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The Wisconsin Legislature commended Brett Favre for his illustrious career as the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers in a legislative session Tuesday, March 11, 2008. Read more here. |
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Portion of public officials who say the threat of a natural disaster is their top emergency concern, compared to 7 percent who say the threat of a terrorist attack is their biggest worry, according to a survey by Motorola and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International: 65 percent.
Source: Government Computer News, 2/18/08 |
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 Gov. Jim Doyle informed legislative leaders on Monday, March 10, 2008, that he wants to take care of the state's budget shortfall largely through a transfer out of the transportation fund and a new assessment on hospital revenues.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projected a $652.3 million shortfall for the biennium due to falling revenues. Doyle's administration has already addressed a little more than $125 million of that through a change on payments for some short-term bonds.
The Governor estimates the hospital assessment would secure $700 million in new federal revenues over the biennium, which would free up $125 million in GPR to help fix the state's budget deficit, according to the letter.
Additionally, Doyle would lapse $330 million from executive branch appropriations. The plan would limit transportation fund transfers to $293 million for the biennium.
Read the letter to legislative leaders from Department of Administration Secretary Michael L. Morgan here: |
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 Mark D. O'Connell will guest host "Business Solutions with Diane Chamness" Saturday, March 15, 2008 from 1-2 p.m. on WISN AM 1130. It can also be heard online by clicking here. This week's guests include Mike Theo, vice president of the Wisconsin Realtors Association, as well as a Milwaukee-area realtor, to discuss the current business real estate market. |
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On Wednesday, March 5, 2008, Senate Bill 335 unanimously passed the State Assembly. Senate Bill 335 allows local governments to save money by publishing the summary of adopted ordinances, as long as they also provide information about where the full text of the ordinance can be obtained. Along with WCA, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities and the Outagamie County Board of Supervisors worked to find a compromise on this important issue, which resulted in Senate Bill 335.
Senate Bill 335 was signed into law today by Governor Doyle. |
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The rest of the state is watching as the Walworth County Board is downsizing from 25 supervisors to 11. Read the full article here from the Janesville Gazette, including comments from WCA Executive Director Mark D. O'Connell. |
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On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, the State Assembly will take up Assembly Bill 470, which relates to the penalty for converting agricultural land. Authored by Representative Donna Seidel, (D-Wausau) this legislation requires that property owners be notified in writing of the "conversion charge" that comes with converting agricultural land.
Assembly Bill 470 seeks to eliminate the confusion and frustration that property owners feel when they are not given proper notice of the charge that they must pay when converting agricultural land. The Assembly Committee on Ways and Means passed Assembly Bill 470 unanimously in December. |
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 "If scientists are successful, America could someday derive as much as one-half of its transportation fuels from biomass such as crop wastes, leaves and wood.
With the rural Midwest sitting on half of the nation's 1 billion tons of surplus, low-cost biomass on its croplands, pasturelands and forests, could we be the future energy producer that powers America's cars and trucks? And what would the Midwest rural economy look like if more than $1 billion a day, now spent on imported petroleum, starts flowing here?"
Read the full article here by Gary Radloff, policy director for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and chair of this year's Midwest Ag Energy Network Summit. |
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This NACo issue brief examines the general outcomes affecting youth aging out of foster care, and identifies model county programs and best practices that are addressing the needs of this population in an innovative way. Download a copy of the brief here. |
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 Two high school seniors will each earn $2,500 for college from the NACo/Nationwide Scholarship. Winning applicants will have researched the amount of money they will need at retirement and described how secure their financial future for retirement is.
To be eligible, applicants must be high school seniors or graduates (age 20 and under) who are legal U.S. residents and whose parent or grandparent actively contributes to the NACo 457 Deferred Compensation Plan. Application and entry must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2008. More information is available here or contact Lisa Cole at 202-942-4270. |
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