Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday the University of Wisconsin System faces a budget lapse of $45 million out of a total lapse amount of $300 million in funding to state departments.
UW faces $45 million budget cuts from state funding
Badger Herald
Category: State budget
UW System budget lapse decreased to $45 million
The Daily Cardinal
UW System will face a budget lapse of only $45 million, a $24 million decrease compared to the original $69 million cut that Governor Tony Evers ordered in July.
Even with a football season, Badgers facing revenue shortfall of up to $70 million
Wisconsin State Journal
With a Big Ten Conference football season back on the schedule, revenue losses for the University of Wisconsin athletic department won’t be as severe as originally thought but still are projected to be significant.
Wisconsin state agencies cutting $300 million
Associated Press
Nearly half the savings, $120 million, is coming from savings under the Medicaid program. UW’s was second highest, followed by $31 million at the Department of Health Services and $28 million at the Department of Corrections.
Despite COVID-19 shutdowns, preliminary figures show state tax collections increased
Wisconsin State Journal
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Monday reported state tax collections totaled more than $17.5 billion in the 2019-20 fiscal year, a 1.1% increase from the previous year. That’s about $112.6 million, or only 0.6%, less than projected in January, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Tommy Thompson: Investing in UW System will renew the Wisconsin Idea
The Capital Times
Column from interim System President Tommy Thompson: If our great state is going to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic poised for growth, we will need to renew the Wisconsin Idea for the 21st century with a real investment in the University of Wisconsin System.
In address to UW regents, Thompson breaks down 3.5% budget increase plan
The Capital Times
Calling the process of building the 2021-23 biennial budget “one of the most significant actions” in the University of Wisconsin System’s history, interim President Tommy Thompson delivered a State of the University address Thursday that urged support for higher education and a reconsideration of System priorities.
Tommy Thompson seeks 3.5% UW System budget increase to expand Bucky’s Tuition Promise, fund other initiatives
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The head of the University of Wisconsin System will propose its Board of Regents support a 3.5% increase to its 2021-23 state budget in the hope of funding several new initiatives, including a statewide free tuition scholarship program for some Wisconsin students.
Thompson to request 3.5% budget increase for UW System in next biennium
The Capital Times
Interim University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson will request a 3.5% operating budget increase for the 2021-23 biennium, alongside ten key initiatives to be presented to Gov. Tony Evers Thursday.
UW System wants to cover tuition for in-state students from families below median income
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin System wants nearly $100 million more in the next state budget to cushion COVID-19’s financial blow to campuses and cover tuition for Wisconsin students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year.
Evers has about $300 million more in federal aid he can spend to fight COVID-19
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: University of Wisconsin System: $32 million. Evers recently allocated these funds for additional testing and protective equipment so UW campuses can conduct some classes in person.
UW-Madison Chancellor: ‘We’re in a real financial crisis’
Associated Press
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank delivered a sobering message Wednesday about the state’s flagship campus as the fall semester looms, saying “we’re in a real financial crisis” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
UW System Administration announces layoffs, other cuts as COVID-19 losses grow
Wisconsin State Journal
Bracing for more financial losses associated with COVID-19, the University of Wisconsin System announced on Tuesday a series of additional cost-cutting measures for its roughly 600 administrative employees, including some layoffs.
As part of effort to get campuses reopened, $32 million headed to UW System for COVID-19 testing, protection
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gov. Tony Evers has allocated about $32 million to University of Wisconsin System schools for COVID-19 testing and protection — a significant savings from the original request — based on the availability of a rapid, less costly test.
UW System receives $2 million to improve online education
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin System received a $2 million anonymous donation to improve online education as campuses try to make classes more engaging than was offered in the spring.
Tony Evers seeks another $250 million in state budget cuts to offset pandemic revenue losses
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Minutes after Evers announced the plan, University of Wisconsin interim president and former Gov. Tommy Thompson pointed out that the system’s campuses had already absorbed more than half of the first round of cutting and signaled the system would have trouble with further reductions.
“Our universities are doing everything we can to provide in-person classes safely this fall and reductions in state support for the UW System are an obstacle to that work,” Thompson said in a statement.
Tony Evers announces $250 million in cuts to state agencies
Wisconsin State Journal
UW System President Tommy Thompson said the budget reductions are an obstacle to providing in-person classes safely this fall. “The UW System has already borne a disproportionate share of state cuts to date,” Thompson said. “I am working with the Governor’s office to manage these further cuts, as well as to secure the resources we need to ensure our classrooms and university communities are safe this fall. We have a compelling case, and I believe the Governor will be helpful.”
Evers to slash $250 million from budget to pay for coronavirus response
NBC-15
Within minutes of Evers’ announcing the new cuts, the University of Wisconsin System Interim President Tommy Thompson, a former governor, released a statement saying the UW is working with the governor’s office to manage the impact its schools.
UW System requests $110 million from the state, mandates masks on campuses
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin System has asked the governor for $110 million to fund COVID-19 testing and personal protective equipment, as campuses look to open this fall and the number of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin continues to rise.
Gov. Evers to give $80 million to K-12, higher education institutions in response to coronavirus
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: According to data presented to the Board of Regents at the beginning of the month, the system anticipates a total loss of more than $100 million through the end of the summer, even taking into account the emergency federal funding they’ve received.
The UW System will receive $20 million of the funding, coming just as UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee announced their plans to reopen for the fall Wednesday.
The money will help offset the cost of technology infrastructure, personal protective equipment and other expenses, UW System President Ray Cross said, but said more help will be needed.
Facing coronavirus losses, UW System wants special legislative session for line of credit, early fall semester
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross is asking Gov. Tony Evers and state lawmakers for a line of credit, fewer regulations and the ability to begin classes early in the fall.
UW System requests flexibility to start semester early from Wisconsin legislature, Evers
Badger Herald
Tuesday, UW System President Ray Cross sent a letter to the state legislature and Gov. Tony Evers which would allow the system to move the start date of the semester.
An early start for UW campuses this fall? System leader asks state for calendar flexibility
Wisconsin State Journal
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross asked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and legislative leaders Wednesday to consider temporary changes for UW campuses in response to COVID-19, including potentially starting the fall semester early.
UW bears brunt of first wave of state spending cuts during coronavirus outbreak
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
More than half of the $70 million in state agency spending cuts ordered by Gov. Tony Evers will be to University of Wisconsin campuses in the first move to stabilize state finances during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cross: UW working on protocols for students’ return in fall
Associated Press
University of Wisconsin System leaders are working on safety protocols that could enable students to return to campus if the coronavirus pandemic stretches into fall, system President Ray Cross told regents Thursday.
Ray Cross: UW System working on protocols for students’ return in fall amid COVID-19 pandemic
Wisconsin State Journal
University of Wisconsin System leaders are working on safety protocols that could enable students to return to campus if the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into fall, System President Ray Cross told Regents Thursday.
UW System leader eyes academic program cuts, layoffs at some campuses in COVID-19 plan
Wisconsin State Journal
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross sounded a warning Thursday about ending some academic programs and layoffs as campuses brace for coronavirus-related budget cuts in the coming years.
State tax collections take $870 million hit as lawmakers debate reopening the economy
Wisconsin State Journal
Recently released tax data show an $870 million drop in state tax collections last month — due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s efforts to shut down nonessential businesses to mitigate transmission of the virus.
Cross orders UW to prioritize courses, prepare for layoffs
Associated Press
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross directed campuses Thursday to quickly identify signature programs worthy of preservation and brace for layoffs as the coronavirus pandemic deepens the system’s financial losses.
UW furloughs employees, expects to save about $30 million
The Capital Times
University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and staff will be taking three to six unpaid furlough days over the next six months, which Chancellor Rebecca Blank said Wednesday will save the university up to $30 million.
UW-Madison orders furloughs for most employees as COVID-19 keeps campus mostly closed
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison is ordering most of its employees to take varying amounts of unpaid time off over the next six months and university leaders will take a 15% pay cut over that same time as COVID-19 costs grow and the campus remains mostly closed.
Wisconsin colleges weigh how to reopen campuses in fall amid COVID-19 uncertainty
Wisconsin State Journal
“There may be some things we simply cannot do in the fall,” UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said Monday to the University Committee, a small group of professors representing faculty members on campus. “It is quite possible that 80,000 people cannot gather in Camp Randall.”
Local governments avoid employee furloughs, reduced hours during shutdown
Wisconsin State Journal
While the University of Wisconsin System and some UW campuses last week announced employee furloughs to save money in the face of looming recession-related reductions in state and local tax collections, many local governments in Dane County are making sure their employees get their hours, with some adjustments.
UW System Administration announces 1-day-per-month furloughs through June 2021
Wisconsin State Journal
Chancellors of UW campuses, where the bulk of the System’s 39,000 employees work, are making their own decisions on whether to furlough employees. UW-Milwaukee became the first to say it will “most likely” impose a campus-wide furlough for its roughly 3,700 employees. UW-Madison, which is bracing for the largest loss among the campuses with an estimated $100 million shortfall, expects to announce details by the end of the month.
Panel OKs furloughs for University of Wisconsin System
Associated Press
A University of Wisconsin System regents committee overwhelmingly approved imposing employee furloughs Thursday as campuses grapple with the coronavirus pandemic’s economic fallout.
UW campuses emptied by COVID-19 anticipate a minimum $170 million loss this semester
Wisconsin State Journal
The University of Wisconsin System forecasts a $170 million financial hit for the spring semester alone, an estimate that will likely grow as campuses grapple with the broader economic fallout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
As coronavirus losses mount, UW campuses ask state for emergency relief money
Wisconsin State Journal
Skyrocketing unemployment, expected declines in tax revenue and other economic problems associated with the coronavirus crisis could spell trouble for Wisconsin’s public universities, which rely on state money to stay afloat.
Coronavirus outbreak could affect UW’s fall semester
Associated Press
University of Wisconsin President Ray Cross cautioned Thursday that the coronavirus outbreak that has already led to the suspension of all in-person spring classes could also force changes to the fall semester, which is scheduled to begin in August.
President Cross updates Board of Regents on COVID-19 emergency, ‘significant financial cost’
The Capital Times
The University of Wisconsin System is continuing to monitor and recoup financial losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, which President Ray Cross said Thursday are only just beginning but already “significantly greater than anything I’ve seen in my 42 years of higher education.”
UW-Madison braces for estimated $100 million loss because of COVID-19 pandemic
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison anticipates a $100 million loss because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has thrown its campus into chaos as dorms are emptied, classes moved online and students told to stay away.
Building Commission approves projects, grant funds for youth prison alternatives
NBC-15
In addition to the grant funds for alternatives to the youth prisons, the commission approved the following projects: Funding increase to complete the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant / Center for Dairy Research Addition and the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory projects at UW-Madison; construction of the Sellery Hall Addition and Renovation at UW-Madison.
Fast-moving GOP farm aid legislation would cost $36 million per year
Wisconsin State Journal
The GOP proposal also would direct UW-Madison to compile a report on ways to best serve the state’s farmers and conduct research on technology specific to agriculture.
UW Regents eyeing tuition increase in next budget biennium, System president says
Wisconsin State Journal
The UW System Board of Regents is eyeing a tuition increase in the next budget biennium, University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross told a legislative committee Wednesday.
Senate approves funding for UW missing soldiers project
Associated Press
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers would be permitted to request funding from the state to recover missing Wisconsin soldiers under a bill the state Senate overwhelmingly approved Tuesday.
Senate approves funding for UW missing soldiers project
WISC-TV 3
The state Senate has approved a bill that would allow University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to request hundreds of thousands of dollars to recover missing Wisconsin soldiers’ remains.
Assembly to attempt veto override that would reduce training hours for nursing assistants
Wisconsin State Journal
The Assembly this week is slated to attempt to override Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ veto of legislation that would reduce the number of required training hours needed to become a certified nursing assistant in Wisconsin, as well as vote on raises for unionized trades employees within the University of Wisconsin System.
Wisconsin lawmakers sign off on 2% pay increases for state workers, reject $15 minimum wage
The Capital Times
Lawmakers approved a pay raise for state workers and University of Wisconsin System employees, though they again opted to scrap Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to implement a $15 minimum wage for Wisconsin employees during a Wednesday vote.
Committee approves 2% pay raises for UW, state employees
Wisconsin State Journal
Lawmakers on a Republican-controlled legislative committee approved a state compensation plan Wednesday giving University of Wisconsin and state employees a 2% pay bump next year and in 2021.
Wisconsin, UW employee pay raises to be approved
Wisconsin State Journal
A 2% pay raise in each of the next two years for University of Wisconsin and state employees were slated to be approved Wednesday by a Republican-controlled committee of legislative leaders.
Pay raises for Wisconsin state workers up for approval next week
Wisconsin State Journal
The panel of legislative leaders is scheduled to meet Dec. 18 to act on the pay plans, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ office said Tuesday.
State of Wisconsin, UW-Madison to raise minimum hourly wage for employees to $15
Wisconsin State Journal
The state of Wisconsin, including UW-Madison, intends to increase the minimum wage for its hourly employees to $15 an hour, according to statements issued Friday by the university and Gov. Tony Evers.
Catching up: UW campuses’ unionized trades employees still waiting on raise from last year
Wisconsin State Journal
The few hundred unionized trades employees tending to University of Wisconsin System campuses are still waiting for a legislative committee to consider raises the UW System Board of Regents approved six months ago.
State budget committee releases funding for suicide hotline
Wisconsin State Journal
Other items: Members of the committee also voted unanimously to release $1 million this year and nearly $8 million next year provided in the state budget for a UW System Dairy Innovation Hub housed at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls. Committee members also voted to release $22.5 million annually in performance-based funding to the UW System.
States passing laws to protect college students’ free speech
Inside Higher Ed
A legislative proposal pending in the Wisconsin Legislature is far from a light touch. It requires University of Wisconsin system colleges to adopt certain rules on free speech, including suspending for at least a semester students who have twice been found responsible for “interfering with the expressive rights of others.” Students who violate free speech policies three times must be expelled.
Proposed project would help bring back remains of 1,500 MIA Wisconsin soldiers
NBC-15
The bill would provide new funds to the UW Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project, to assist with the recovery, identification and repatriation of Wisconsin MIA service members.
GOP bill seeks to rein in student fees at UW campuses, but ‘one size fits all’ approach draws concerns
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The bill has yet to be proposed in the Legislature. Murphy’s office said the bill has gathered bipartisan support since it started circulating the Legislature for sponsorship, with Reps. Samantha Kerkman, R-Salem; Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma; Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport; and Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Falls; and Sens. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee; and Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville signing on.
Democrats unveil alternative to Republican bill package on UW campuses
Wisconsin State Journal
Democratic lawmakers on Friday released a package of University of Wisconsin System bills that reflect many of the same priorities of campus leaders.
Proposal would eliminate UW tuition freeze
WKOW
Since 2013 freezing tuition at the University of Wisconsin has been in place, but two Republican lawmakers said instead they want the UW Board of Regents to increase tuition and cap it each year no greater than the rate of inflation.
Republican lawmakers seek path to ending UW tuition freeze by proposing inflationary increases
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Increases in how much students pay to attend University of Wisconsin campuses would be tied to the rate of inflation under a new bill that seeks to lay the groundwork for ending a near decade-long tuition freeze.
Republican lawmaker looks to tie UW in-state tuition to CPI if freeze ends, tighten seg fees
The Capital Times
One Republican state representative is championing legislation that would set up a contingency plan if Wisconsin’s freeze on in-state undergraduate tuition goes away — a move he says could alter the discussion about lifting the freeze going forward.