Category: State news

Dear Editor: Reading that tuition at the University of Wisconsin System campuses (with the exception of UW-Madison) may drop for out-of-state students really ticked me off.

I thought “charity begins at home,” so why are we trying to help out-of-state people?

MADISON – Supporters of a constitutional amendment that would limit government spending began pushing the measure through the Legislature on Wednesday, saying it would ease Wisconsin’s high tax burden.

Critics at a public hearing on the plan said the amendment would lead to devastating cuts in government services and take away local control.

Legislators fought a first, preliminary skirmish Wednesday over whether the state constitution should be amended to limit revenue of state and most local governments – although officials said most towns, accounting for 23% of the state’s population, would be exempt from those controls. Also quotes UW-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky.

If a new proposal to rein in government taxes and fees had been enacted 20 years ago, state revenue would have been $5.2 billion lower last year, according to a UW-Madison analysis released Tuesday.

State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, proposed a change that would alter the UW Board of Regents from a governor appointed board to a committee of elected officials Tuesday.

ââ?¬Å?The time has come to reconnect the UW Board of Regents with the taxpayers that built our University System and pay the bills,ââ?¬Â Suder said in a press statement.

A Republican lawmaker announced plans Monday to introduce a bill that would limit this summer�s arranged salary increases of University of Wisconsin System administrators.

Presume two things are true. That Milwaukee benefits from a top-drawer research university and that UWM can benefit from more state help. We need to be certain that getting more state money for UWM doesn’t involve taking money away from Wisconsin’s existing top-drawer science research university – the one in Madison.

Any discussion of Milwaukee’s future starts by noting that one hour away is, by any measure, one of the nation’s top centers for science and engineering research. Madison isn’t exactly our suburbs, but it’s close.

MADISON ââ?¬â?? While thereââ?¬â?¢s no shortage of public chatter about University of Wisconsin administrators taking sick leave or how much the football coaches are paid, thereââ?¬â?¢s rarely much talk about the core 21st century challenge facing the UW System ââ?¬â?? in fact, all of public higher education in America: Are our public universities becoming ââ?¬Å?privatizedââ?¬Â without the benefit of a debate on the pros and cons?

MADISON � State Sen. Glenn Grothman must have an eerie feeling of what it was like to be former Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer about two years ago.

Grothman trounced Panzer, a fellow West Bend Republican, in a primary race after she failed to bring the taxpayers bill of rights, known as TABOR, to the floor for a vote. At the time, Panzer said she supported the proposal but didn�t have enough votes lined up in her caucus to get the resolution through the Senate.

Both Gov. Jim Doyle and state Rep. Rob Kreibich, R-Eau Claire, have recently introduced education initiatives sparking debate among students, guidance counselors and politicians alike.

Investigators have subpoenaed one or more members of Doyle’s re-election campaign to appear before the federal grand jury in Milwaukee that indicted Georgia Thompson, according to an anonymous source. Authorities have executed search warrants for additional records from the Department of Administration in connection with an ongoing investigation of alleged “pay-to-play” practices in state government, according to a source familiar with the probe.

MADISON – The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents on Friday fired a UW-Madison professor who is serving a prison sentence for sexually assaulting three young girls.

The firing of Roberto Coronado, a professor of medical physiology at UW-Madison, marks only the second time in five years the board has fired one of UW’s professors, who enjoy strong job protections.

MADISON, Wis. � Assembly Speaker John Gard helped block salary raises last summer for top University of Wisconsin administrators after a series of personnel problems.

A state lawmaker proposed a bill Friday to cap the salaries of University of Wisconsin administrators. Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, announced an initiative to dramatically cut yearly wages. This effort aims to rein in the increasing salaries of UW administrators who earn more annual income than Wisconsin�s governor.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly unveiled a new growth agenda for the UW System at the Board of Regents meeting Thursday.

MADISON – Students from other states who attend most University of Wisconsin campuses would see their tuition drop by more than $2,000 a year under a plan approved by a committee of UW System regents on Thursday.

MADISON, Wis. – Gov. Jim Doyle’s plan to guarantee college financial aid to low-income eighth-graders would cost $63 million over the next decade, a University of Wisconsin System official estimated Thursday.

Republican legislative leaders on Thursday offered a 2,500-word constitutional amendment that would tie state, school and local government tax collections to factors ranging from inflation to population growth and, for cities and villages, to new construction.

Local government officials instantly denounced the proposal, saying that it would cripple their ability to provide services at current levels and cope with health care costs that are increasing much faster than inflation.

The proposal would limit state revenue, including most fees but excluding University of Wisconsin System tuition, to increases dictated by the three-year average change in inflation, plus population growth.

Republicans today tried a new tack with a proposal to limit taxes and fees imposed by state and local governments.

The measure would be a constitutional amendment that focuses on revenue. A try for an amendment that would have focused on spending failed to pass the Senate in 2004.

The state of Wisconsin has some messed-up computer systems. So three legislators want an audit done on how much the problems are costing us. It sounds like a solid idea. The computer problems include the University of Wisconsin System’s payroll program, which has cost the state $25 million and isn’t fully operational yet.

MADISON, Wis. – University of Wisconsin System professors convicted of felonies could be immediately suspended without pay under proposed rules meant to quickly remove criminals from the system’s payroll.

The proposed rules also would speed up the system’s process for dismissing professors convicted of felonies with a goal of concluding in 60 days. The process currently can drag on for months.

(Article also appears in 2/9/06 Capital Times)

Rep. Rob Kreibich (R-Eau Claire), chair of the state Assembly’s Committee on Higher Education, rolled out a proposal Wednesday that would guarantee certain high school graduates admission to the University of Wisconsin campus of their choice. (Last item in Regional Briefs)

MADISON, Wis. — A former state auditor will monitor the bid process for a huge state information system.

Administration Secretary Stephen Bablitch is mindful of the contract awarded to Adelman Travel that resulted in federal fraud charges against a Doyle administration official.

So Bablitch has hired Dale Cattanach at $120 an hour to oversee the selection process for the new software system. It will replace nearly 100 separate systems for human resources, payroll and financial management.

The head of a task force studying a college campus merger had a clear message Monday for faculty and staff members at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha: Prepare yourself for change.

Whether that change will involve a long-debated merger with UW-Milwaukee remains to be seen, said Donald Mash, chairman of the task force appointed at the urging of Gov. Jim Doyle.

According to UW System data, the 13 chancellors of non-doctoral campuses all make less than $176,113, the new minimum of the proposed salary range. The new range has a midpoint of $195,681. The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents will wade into the sensitive issue of executive salaries when it meets next

Citing a number of information technology horror stories involving several state agencies, key members of the Legislature�s Joint Audit Committee today called for a massive state review.

One is the UW System’s Lawson payroll software system, which has cost $25 million.