The Legislature’s state budget committee voted Tuesday evening to approve $1.9 billion for state construction projects, including more than $1 billion for University of Wisconsin System projects.
There are two worlds in the chemistry labs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The first, in an aged and worn building, students and faculty make do with what they have: rows of tables that hinder collaboration, outdated fume hoods, chipping woodwork and spots of corrosion.
Summary of legislature’s budget plan for UW: The UW System would get $58 million, $45 million of which would only be released after lawmakers approve of how the university intends to spend it. That’s far less than university officials expected after weeks of discussions with lawmakers, below the $60 million cost-to-continue and short of the $150 million Evers proposed. Republicans did agree with Evers’ call to continue the tuition freeze, already in its sixth year, for at least two more years.
Evers is still pushing to save priorities that have been killed, including more money for K-12 schools, the University of Wisconsin System and expanding Medicaid.
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross said employers in Wisconsin are “screaming” for more talent offered by graduates from state campuses as he continued his pitch for more investment in state higher education.
University of Wisconsin System leaders on Tuesday urged lawmakers to stop “kicking the can down the road” and support their unprecedented financial request to renovate and repair aging campus buildings.
The Republicans on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, who hold a 12-4 majority because of arcane legislative rules, have been making a mockery of the state’s political process as they go through the budget recommendations made by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. If Evers likes it, throw it out. If there’s something he doesn’t like, put it in.
Republican legislators on Tuesday rejected Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed $130 million state funding increase for the University of Wisconsin System, a move that system leadership likened to a kick in the shins.
Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, expressed concerns that this amount of money wouldn’t cover increasing costs and would damage the UW System.
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross says he feels like he’s been “kicked in the shins” after Republicans who control the Legislature’s budget committee approved spending $69 million less on UW than Gov. Tony Evers proposed.
Cross said he had been told up until last week Thursday that the system’s budget ask was reasonable, adding he was shocked by the committee’s action. “The Legislature missed an opportunity to meet the future needs of this state,” he said. “I just can’t get over that. This was a great opportunity for them. We are the solution for a lot of the problems the state has.”
The Republican-controlled state budget-writing committee extended a tuition freeze for undergraduate residents attending University of Wisconsin campuses over the next two academic years.
The budget committee is planning to meet again next Tuesday, when members are expected to vote on budgets from the University of Wisconsin System and Department of Natural Resources, among others.
The correctional pay raise includes the 2 percent increases that would also be awarded to other state workers, as well as UW System employees. Those payments would be doled out on Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021.
Advocates for K-12 schools and the University of Wisconsin System were optimistic Tuesday that Republicans will spend more money on education, but they don’t know how much to expect other than something less than what Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed.
Republicans on the state’s budget-writing committee approved a 2% annual wage increase for most state employees Tuesday, plus a 14% boost to the minimum wage for state prison employees.
UW System president’s column: An investment in UW System will help us continue these successes and generate more graduates — especially in high-need areas such as nursing, engineering, business, computer science, information technology and data science. Across the System, our campuses have plans to expand these vital areas through our 2019-21 state budget capacity-building initiatives.
Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Travis Tranel are sponsoring a bill that would give the University of Wisconsin System $7.9 million fund annually to create and fund the UW Dairy Innovation Hub at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls.
Chris Taylor, Shelia Stubbs talk transportation, campus renovations, housing, university funding.
The report comes at a time of guarded optimism for the University of Wisconsin System and its campuses. The election of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is seen by higher education advocates as a way to offset some of the cuts imposed by his predecessor, Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed budget for the 2019-’21 biennium includes a recommendation to allow undocumented students to receive in-state tuition at UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System institutions — and this is not the first time Wisconsin legislature has considered it.
UW-Madison officials are hoping lawmakers will help pay to build a new veterinary school on campus.
UW officials say the increase could indirectly help with a key university mission–research.
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross says university officials will continue to push lawmakers for investment in campus buildings despite the State Building Commission rejecting $2.5 billion in state renovation projects around the state.
UW-Madison students are signing up in record numbers to study computer science, elevating the program to be the most popular undergraduate major on campus in each of the last two years.
Noted: John Holovoet of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association told of the proposed UW Dairy Innovation Hub $7.6 million funding request. The proposal focuses on four areas: land and water resource stewardship; enrichment of human health; growth of farm businesses and communities and animal health.
The governor included a request of $88 million of state funding for the expansion of the UW School of Veterinary Medicine that was built in 1983 to see 12,000 patients a year, a figure that has since risen to 27,000. The always top five rated school of Veterinary School in the nation has trained over 50 percent of the veterinarians practicing in the state. The $128 million project includes some $38 million from private donations in addition to the state funds.
The building commission is required to make recommendations and send them over to the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee. But now, the committee might have to start from scratch. That means it is possible that some projects could be delayed and others stalled from moving forward.
Noted: Nearly half of the $2.5 billion for building projects — or $1.1. billion — would be for University of Wisconsin System campuses, with more than $506 million of it coming from borrowing that would be paid back by taxpayers.
Republicans on the Wisconsin Building Commission rejected Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ plan for $2.5 billion worth of construction projects across the state, an unprecedented move Wednesday that speaks to challenge of divided government and moves the fight over capital building projects to the Legislature.
In a likely unprecedented move, the State Building Commission failed Wednesday to recommend any of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ $2.5 billion in proposed capital budget projects after Republicans voted them down one by one.
Some Wisconsin higher education leaders say the proposed state budget from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers could reduce a worker shortage and keep more talent from leaving the state.
But the Wisconsin Farm Bureau would like to prioritize the positions of integrated specialist roles that would hold a joint appointment between UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and UW-Extension. Those specialists perform and teach the specialized research that is essential to Wisconsin farmers.
Evers proposed a $48 million renovation of the Kohl Center to include academic services for student athletes and a $78 million plan to renovate the Camp Randall Stadium south end zone bleachers to include field-level club space aimed at generating more funds.
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross stopped by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s aging chemistry building Wednesday to express his support for the governor’s plan to replace it with a new $129.5 million facility.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday accused Democratic Gov. Tony Evers of giving undocumented students more favorable treatment than military veterans in his proposed state budget. But as Republicans waged a campaign against the spending plan, Democrats argued the GOP opposition was based on a flawed comparison.
Democrats have been pushing the concept for years, but it has failed to earn the support of Republicans who control the Legislature. Evers will need Republican approval to implement the refinancing effort, along with the rest of his budget.
About half the money from Governor Tony Evers’ proposed building program would be spent on University of Wisconsin campuses.
Gov. Tony Evers is proposing to restore $3.5 million to the University of Wisconsin-Extension under the next budget and boost the number of county agriculture agents.
Governor Tony Evers’ proposed capital budget includes borrowing $2 billion over the next two fiscal years, a plan at least one legislative leader calls “alarming.” A release from the governor’s office says Evers is “recommending historic investments in state-owned vertical infrastructure.”
Fitzgerald said in a statement the level of spending and borrowing in the plan is “alarming” especially given tax increases in Evers’ state budget proposal. That separate spending plan calls for raising the gas tax by 8 cents per gallon and capping tax credits for manufacturers.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has requested more than $2.5 billion in his two-year building projects capital budget, with close to half of the proposed money going to upgrades and renovations at University of Wisconsin System facilities.
Gov. Tony Evers wants to spend $2.5 billion on building projects — nearly half of which would be for University of Wisconsin System campuses.
A $150 million funding increase for University of Wisconsin campuses and major interstate improvements in the Milwaukee area are unlikely to happen without tax increases Republicans oppose, Gov. Tony Evers said Monday.
Officials from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are happy with Governor Tony Evers’ first budget proposal.
When it comes to higher education, Evers pledged a $150 million increase for the University of Wisconsin System, which would be the UW’s largest state funding increase in more than a decade. Part of that would be used to offset the lost revenue from continuing a tuition freeze for in-state undergraduate students.
Evers, the former state schools chief, is also calling for a $1.4 billion boost in K-12 education funding, a 10 percent income tax cut targeting the middle class and a $150 million boost for the University of Wisconsin.
That will take some of the pressure off the UW Extension, which has struggled to staff ag agents at many of their county offices after deep cuts in recent years to the UW System budget.
The University of Wisconsin System would receive a $150 million boost, including funding to continue a tuition freeze implemented by former Walker, a pay raise for UW employees, a provision to allow Dreamers to pay in-state tuition and a study to determine the feasibility of creating a student loan refinancing authority.
Touching on lame-duck laws, criminal justice reform and repealing Walker legislation, Governor Tony Evers has given his first biennial budget address.
MADISON, Wis. – In his first budget proposal, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers will increase Wisconsin’s minimum wage, raise the gas tax, provide new funding for schools and give income tax cuts to middle income families.
Highlights of the two-year Wisconsin budget proposal released Thursday by Gov. Tony Evers:
Wisconsin’s gas tax would go up by 8 cents per gallon, state government would pick up a bigger share of school funding than it has in more than a decade and Medicaid would be expanded to an estimated 82,000 residents under the state budget proposal unveiled on Thursday by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Evers plans to continue a tuition freeze at the University of Wisconsin for at least two years, boost funding by $150 million and allow for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to pay in-state tuition. Republicans oppose the immigrant in-state tuition plan, a version of which they stripped from state law in 2011.
The Democratic governor told the Associated Press in Sunday’s State Journal that he planned to freeze in-state, undergraduate tuition in his 2019-2021 budget proposal. UW tuition for state residents has been flat since 2013, thanks to former Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Gov. Tony Evers will propose a $150 million boost for the University of Wisconsin System in his first two-year budget, including funding to continue a tuition freeze implemented by former Gov. Scott Walker, a pay raise for UW employees, a provision to allow Dreamers to pay in-sate tuition and a study to determine the feasibility of creating a student loan refinancing authority.
Noted: The University of Wisconsin System Office of Educational Opportunity, which was created in 2015 and may authorize independent charter schools over the objection of school district officials, would be barred from authorizing new schools until 2023.
People who entered the country illegally could pay in-state tuition, a long-running tuition freeze would continue for another two years and institutions would receive an additional $150 million under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ executive budget proposal for the University of Wisconsin System.
Evers said his budget will have funds to offset the cost to continue, for another two years, the University of Wisconsin System tuition freeze for in-state students. He declined to say if the budget would include any additional state support for state colleges or universities.
The Board of Regents unanimously approved the pay plan at a meeting in La Crosse Thursday. Regents also backed an identical pay plan for UW-Madison.
MADISON – Incoming Gov. Tony Evers and lawmakers would need to come up with more than $2 billion just to keep doing what the state already does and provide a healthy increase to schools, according to a new report.
