Author: jnweaver

With some Waukesha County officials warming to the idea of selling the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha campus to the state, a legislator said Monday that he is hatching a strategy to make it happen.

World-famous environmentalist John Muir never forgot the day he got his first lesson in the study of nature on the steps of his University of Wisconsin dormitory. Almost 50 years later, Muir wrote a letter to thank his old college friend, Wisconsin judge Milton Griswold, for “that wonderful botanical lesson you gave me on the steps of our dormitory, which has never been forgotten and which has influenced all my after life.”

The note is part of a rare collection of Muir’s letters published online for the first time by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Now it’s time for the Legislature to start getting serious about the state budget, and thousands of state workers are anxious to see the results.

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee begins acting this week on the state’s 2005-2007 budget. The major decisions are more than a month away, but a major rally is planned for Thursday by the Wisconsin State Employees Union, which represents the majority of the 23,000 unionized workers who have not received a pay increase for the 2003-2005 biennium.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker says he would consider cutting state-funded medical care for the poor, elderly and disabled in order to reduce state taxes if he’s elected governor next year.

During a stop Friday in Madison on his “Taxes and Truth” campaign tour, Walker told reporters that all of the biggest state programs – including Medicaid, the University of Wisconsin System, state aids to local governments, and the state prison system – could be subject to cuts.

Wisconsin college graduates who want to stay in the state face fewer job openings and lower average pay than surrounding states, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Census Bureau surveys.

It’s shorter, easier to understand, and this time it’s co-sponsored by the state Assembly’s top two leaders and the state Senate president.But the centerpiece of a proposed constitutional amendment to limit state and local spending – which sponsors call a taxpayer bill of rights, or TABOR – has not changed: It would require approval from state or local voters to exceed spending limits set by the amendment, to raise taxes or to approve long-term debt.

State Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, planned to reintroduce today his amendment to the state constitution that would severely limit government spending – and likely ignite a new round of bickering in the State Capitol.

A retired economics professor has filed a complaint with federal officials about a University of Wisconsin System financial aid program for minority students, but system officials insisted the program is defensible because it complies with state law.

The co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee said Tuesday they planned to strip 21 policy items from the governor’s budget proposal….The committee left two provisions in the budget – for now – that were identified as policy items by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Under current law, the University of Wisconsin System can remit part of the tuition bill paid by non-residents and then allow those students to pay the in-state rate to attend school. The system is currently limited in how much tuition it can remit to these students, but the governor proposed eliminating that ceiling.

The second provision would allow illegal immigrants who graduate from a Wisconsin high school to attend the system at in-state tuition rates. Currently those students have to pay out-of-state tuition.

Telecommunications executives and government officials on Tuesday criticized a contract for a $116 million statewide communications system called BadgerNet 2, recently awarded to a group of companies headed by SBC. The group, called the Wisconsin BadgerNet Access Alliance, has a five-year deal with the state to provide data and video networking to link state, local government and educational institutions. The alliance includes Verizon; Norlight, a division of Journal Communications Inc. (which publishes the Journal Sentinel); and CenturyTel. The new network will replace the 10-year-old BadgerNet system that now makes it possible for students in remote locations to take televised classes not available in their areas.

The reciprocity agreement between Minnesota and Wisconsin might change in the future, Minnesota officials said. A bill in the Minnesota Legislature would create a new agreement so students from Wisconsin would pay the same tuition as Minnesota residents. Wisconsin students pay approximately $1,100 less than Minnesota residents, according to January�s Minnesota tuition reciprocity update.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley says he doesn’t believe state lawmakers when they cite financial reasons as the cause for denying domestic partner benefits.