Lepak , Katie, of Milwaukee, as a member of the Hearing and Speech Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2007.
Confirmation.
Ayes, 5 - Senators Roessler, Darling, Brown, Erpenbach and Carpenter.
Noes, 0 - None.
Carol Roessler
Chairperson
__________________
The committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care reports and recommends:
Relating to annual patients compensation fund and mediation fund fees for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005.
No action taken.
Carol Roessler
Chairperson
__________________
INTRODUCTION, First Reading and
reference of Proposals
Read first time and referred:
Senate Bill 266
Relating to: the prohibition against underage persons entering or being on any premises operating under an alcohol beverage license.
By Senators S. Fitzgerald, A. Lasee, Plale, Grothman and Breske; cosponsored by Representatives Kleefisch, J. Fitzgerald, Shilling, Musser, Gronemus, Albers and Vos.
To committee on Job Creation, Economic Development and Consumer Affairs.
Senate Bill 267
Relating to: payment of annuities under the Wisconsin Retirement System.
By Senators Brown, Grothman, Wirch, Roessler, Erpenbach, Hansen, Breske and Miller; cosponsored by Representatives Vrakas, Petrowski, Krawczyk, Mursau, Hines, Van Roy, Musser, Gunderson, Lothian, Berceau, Ott, Molepske, Pettis, Suder, Pocan, Lehman and Turner.
To joint survey committee on Retirement Systems.
Senate Bill 268
Relating to: regulation of rental-purchase agreements and granting rule-making authority.
By Senators Brown, Plale, Schultz, Kapanke, Risser, Darling, S. Fitzgerald, Kanavas, Zien, Breske and Olsen; cosponsored by Representatives Stone, Huebsch, Gronemus, J. Fitzgerald, Hahn, Townsend, Honadel, Pettis, Vrakas, Kleefisch, Kreibich, Gunderson, Vos, Albers, Krawczyk, Ott, Jeskewitz, Ainsworth, Loeffelholz, Montgomery, Davis and Freese.
To committee on Housing and Financial Institutions.
Senate Bill 269
S308 Relating to: various modifications to housing loan programs and loan guarantee programs, increasing the bonding authority of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), and removing limitations on WHEDA's authority to acquire property.
By Senators Kanavas, Taylor, Brown, Olsen and Roessler; cosponsored by Representatives Wieckert, Young, Fields, Grigsby, Townsend, Strachota, Turner, Sinicki, Sheridan, Ballweg, Ott, Berceau, McCormick and Hines.
To committee on Housing and Financial Institutions.
Senate Bill 270
Relating to: the maximum speed limit on freeways and expressways.
By Senators Reynolds, Zien and Plale.
To committee on Natural Resources and Transportation.
Senate Bill 271
Relating to: requiring an individual who is suspected of child abuse or neglect to be advised of the specific allegations that have been made against him or her and requiring training for persons who investigate or treat child abuse and neglect to include training in the constitutional and other legal rights of a child who is being observed or interviewed in connection with the investigation and the child's family.
By Senators Reynolds and Grothman; cosponsored by Representative Krawczyk .
To committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy.
__________________
Petitions and communications
July 20, 2005
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule 46(2)(c), I am writing to direct that Senate Bills 1, 23, 136, and 221 be withdrawn from the committee on Senate Organization and rereferred to the joint committee on Finance. I have obtained the consent of the appropriate chairperson.
Sincerely,
ALAN LASEE
Senate President
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
July 12, 2005
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 2005 session of the legislature, visit the Ethics Board's web site at http://ethics.state.wi.us
Ashenhurst, Karla Ministry Health Care
Blavat, Kate Northwestern Mutual
Campana, Joseph Joe Campana (DBA - The LegalEase Group)
Foti, Steven Miller Brewing Company
Kuehn, Ronald W Medtronic, Inc.
Lamb, Jordan Medtronic, Inc.
Leonhart, James Medtronic, Inc.
O'Connor, Alice Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc
O'Connor, Alice Northern Natural Gas Company
O'Connor, Alice Wisconsin Counties Utility Tax Association
Osborne, Patrick American College of Nurse-Midwives (WI Chapter)
Rich, Elizabeth E4, Inc
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
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
July 20, 2005
The Honorable, The Legislature:
We have completed our financial management review of selected Wisconsin Works (W-2) agencies, including a review of administrative salaries, as part of our comprehensive audit of the W-2 program requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
Our April 2005 evaluation (report 05-6) and various other reports on W-2 agencies' operations have included information on staffing expenditures. However, in response to ongoing questions about the salaries and bonuses paid to agency officials, we reviewed salary information in detail in a sample of agencies. We found that private agencies in Milwaukee County which in 2004 included Maximus, Inc., Opportunities Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee, Inc. (OIC-GM), and United Migrant Opportunity Services, Inc. (UMOS)-tended to pay their officials more than agencies elsewhere did. Among those who were paid more than $60,000 annually, the average salary was $89,346 in Milwaukee County compared to $75,540 elsewhere in the state.
We also reviewed $7.4 million in expenditures by 17 W-2 agencies and identified $19,600 in questioned costs related to two agencies: YW Works and UMOS. These costs include $17,103 in purchases for which the receipts and other documentation were missing. We identified additional unallowable and questioned costs for OIC-GM, a former provider of W-2 services, in a report released in November 2004.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by the W-2 agencies and the Department of Workforce Development during the course of our review.
Sincerely,
JANICE MUELLER
State Auditor
State of Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services
July 20, 2005
The Honorable, The Legislature:
I am submitting, as required by s. 253.115 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the Department's annual report on the status of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) in Wisconsin. I am pleased to note that in 2004 Wisconsin hospitals have exceeded the legislative directive that at least 88% of all deliveries be performed in hospitals with a UNHS program. In 2004, 99.9% of all Wisconsin babies were born in hospitals with a universal newborn hearing screening program. Including children born at home, 96.3% of all Wisconsin newborns were screened for hearing disorders in 2004.
S309 The identification of hearing loss, however, is only the first step in providing appropriate intervention for affected children. The Department has made significant progress in assisting families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Department created an early hearing detection and intervention program known as Wisconsin Sound Beginnings (WSB) which has been instrumental in addressing congenital hearing loss. WSB established an educational program for parents and early hearing detection professionals, worked with audiologists to ensure that they have access to the training and skills required to work with infants, and provided technical assistance to county Birth to Three programs to enable the programs to work with identified infants and their families.
WSB has also developed and implemented a system of parent-to-parent support called the Guide-by-Your- Side program for families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing which has received national attention. As another measure the Department is developing a data collection and tracking system called WE-TRAC which will ensure that families have timely access and follow-up to appropriate services.
Hearing loss is the most common congenital birth defect affecting Wisconsin infants. If hearing loss is left undetected, it will impede speech, language, cognitive, and social development. Working in collaboration with other public and private agencies, the Department has developed and exemplary program of early hearing detection and intervention.
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