Category: State news

University of Wisconsin faculty and staff should receive a 2 percent pay raise in each of the next two years, a Board of Regents committee recommended Thursday, even though the incoming Republican governor has called on the school to do more with less and a key lawmaker has called for no increases. That decision by the regents? business committee will likely be approved by the full board on Friday, but ultimately it?s up to the state Legislature to decide how much money is available to the university for salaries. A 2 percent increase in pay costs about $19 million a year, which comes both from tuition and state taxpayer money. The state faces a two-year $3.3 billion budget shortfall.

A University of Wisconsin board of regents committee has approved a request for 2 percent pay raises for UW faculty and staff Thursday.

University of Wisconsin faculty and staff should receive a 2 percent pay raise in each of the next two years, a Board of Regents committee recommended Thursday, even though the incoming Republican governor has called on the school to do more with less and a key lawmaker has called for no increases.

Governor-elect Scott Walker is talking tough – even talking about essentially abolishing public unions. One thing is sure: State workers should pay more for their benefits.

Governor-elect Scott Walker?s sudden talk about decertifying state employee unions is raising concerns among Democratic leaders in the Legislature.

Looking at the headlines today, I wondered how many people were as taken aback by Scott Walker?s threats against public sector unions as I was. Does Walker?s apparent confidence on the issue suggest that he doesn?t anticipate any meaningful political backlash?

Governor-elect Scott Walker raised the possibility of essentially abolishing state employee unions on Tuesday as one option to control rising employee benefits costs and eliminate the state?s budget deficit.

When it comes to addressing the state?s huge deficit, everything is on the table. That was the message from Governor-elect Scott Walker during an appearance Tuesday at the Milwaukee Press Club. Walker will present his budget for the next state biennium in a few months, and WUWM?s Erin Toner was on hand when he outlined his ideas.

Governor-elect Scott Walker is raising the possibility of decertifying state employee unions. In remarks Tuesday at the Milwaukee Press Club, the governor-elect sent the clearest message yet that he intends to take on state employee unions.

Told you so. Two months ago, I panned a visit by President Obama to the UW-Madison campus as an overly produced and scripted piece of partisan hoo-ha. Now comes word that the Democratic pep rally ? which, incidentally, doesn?t appear to have done much to elect Democrats ? was ridiculously expensive. Not just for the Democratic National Committee, but for us.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is asking that roughly 20,000 university faculty and staff receive a 2 percent pay increase each of the next two years despite the state facing a roughly $3 billion budget shortfall. The request made public Monday comes after the governor and Legislature last year didn?t approve any salary increases for UW employees and ordered them to take 16 unpaid furlough days, which equates to a 3 percent pay cut. Regents had approved a 2.5 percent increase over that two-year period that ends July 1. The new recommendation, covering the two-year period starting July 1, will be considered by the Board of Regents at meetings Thursday and Friday.

Enrollment at the University of Wisconsin?s 26 campuses across the state this fall is about 1.6 percent higher than a year ago.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is asking that roughly 20,000 university faculty and staff receive a 2 percent pay increase each of the next two years despite the state facing a roughly $3 billion budget shortfall.

MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin President Kevin Reilly is asking that roughly 20,000 university faculty and staff receive a 2 percent pay increase each of the next two years. The request made public Monday comes after the governor and Legislature last year didn?t approve any salary increases for UW employees and ordered them to take 16 unpaid furlough days, which equates to a 3 percentage point pay cut.

The Environmental Protection Agency informed the state Thursday it will investigate 15 of Wisconsin?s power plants, including three in Madison and nine on UW campuses.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Wisconsin?s Department of Administration requesting information on 15 power plants in the state, including eight from University of Wisconsin schools, to see if they are complying with federal air pollution laws.

Noted: In 1997, while an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dietz was sexually assaulted by a man who broke into her apartment and attacked her at knife point. Dietz said that experience changed her life and made her decide to become a prosecutor who would work with sensitive cases like rape, incest and sexual assault.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly made a plea for more state funding and decreased state control to members of the Rotary Club of Madison Monday, and said continued support of the university system is of vital importance in moving Wisconsin?s economy into the 21st century.

Costs to local police and fire departments for President Barack Obama?s late September pre-election rally at UW-Madison were significantly higher than they were for his visit to a Madison elementary school in 2009.

A vocal critic of the UW System will once again chair the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee next year. Whitewater-area Republican Assemblyman Steve Nass has never been shy about attacking university administrators or professors in the press when he thinks they?ve wasted money or acted improperly.

State Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, will reassume his position as Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee chair in the next session and is ready to show the UW System some tough love.

Gov.-elect Scott Walker said Tuesday his campaign manager, Keith Gilkes, will be his chief of staff when he takes office in January. Gilkes is from Prairie du Chien and graduated from UW-Madison.

Gov. Jim Doyle broke ground last week on the Wisconsin Energy Institute, which will help the University of Wisconsin-Madison develop new technologies to meet the need of creating renewable energy in the state.

CUB is concerned that the electricity the Rothschild plant sells into the Midwest wholesale power market will be costly and saddle customers with higher costs.

That is an issue now before state regulators with the proposed Charter St. biomass project in Madison.Madison Gas & Electric Co. is forecasting it will need to run its natural gas-fired power plant in Madison more frequently, increasing costs by $3 million for utility customers.

CUB is seeking to have the University of Wisconsin-Madison or utility shareholders shoulder those higher costs instead of ratepayers.The Charter St. plant is being converted to burn natural gas and biomass at a cost of $250?million. The proposal is designed to settle air-pollution lawsuits filed by environmental groups that challenged the emissions from the Madison coal plant.

But Governor-elect Scott Walker recently announced his opposition to the proposal. He has requested that the Doyle administration halt work on the biomass portion of the Charter St. project.

Hopes that the state?s new Republican leadership and the University of Wisconsin System can forge a good working relationship took a potential hit on Tuesday.

UW System President Kevin Reilly and UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin are telling academic staff they are committed to opposing efforts by some unions to assign these workers to collective bargaining units without allowing them to vote on whether or not they want to be represented.

Rep. Steve Nass plans to introduce legislation in the coming year which would cap the amount tuition and most mandatory fees can be raised for those attending the state?s public colleges and universities.

Leaders of the new Republican majorityin the Wisconsin Legislature are quietly twisting arms to try to get their members to focus solely on measures to create jobs and boost the economy when they assume power in two months.

State and university workers will soon begin making small contributions to their pensions to make up for money Wisconsin?s retirement fund lost when the market collapsed two years ago.

Hopes that the state?s new Republican leadership and the University of Wisconsin System can forge a good working relationship took a potential hit on Tuesday.