
April 7, 2004
The Honorable, The Legislature:
In accordance with Wisconsin statutes section 13.172(2) and section 16.957(2)(d)4, the department submits the FY2003 Annual report on the Public Benefits Fund.
The Public Benefits Fund supports the Focus on Energy program and Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance programs.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the report or the programs.
Sincerely,
Marc J. Marotta
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin System
April 6, 2004
The Honorable, The Legislature:
At its meeting April 2, 2004, 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 committees 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 2002-2003 is attached.
If you need additional information regrading this report, please contact Andrea-Teresa Arenas, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, at 262-8636.
Sincerely,
Katharine C. Lyall
President
Referred to committee on Higher Education and Tourism.
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
April 14, 2004
The Honorable, The Legislature:
S759
At the request of the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS), we have completed a financial audit of the Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) for fiscal year (FY) 2002-03. HIRSP provides medical and prescription drug insurance for more that 17,000 policyholders who are unable to obtain coverage in the private market or who lost employer-sponsored group health insurance. We have provided an unqualified opinion of HIRSP's financial statements.
HIRSP's financial position continues to improve: its accounting deficit was $0.9 million on June 30, 2003, compared to $6.0 million on June 30, 2002. In addition, a balance in the excess policyholder premium account increased significantly during FY 2002-03, from $3.0 million to $10.4 million as of June 30, 2003. By statute, the excess premium balance can be used only for purposes that benefit policyholders, such as for reducing premium levels to a statutory floor of 140 percent of standard risk rates.
Despite an improving financial position, HIRSP faces continuing management and funding challenges because of increasing enrollment and claims costs. In FY 2002-03, enrollment increased 16.9 percent and claims costs increased 27.8 percent. In addition, general purpose revenue (GPR) support was eliminated beginning in FY 2003-04. Costs previously covered by GPR, which totaled $10.2 million in FY 2002-03, are now covered by policyholders, insurers, and health care providers. Further, legislative action will be needed to address a technical issue that DHFS and HIRSP's contracted actuary have identified in HIRSP's statutory funding formula.
During our prior audit, we recommended DHFS increase its oversight of prescription drug claims, which totaled $32.4 million in FY 2002-03, through independent audits of the pharmacy benefit management company's controls. DHFS is currently conducting a competitive procurement process to select the plan administrator that will be administering HIRSP beginning in January 2005, and it has included a requirement for such audits in the Request for Vendor Proposals that will be used to award a new contract.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DHFS and the plan administrator for HIRSP. A response from DHFS follows the appendix.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
April 13, 2004
The Honorable, The Senate:
The following lobbyists have been authorized to act on behalf of the organizations set opposite their names.
For more detailed information about these lobbyists and organizations and a complete list of organizations and people authorized to lobby the 2003 session of the legislature, visit the Ethics Board's web site at
http://ethics.state.wi.us
Handrick, Joey Wisconsin Occupational Therapy Association
Jentz, Robert Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation
Jentz, Robert Arjo Wiggins Appleton Limited
Kuehn, Ronald W Arjo Wiggins Appleton Limited
La Follette, Bronson Value Generics Rx
Lamb, Jordan Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation
Peshek, Peter Arjo Wiggins Appleton Limited
Peterson, Craig Arjo Wiggins Appleton Limited
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Director
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
April 5, 2004
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Bablitch, Steve,
of Whitefish Bay, as a member of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2005.
Sincerely,
JIM DOYLE
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Agriculture, Financial Institutions and Insurance.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
April 13, 2004
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Braam
, Quirin E.,
of New Berlin, as a member of the Credit Union Review Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2007.
Sincerely,
JIM DOYLE
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Agriculture, Financial Institutions and Insurance.
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
April 13, 2004
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Cupp
, Mark,
of Muscoda, as a member of the Land and Water Conservation Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2008.
Sincerely,
JIM DOYLE
Governor
Read and referred to committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
Office of the Governor
April 13, 2004
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to nominate and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint Stower
, Harvey,
of Amery, as a member of the Land and Water Conservation Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2008.
