Committee on Fish and Wildlife
The committee on Ways and Means reports and recommends:
Assembly Bill 13
Relating to: creating an individual income tax subtract modification for amounts received from the well contamination and abandonment compensation program.
Passage:
Ayes: 10 - Representatives Ziegelbauer, Hebl, Steinbrink, Zepnick, Toles, Wood, Kerkman, Nass, Lothian and Knodl.
Noes: 0.
To committee on Rules.
Gary Hebl
Chairperson
Committee on Ways and Means
Agency Reports
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
April 6, 2010
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
We have completed our calendar year 2008 financial audit of the Department of Employee Trust Funds, as requested by the Department and to fulfill our audit requirements under s.
13.94 (1)(dd), Wis. Stats. The Department's financial statements report on the financial position and activity of various benefit programs available to state and local public employees, including the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) and health and life insurance programs for active and retired employees of the state and participating local governments. The statements and our unqualified opinion on them are included in the Department's 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which can be found on its Web site.
The largest program administered by the Department is the WRS, which reported net assets of $59.4 billion at the end of 2008 and provided benefits totaling $3.8 billion during 2008. Negative investment returns contributed to a net decrease in retirement assets of $25.2 billion in 2008. At the end of 2008, the WRS was 76.5 percent funded based on the fair value of its assets and 99.7 percent funded based on standard actuarial measures, which smooth investment returns over a five-year period. More current information on the performance and status of the WRS can be found on the Department's and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board's Web sites.
Accompanying this letter is a management letter we provided to the Department, which includes an auditor's report on internal control and compliance, as required by Government Auditing Standards. We are pleased to note that the Department has been attentive to addressing concerns we noted in past audits about its financial reporting process. We did not identify the level of errors for 2008 that we had found for 2006 and 2007.
We also note that the Department is in agreement with our recommendations and is working to address our continuing concerns with cash reconciliations on a program level and the need to be more diligent in ensuring that access changes to certain computer systems are made in a timely manner. However, because the Department has not had time to fully implement procedural changes recommended in the 2007 audit, we will continue to monitor and report on the Department's progress in addressing these concerns in future audits.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
Madison
April 6, 2010
To the Honorable, the Assembly:
In follow-up to previous audit work, we reviewed the use of funds the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) is awarded in negotiated settlement agreements and court judgments related to its successful prosecution of consumer protection and antitrust cases. From fiscal year (FY) 2004-05 through FY 2008-09, DOJ's receipts from such cases totaled nearly $11.8 million and included $3.6 million for distribution to injured parties or as otherwise specified by the settlement or judgment, and $8.1 million that may be used at the discretion of the Attorney General.
A788
Over the past five years, DOJ has expended $5.1 million of the discretionary receipts, which are deposited to its gifts, grants, and proceeds appropriation. Expenditures from that appropriation include approximately $3.4 million to supplement DOJ's own operations or help it meet lapse requirements enacted through legislation. As of June 30, 2009, DOJ's gifts, grants, and proceeds appropriation had a balance of nearly $4.2 million.
The Department of Administration currently reviews and approves all requests to expend the discretionary receipts DOJ is awarded in settlements and judgments. Past efforts to enhance or retain legislative oversight over their use have been limited by vetoes and by DOJ's incomplete compliance with a statutory reporting requirement. The Legislature may therefore wish to consider extending an existing reporting requirement to include all funds DOJ receives from settlements and judgments or to reconsider legislation that would increase its oversight and budgetary control.
We appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to us by DOJ staff as we conducted this review.
Sincerely,
Janice Mueller
State Auditor
