Category: State news

Four Republican lawmakers are hoping to keep hundreds of academic staff on six UW System campuses from being absorbed into unions.

Rep. Steve Nass (R-Town of La Grange), Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) announced Thursday they plan to introduce legislation that would stop the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission from deciding whether UW System staff members can be put into a collective bargaining unit against their will.

With two unionized colleges in the UW System and four more looking to do the same, there are concerns about what the presence of unions means for shared governance at UW campuses.

A good showing for the stock market in 2010 has helped boost the state?s retirement accounts for public employees. But it?s too soon to tell if the increase will be enough to avert another reduction in the pensions of some retirees, officials said Tuesday.

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial examining Gov. Scott Walker’s first steps toward job creation mentions that lawmakers also should ensure that the University of Wisconsin System remains adequately funded and is given the operational flexibility it needs.

Dear Editor: I believe, since the wages paid to the employees of the State of Wisconsin Employees Pension Plan are funded by the taxpayer, anyone who is employed in Wisconsin and has money being placed into a pension fund, or if a person desires to self-fund an account, should be allowed to invest in the state pension plan. It would be safer from mismanagement, business failure, embezzlement, etc.

The University of Wisconsin System?s Board of Regents and the Office of State Employment Relations filed a motion in Dane County Circuit Court last month asking that the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission be ordered to stop moving forward with plans to hold unit clarification hearings for academic staff working on six UW System campuses.

….”The vast majority of academic staff at UW-Madison support and are pleased to see this court filing by UW System and OSER,” says Heather Daniels, a program specialist in UW-Madison’s Graduate School who is chair of the Academic Staff Executive Committee.

Indeed, virtually all academic staff on the UW-Madison campus have long been against being absorbed into unions without getting a vote on the matter.

The leader of Wisconsin?s state employees says labor is not ?rolling over? for Governor Scott Walker. AFSCME Council 24 Executive Director Marty Beil says labor in Wisconsin will be watching Governor Scott Walker closely, particularly when it comes to his goal of producing 250,000 new jobs

The first day of the 100th session of the Wisconsin State Legislature was more about ceremony than anything else; the most significant measure that passed in the Senate was the legislative calendar.

Wisconsin Republicans promised the next two years would be all about jobs, jobs and more jobs. But they kicked off their first day in complete control of state government Monday by circulating bills on voter registration, all-terrain vehicles, stem cells and self-defense.

Vowing to tackle the state?s economic woes, Republican Scott Walker was sworn in as Wisconsin?s 45th governor at an inauguration ceremony in the state Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature are ready for a special session on jobs and the economy ? and beyond. Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald says ?the silent majority? spoke at the polls November Second, and now it?s time for the legislature to deliver.

Dear Editor: Gov.-elect Scott Walker?s proposal to change the way state agency rules are approved has an appealing ring, as expressed in a recent opinion piece by Journal Sentinel writer Patrick McIlheran.

In essence Walker is calling for a procedure that abandons the current ?passive approval? by the Legislature to the individual approval by the governor of each new or modified agency rule. Such a move would place enormous power in the hands of the governor while stifling the ability of agencies to develop processes by which they operate and ultimately serve the Wisconsin public.

Three state public defender offices and four University of Wisconsin System campuses will shut down Thursday for a furlough day.

First you couldn?t believe it when Gov.-elect Scott Walker turned away $810 million in federal money, even though that was one of his major campaign issues. Now you believe that Biddy Martin wants more flexibility in state purchasing and hiring rules to “deal with cuts.”

UW-Madison will be closed on Thursday for the second of four mandated furlough days this school year, and all state offices will be closed on Friday for the New Year?s holiday since New Year?s Day is Saturday.

The UW-Madison news service said Dec. 30 was chosen for a furlough day to avoid interfering with any instruction and to minimize disruption for the university community.

According to a recent campus update from Chancellor Biddy Martin, Wisconsin state tax dollars make up about 18 percent of UW-Madison?s operating budget.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin: What do you give a Big Ten Conference chancellor whose football team is playing in the Rose Bowl? How about a new research building to rival anything on the east or west coasts? Nope, she?s already got that: It?s called the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. What Martin really needs is management flexibility for a campus unlikely to see a state budget increase. A gift certificate for yoga lessons will help her limber up.

We know what the UW Madison wants for the New Year – if not for Christmas – the freedom and flexibility to operate more efficiently and effectively with fewer state resources. Chancellor Biddy Martin calls in the Badger Partnership and it?s a new business model that would give the UW greater freedom to generate and manage resources on its own.

MADISON, Wis. — Will Wisconsin?s public employees be retiring in droves in the new year? Numbers show more state workers than usual are considering it. In the past two weeks, hundreds of workers have been looking into retirement, and some said it?s because they feel they need to get out now.

Noted: In Wisconsin, all public university employees are being required to take eight unpaid furlough days this year, one of them on 30 December. The other mandatory furloughs are scheduled during holiday periods, too. “These days were chosen to avoid interfering with any instruction and to minimise disruption to the university community,” said Dennis Chaptman, a spokesman for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

With the state facing a projected budget deficit of as much as $3.3 billion and considering past rifts between Republican lawmakers and the university, UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin could be forgiven for sounding pessimistic about the future of her campus.

A report is released by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute on administrative flexibilities for UW and accountability measures.