August 26, 2011
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to provide you with a copy of the official canvass of the August 16, 2011 Recall Election vote for the office of State Senator, along with the determination by the designee of the Chairperson of the Government Accountability Board of the winners.
With this letter, I am delivering the Certificates of Election and transmittal letters for the winner to you for distribution.
If the Government Accountability Board can provide you with further information or assistance, please contact our office.
Sincerely,
kevin j. kennedy
Director & General Counsel
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Statement of Canvass
for
State Senator
RECALL ELECTION, August 16, 2011
I, Gerald C. Nichol, designee of the Chairperson of the Government Accountability Board, certify that the attached tabular statements, as compiled from the certified returns made to the Government Accountability Board by the several counties of the state, contain a correct abstract of the total number of votes given for the election of a candidate for State Senator, at a Recall Election held in the several election districts in said counties on the sixteenth day of August, 2011.
I DO, THEREFORE, DETERMINE AND CERTIFY that the following candidate, having each received the greatest number of votes, is duly elected State Senator:
Senate District Elected
12th District Jim Holperin
22nd District Robert W. Wirch
Done in the City of Madison, this 26th day of August, 2011.
Judge gerald c. nichol
Designee of the Chairperson
Government Accountability Board
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State of Wisconsin
Office of the Senate Majority Leader
August 26, 2011
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Senate Rule
20 (2) (a), I am making the following appointments.
Senate Standing Committees:
To the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Higher Education: Senator Schultz (Chair)
S429
To the Committee on
Economic Development and Veterans and Military Affairs: Senator Leibham (Chair), Senator Darling (Vice-Chair), Senator Galloway and removing Senate Zipperer
To the Committee on Energy, Biotechnology and Consumer Protection: Senator Kedzie (Vice-Chair) and Senator Wanggaard
To the Committee on Financial Institutions and Rural Issues: Senator Grothman (Chair)
To the Committee on Workforce Development, Small Business and Tourism: Senator Olsen and Senator Cowles (Vice-Chair)
Joint Committees:
To the Joint Committee on Finance: Senator Zipperer
To the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems: Senator Kedzie (Chair)
To the Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions: Senator Lasee (Chair)
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
scott fitzgerald
Senate Majority Leader
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Senate Majority Leader
August 26, 2011
The Honorable, The Senate:
Pursuant to Section
238.02 (1) Wisconsin Statutes and Senate Rule
20, I am appointing Senator Rich Zipperer to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
scott fitzgerald
Senate Majority Leader
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Joint Legislative Council
August 23, 2011
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am pleased to transmit to you the following report to the 2011 Legislature on legislation introduced by the Joint Legislative Council as well as activities of this committee:
• RL 2011-02 Special Committee on Review of the Managed Forest Land Program.
I would appreciate your including this letter in the Journal for the information of the membership. Additional copies of the report are available at the Legislative Council offices, One East Main, Suite 401, or from our web page at
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lc/.
Sincerely,
terry c. anderson
Director
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau
August 25, 2011
The Honorable, The Legislature:
The Legislative Audit Bureau is required by s.13.94 (1) (dc), Wis. Stats., to contract for the performance of an actuarial audit of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) at least once every five years. After a formal request-for-proposal process, a contract was awarded to the Segal Company for an independent audit of the actuarial valuation as of December 31, 2009. The services provided under this contract primarily focused on verification and analysis of actuarial assumptions and valuation methods used for the WRS by the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) and its consulting actuary, Gabriel, Roeder, Smith and Company.
Enclosed is the actuary's audit report along with responses from ETF and its consulting actuary. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations in the report are those of Segal. Audit Bureau staff managed the audit contract but were not involved in the fieldwork, analysis, or writing of the audit report.
Segal concludes that the stated methods and assumptions used in the 2009 actuarial valuation were reasonable and properly employed in determining the costs of the WRS and notes that the five-year smoothing mechanism used for the WRS is reasonable and meets actuarial standards. Segal also offers several recommendations to improve the consulting actuary's annual actuarial valuations, including working with ETF to improve the presentation of asset information, expanding the description of the actuarial cost method, and applying an assumption related to optional forms of payment elected by some members who retire after a certain age.
Segal's actuarial audit does not evaluate various changes to the WRS that were implemented after December 31, 2009, including changes enacted as part of
2011 Wisconsin Acts 10 and
32. Changes to actuarial economic assumptions for the WRS that the ETF Board approved in March 2011, including a reduction of the investment return assumption from 7.8 percent to 7.2 percent, likewise occurred outside of the valuation period covered by Segal's audit and therefore were not evaluated.
We acknowledge the professional manner in which Segal staff performed this independent actuarial audit and appreciate the cooperation provided by staff of ETF and its consulting actuary.
Sincerely,
joe chrisman
Interim State Auditor
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State of Wisconsin
Groundwater Coordinating Council
August, 2011
The Honorable, The Legislature:
The Groundwater Coordinating Council (GCC) is pleased to release its 2011 Report to the Legislature. The GCC was formed in 1984 to help state agencies coordinate non-regulatory activities and exchange information on groundwater. For the past 27 years, the GCC has served as a model for interagency coordination and cooperation among state agencies, the Governor, local and federal government, and the university. It is one of the few groups in the nation to effectively coordinate groundwater activities in its state from an advisory position.
Highlights of the State's groundwater protection activities this past year include:
Research and monitoring contributing to our understanding of many groundwater issues including: nitrate, mercury methylation, biofuel cropping, antibiotics, climate change, water use, and fecal contamination.
We hope you will find this report to be a useful reference in protecting Wisconsin's valuable groundwater resource.
Sincerely,
Ken Johnson
