Honoring Iowa County Judge Bill Dyke for his years of Judicial Service
On Friday,
March 4, I presented a legislative citation along with Senator Howard Marklein to Iowa County Judge William (Bill) Dyke for his years of judicial
service. Sadly, Judge Dyke passed away Thursday night and our thoughts and
prayers are with his family.
I’ve known Bill Dyke since he came to Iowa County in 1978 and he has not
only been a good friend, but a great Judge for Iowa County. It was a special
honor, to recognize such a great man for his service to not only Iowa County
but the State of Wisconsin.
Judge Dyke served Iowa County for 19 years as a circuit court judge. Judge
Dyke also served a two-term as Mayor of the City of Madison from 1969-1973.
Dyke was first appointed Iowa County Circuit Court Judge in 1996, and has
also been elected to serve as the Chief Judge of the 7th Judicial District,
which encompasses Buffalo, Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Jackson, La Crosse,
Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Richland, Trempealeau, and Vernon Counties.
Judge Dyke was also elected Chief of the Chief Judges and awarded the 2015
Lifetime Jurist Achievement Award from the Bench Bar Committee of the State
Bar Association for demonstrating outstanding, long-term judicial service as
a sitting judge.
Some of Judge Dyke’s accomplishments include adding mediation as part of the
home foreclosure process in Iowa County during the 2008 economic crisis and
founding Iowa County’s Teen Court program, which is now the second oldest in
the state. Both programs now serve as models for programs in other counties
around the state.
Governor Signs SB440 Into Law
The Governor
signed another one of my bills into law last week, AB595/SB440. The
legislation makes several technical changes to current law regarding tax
administration, and provides the Secretary of the Department of Revenue (DOR)
the power to suspend an assessor’s certification.
Reducing Waste, Fraud, & Abuse in
Wisconsin
Office of Inspector General finds nearly
$50 million in overpayments.
A necessary function of government is to care
for those less fortunate. Along with this duty comes the task of ensuring
that programs designed to help our citizens in need are utilized in their
intended manner. A recent report by the Department of Health Services, shows
that the Office of Inspector General has found millions of dollars in
Medicaid overpayments, among other things, since its inception in 2011
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is charged with protecting the
taxpayers of Wisconsin by preventing and detecting waste, fraud, and abuse
of public assistance programs such as Medicaid, FoodShare, and FamilyCare.
The Department’s
Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was established in October 2011.
The OIG consolidates all Department of Health Services program integrity,
audit and fraud investigation activities within one office. Staff within the
OIG work closely with other state and local partners in identifying misuses
of public assistance funds, and where appropriate, forward fraud cases to
federal, state and local officials for prosecution.
Providing an overview of the office between 2011 and 2015, the
report
shows the OIG has identified almost $50 million in Medicaid provider
overpayments. Additionally, nearly $40 million in overpayments to medical
providers has been recovered by the office, according to the report.
Also found in
the report:
-
An
increase in the number of FoodShare suspensions for violations from 200
in 2012 to more than 1,300 in 2015;
-
The
creation of a fraud-reporting hotline. The hotline received more than
13,000 complaints; and
-
An
increase to the the number of staff members investigating recipient
fraud among public benefits programs from one staffer up to 24.
What's Been Happening
Recently, I've
had the pleasure of attending some local events, in addition to meeting with
people at the Capitol in Madison.
Last week, I
had the opportunity of meeting with Bob Ward, Angela Thomas, Sophie
Thompson, Ethan O’Rourke, and Ryan Krenke of the Wisconsin Wing Civil Air
Patrol on their legislative day. The Wisconsin Wing Civil Air Patrol
consists of over 900 volunteers with 33 units spread throughout the state
that perform missions for America in Emergency Services, Aerospace Education
and Cadet Programs. Some of these missions include working with local
organizations and schools, as well as supporting disaster relief and
cost-effective search and rescue teams. It was a pleasure sitting down to
discuss issues that were important to them.
Additionally, I met with members of the Wisconsin Bankers Association this
week. I was able to sit down with Joe and Brian Gorman, Kurt Schaefer, Nancy
Maxwell, Ron Schaaf, Quinn Huebner, and Amber McPhail during their
Legislative day. We discussed issues and policies important to them.
|
|
(L-R) Bob
Ward, Angela Thomas, Sophie Thompson, Rep. Novak, Ethan O’Rourke,
and Ryan Krenke of the Wisconsin Wing Civil Air Patrol |
Wisconsin
Bankers Association. (L to R) Joe Gorman, Brian Gorman, Kurt
Schaefer, Nancy Maxwell, Ron Schaaf, Quinn Huebner, Rep. Novak, &
Amber McPhail. |
|
Sincerely,
|