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There is still time to register for the February 5 and 6, 2008 WCA Legislative Exchange. This worthwhile event features timely speakers on critical county issues, as well as includes time for county officials to meet with their legislators at the Capitol. For more information, click here.
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Amount that spending on health care information technology by state and local governments is projected to reach by 2012, led by growth in the market for Medicaid management information systems:
$10.9 billion
Source: INPUT |
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 The national news about the suspected impending recession took on a more local flavor last week when Governor Doyle discussed it during his annual State of the State speech on Wednesday, January 23, 2008. In that speech, Governor Doyle warned of tough times ahead and told Wisconsinites to prepare for economies in state government. Below please find links on this topic from a variety of sources:
- Legislative Fiscal Bureau Director Bob Lang has released a letter to the legislature indicating that a general fund shortfall of $300 million or more should be expected in 2008. Read it here.
- Wisconsin DOA Secretary Michael Morgan has written state agency heads asking for additional cuts and other savings measures. See the letter here.
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 Speaking to a GOP gathering in Milwaukee last week, former US House Speaker and current political consultant Newt Gingrich predicted that the unusual race for the US Presidency in 2008 may result in the Republican race still being up in the air when Wisconsin's primary arrives on February 19.
Wisconsin's primary was once one of the early bellwether events in the presidential race, but in the last thirty years the state's role has faded as the nomination is locked up earlier and earlier. See Gingrich's comments on his website by clicking here.
WCA's monthly magazine Wisconsin Counties will devote much of its February issue to the 2008 Presidential race and aspects of the race affecting Wisconsin. Watch for it soon. |
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 A new poll shows widespread public support for the Great Lakes Compact as legislators prepare to introduce a new effort to ratify the deal. Other positive signs for the compact include applause Governor Doyle received from lawmakers when he urged passage during his State of the State speech, with Assembly Speaker Huebsch indicating likely approval. Lawmakers last year dropped an initial effort to ratify the Great Lakes Compact because of disputes over several issues, including access to Lake Michigan water by Waukesha-area communities.
The poll, paid for by several Wisconsin conservation organizations, finds 80 percent of residents surveyed want to make the compact law with just 10 percent opposed. All eight legislatures around the Great Lakes must approve the compact and Congress must sign off before it could become law.
Source: Wheeler News Service Weekly Friday Wrap-Up, 1.25.2008 |
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In one of the landmark legislative developments of the 2007-08 session, the legislature appears poised to approve a version of the "compassionate care for rape victims" bill. This proposal would require (among other provisions) that preemptive contraception be provided on request by emergency medical staff to rape victims. In previous sessions the proposal has never cleared the Republican-run State Assembly.
Last week, however, the Assembly approved an amended version of the bill. A procedural objection prevented AB 377 from going immediately to the State Senate for possible concurrence, but the bill will eventually end up in the Democrat-run Senate, where many expect it to pass. The bill's proponents have said they expect Gov. Doyle to sign the measure into law.
The history and text of AB 377, along with a link to a memo by the Wisconsin Legislative Council (LC) explaining the Assembly version of the bill, ASA1 to AB 377, can be found by clicking here.
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Portage County has entered into an agreement with Caremark RX, a pharmacy provider, to offer discounted prescriptions to county residents. Read an article here from the Stevens Point Journal, which includes a quote from WCA Insurance Services Administrator Josh Bindl.
To learn more about this NACo prescription program, click here. |
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 Discover Mediaworks, an industry leader in comprehensive video production services with corporate headquarters in Eagle River, Wisconsin and production facilities in Madison, Wisconsin, has announced the addition of an online services division. The new division will provide a critical service to new and existing clients and will be led by Todd Maahs, an industry expert in the IT field.
To learn more, read an article that ran recently in Business North.com here. |
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Former Vilas County Board Chairman and longtime WCA supporter Gene Ahlborn passed away last week after a longtime battle with cancer. Mr. Ahlborn served on the WCA Services, Inc. Board of Directors from 1997 through 2002 and the Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation Board of Directors from 1998 through 2002. He served on the Vilas County Board from 1982 through 2002 and was board chair for 10 of those years beginning in 1992.
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