Category: State news

It’s no secret that many with ties to higher education in Wisconsin were giddy upon learning Nov. 4 that Democrats had secured control of the state Assembly, putting the party in charge of both houses of the state Legislature and the governor’s office for the first time since 1986.

University of Wisconsin System leaders have been frustrated for years by what they perceive to be inadequate financial support from the state.

Quoted: Howard Schweber, UW-Madison professor of political science and law, and Noel Radomski, director of the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education

State Supreme Court Justice Patrick Crooks said tonight that public financing is only part of the solution to fixing what ails judicial elections in Wisconsin.

Crooks, who ran unopposed in 2006 for a second 10-year term on the stateâ??s high court, said among the reforms heâ??d like to see is a move of judicial elections from their traditional April date to the fall election to draw more public interest.

â??We should tie these races to those races where there is a larger turnout of voters,â? Crooks said, calling the 19 percent turnout for the Supreme Court election this April â??something we should all be ashamed of.â?

Crooks made his remarks at a discussion titled â??Justice, Money & Politicsâ? at the UW-Madison Law School. Crooks took part in a panel that included his fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, Wisconsin State Journal editorial page editor Scott Milfred, and Wisconsin Democracy Campaign executive director Mike McCabe.

Faculty retention is a hot topic at the university right now. Recruitment and retention was one of the main topics Chancellor Biddy Martin spoke about during her first public address to the university community, impressing upon us the significance of this topic. Two key components of recruitment and retention are benefits and salary.

The deeper than expected state budget cuts are a big concern at University of Wisconsin-Madison, which also might see less money from the private UW Foundation in the near future.

But despite Wisconsin’s worst deficit ever, UW-Madison officials said they’re still hopeful they can increase faculty pay at the same time they make an overall cut.

UW-Madison said one of its biggest challenges is lower private revenue from the UW Foundation. Its earnings are down nearly 20 percent, or $300 million, this year.

The Wisconsin legislature is getting ready to pick apart the state budget again. This time around, the ailing economy is causing a hole as wide as $5 billion.

“It’s very, very significant,” said Sen. Mark Miller, (D) 16th District. “It’s probably as bad or close to as bad as any the state’s encountered in a generation.”

Sen. Miller is hoping tough economic times will inspire his fellow legislators to make tough decisions. With a $5 billion budget hole, he says everything is on the table.

New controls are being placed on hiring at University of Wisconsin System campuses.

A directive from System President Kevin Reilly calls for all hiring decisions on UW campuses to be made directly by chancellors. System spokesman David Giroux says it’s a significantly higher level of control. Those decisions are typically made by department heads.

Giroux says chancellors have been told to evaluate if a hire is essential. He says they have a good track record with making such decisions, while also protecting the quality of a UW educatio

Biddy Martin is obviously a busy woman. Nearly every group on campus has scheduled a meeting with her, and everyone wants her. This is the first University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor in nearly 20 years who has not come from former Chancellor Donna Shalalaâ??s family of university administration, and everyone is curious as to how she operates. In fact, Martin is curious as to how people in her position handle the constant demands for attention and remarked upon that burden during a speech to area business leaders on Nov. 3.

Gov. Jim Doyle and the Democratic majorities in the state Senate and Assembly have options to deal with the $5 billion projected budget shortfall announced Tuesday. The catch is, none of them is pretty.

Battered by a harsh economy, Wisconsin’s tax revenues are projected to go down in each of the next two years â?? only the second time that’s happened in the more than four decades on record.

For the past several years, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has demanded domestic partner benefits for its employees in its proposed budget. Sadly, the state Legislature has repeatedly blocked this request. But with Democrats winning control of both the state Senate and Assembly on Nov. 4, bringing domestic partner benefits to the university system must be a high priority for state lawmakers when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday he would do “everything humanly possible” to avoid general sales or income tax increases to deal with a budget shortfall that could pass $5 billion.

The “serious and extraordinary” problem, caused by a drop in tax collections and a national recession, will lead to state job and other cuts, Doyle said.

He did not specify what the cuts would be, but said savings would have to be found at University of Wisconsin and in public school aid. Doyle said he hoped there wouldnâ??t have to be large tuition increases at the university.

The Senate Majority Leader says the budget will be among the top priorities of Democrats in the upcoming session.

State Senator Russ Decker (D-Weston) says he’s already talking to the Governor about what needs to be done to help fight a growing budget deficit. The Governor now says the state could face a $5 billion shortfall. Decker says many options are already being looked at.

Democrats fared well in many state elections last week, with the party gaining full control of state governments (winning majorities in both chambers of state legislatures where Democrats hold the governorâ??s office) in three places where Republicans had led at least one part of those branches. The three states are Delaware, New York, and Wisconsin, according to stateline.org.

In Wisconsin, Rep. Stephen L. Nass will no longer lead the Assemblyâ??s Committee on Colleges and Universities. The Republican has been an outspoken critic of the University of Wisconsin, criticizing its decision to adopt a freshman-admissions policy directing campuses to consider the race and ethnicity of applicants. He also called for the system to fire an instructor who had argued that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were orchestrated by the U.S. government.

Wisconsinâ??s new Democratic leaders say the faltering economy will put a damper on their biggest ideas.

So for now, state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, says the focus will be on items with smaller price tags, like giving fringe benefits to domestic partners of University of Wisconsin employees.

The U.S. economic downturn and $3-billion state budget shortfall are affecting the U-Wâ??s plans to attract and keep faculty.

For several years now, the University of Wisconsin has aimed to hire and retain high-caliber professors. Plans have included upping the salary range to better compete with rival universities in the Midwest, including Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. On average, professors in those schools make between $5,000 to $15,000 more a year than those at the UW. (Second item.)

Wisconsin’s new Democratic leaders say the faltering economy will put a damper on their biggest ideas. State Representative Mark Pocan of Madison says right now the focus will be on items with smaller price tags, like giving fringe benefits to domestic partners of state employees.

UW-Madison is one of the few large campuses in the Midwest not to offer such benefits. Spokesman David Giroux says it makes it harder to recruit and keep top faculty members. Domestic partner benefits are projected to cost about $670,000 a year. Giroux says the money will returned in the form of federal grants obtained by the major researchers who come or stay because of the benefits. (Audio of State Rep. Mark Pocan discuss this issue during his appearance on this past week’s Madison Forum.)

A state legislative leader says it will take more than tougher laws to change drinking and driving habits in Wisconsin.

There’s an increased push at the Capitol to crack down on repeat drunk drivers, but State Senate President Fred Risser (D-Madison) says “all the laws in the world aren’t going to stop drunk driving.”

The state’s public employee pension fund lost another $10â??billion in October alone, making it a virtual certainty that – barring a dramatic turnaround in the stock market – retirees’ pension checks will shrink next year.

State Democrats, after besting the Republicans in Tuesdayâ??s elections to earn a majority in the state Assembly, now have control of the governorâ??s mansion and the Legislature, but their troubles have just begun as they now face a $3 billion budget deficit.

The University of Wisconsin System Trust Funds endowment is down about 19% since the beginning of the year because of the downturn in the economy, but officials expect they will still be able to meet funding commitments for the year.

The trust funds are fueled nearly completely by gifts and bequests left in donors’ wills. Most of the money is restricted, meaning donors have left specific directions as to how their money should be spent. Some of the money goes to fund scholarships in specific academic departments or research in particular areas, such as cancer.

The University of Wisconsin System needs to come up with new ways to make the case for higher faculty pay in light of the economic crisis, Regent David Walsh said today.

UW System faculty are paid 10% less than peers at comparable universities, Walsh said, but legislators have not responded to close the gap and they won’t start now.

The University of Wisconsin System is continuing the process of filling chancellor positions for three UW campuses, with UW-River Falls expected to announce their finalists within the next two weeks.

MADISON, Wis. — State Democrats are cheering over a gain of five seats in the state Assembly in Tuesday’s election, which gives Democrats power over the statehouse for the first time since the late 1980s.

On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Doyle said he is encouraged by a change in hands from Republicans to Democrats in the Assembly.

“This is quite a remarkable moment for us in Wisconsin. It’s the result of the people of the state of Wisconsin speaking yesterday very strongly about where they want this state to go,” Doyle said.

Wisconsinâ??s balance of power shifted late last night as Democrats gained the majority of seats in the state Assembly for the first time in 14 years.

Fifty-two Democrats, 46 Republicans and one independent were projected winners in the Assembly and will be joined in the Capitol by 18 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the state Senate.

Wisconsin Democrats, who have controlled the state Senate since 2006, gained control of the state Assembly Tuesday night and will effectively command Wisconsinâ??s Legislature for the upcoming session.

According to WisPolitics.com, Democrats picked up five key seats from the 2nd, 42nd, 57th, 68th and 92nd Districts. They needed to gain at least three seats to take the majority.

Democrats pulled off an impressive sweep Tuesday in Wisconsin, propelling Barack Obama to the biggest win by a presidential contender here in more than four decades and retaking the state Assembly for the first time in 14 years.

State and local university officials say an increasing number of older faculty members could have an impact on recruitment and the future work force as they retire.

The so-called graying of academia is similar to trends facing other industries, said David Giroux, spokesman for the University of Wisconsin System. While many businesses recruit at a local and state level, universities cast a wider â?? and therefore potentially more competitive â?? net.

UW-Madison Chancellor Carolyn â??Biddyâ? Martin acknowledged today that the UW will have to shoulder some of the burden in a difficult state budget next year, but she also made the case that deep cuts into funds supporting the school’s research strength will result in “long-term … hardship on the state.”

“This is really a gem, and to lose that gem over the long haul is a serious loss to the state,â? Martin told a WisBusiness.com-Madison Magazine luncheon at the Madison Club this afternoon. â??Having people see that in a moment when weâ??re so financially constrained is asking people to take a long and a broad view of a sort thatâ??s hard for people to take.

A plunging stock market is likely to result in a 1 to 3 percent pension cut for some 150,000 retired government workers in Wisconsin, the first reduction in pension payout in the retirement fund’s 26-year history.

While final figures won’t be calculated until January 2009, state officials have already sent out letters to retirees warning that pension checks might shrink. New payment levels take effect each May and are recalibrated annually.