Union supporters were handed a huge ? although possibily temporary ? victory Thursday morning, when a Dane County judge struck down a controversial bill that stripped most collective bargaining rights from public employees.
MADISON, Wis. — A Dane County judge has struck down a law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most state workers. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled on Thursday that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin?s open meetings law during the run up passing the controversial measure. She said that renders the law void.
In her ruling, Sumi said that there was “no conflicting Senate, Assembly or joint rule in effect on March 9, 2011, that would have excused compliance with the public notice requirement” of 24 hours notice. She went on to say, “The evidence also demonstrated a failure to obey even the two-hour notice allowed for good cause if 24-hour notice is impossible or impractical.”
The Legislature?s budget-writing committee on Tuesday signed off on a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to phase out a program designed to help students — especially those from low-income families — find a path to a college degree. Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee attempted to delete a provision in the governor?s budget which will sunset the Wisconsin Covenant program. But that motion was shot down 12-4 along party lines.
“I don?t know why we continue to say we can?t afford education,” Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D, Milwaukee, told her joint finance colleagues.
I joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a faculty member in 1973, two years after the merger of UW-Madison with the UW System. The merger was met with much apprehension.
“The University of Wisconsin: A History, 1945-1971” notes that the 1971 merger was “imposed by state political leaders over the deep misgivings of most UW regents, administrators and Madison faculty members, alumni and students.”
These misgivings were well-founded. In the 40 years following the merger, UW-Madison has been less than it can be. The reason is straightforward. [A column by Ronald Kalil, a professor of neuroscience in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison.]
Wisconsin college students will soon have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a change to the popular tuition reciprocity agreement approved Tuesday by the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee. The 43-year-old reciprocity program allows Wisconsin and Minnesota college-bound students to pay instate tuition even if they attend public universities in the other state. Currently, Wisconsin makes up the difference between the resident tuition rate for a Wisconsin student to attend a comparable institution in Minnesota. Under the change approved unanimously Tuesday by the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee, that difference would have to be paid by the student.
Wisconsin students would be required to pay more to attend Minnesota?s public universities, under a plan unanimously adopted by the budget committee. Changes to the tuition reciprocity program would be phased in, starting with the freshman class in the fall of 2012 — a compromise to protect current students from a sudden tuition increase.
MADISON (WKOW) — Wisconsin college students would have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a proposal up for approval before the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee.
MADISON, Wis. — The Legislature?s budget committee has voted to go along with Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to end the Wisconsin Covenant program. The program started by Walker?s predecessor Gov. Jim Doyle promises financial aid for college to middle school students who promise to stay out of trouble and get good grades.
I?ve become much too good recently at writing accolades about retiring public workers. I?m glad to praise the praiseworthy, of course. It?s just that there are too many inspiring public servants departing state government right now. I?m losing words to express my sense of loss and outrage.
….State workers who have worked for decades under multiple administrations suddenly are leaving in droves.
The Presbyterian student center at UW-Madison is scrambling to convince state legislators its 51-unit apartment building deserves to remain off the tax rolls. The Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee on May 12 voted 14-2 to strip Pres House Apartments of its tax-exempt status as part of the 2011-13 biennial budget. The ministry was granted the exemption by the Legislature in a controversial move two years ago. Pres House now is rallying students, parents and alumni to contact state officials before the full Legislature votes on the budget in the coming weeks.
Wisconsin college students would have to pay more to attend the University of Minnesota under a proposal up for approval before the Wisconsin Legislature?s budget committee. The Joint Finance Committee planned to vote Tuesday on the change backed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. His plan would save the state about $17 million over the next two years.
A three-month debate over the way the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the rest of the UW System are run has shown that all state universities are going to need more freedom from state rules to remain competitive and to offset deep proposed budget cuts, state lawmakers say.
Jeremi Suri has fielded outside job offers before. But in the past, the history professor always turned down more lucrative overtures to remain at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That changed this week when the highly regarded expert of international history and American foreign policy decided to take his talents to the University of Texas at Austin.
….”Quite frankly, I feel guilty about leaving,” says Suri. “I’ve been treated very well here. But I also think this shows the need for granting (UW-Madison) more flexibilities. And if our institution isn’t given the resources or allowed more flexibility from state oversight, we’re going to be stuck in place. I’m very worried about future retention here and having the resources to do the kinds of innovative work that’s necessary to remain a great university.”
WHITEWATER ? State Rep. Steve Nass on Tuesday said Republican lawmakers favor keeping UW-Madison linked to the state system, and will instead work toward giving some financial flexibilities to all UW campuses.
The Joint Finance Committee was scheduled to take up the budget of the Wisconsin Technical College System during a meeting Thursday. But Joint Finance co-chair Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announced at the start of the noon conference that the WTCS and Department of Instruction budgets would not be addressed as previously scheduled.
First, full disclosure. I am a UW?Madison grad, as are my three kids, my bride, her mom and my dad. And several of my siblings, nieces and nephews are System grads or current students.
The New Badger Partnership has sparked serious discussion about the future of UW-Madison and many questions remain unanswered as summer approaches.
Gov. Scott Walker has yet to implement any of his major economic initiatives. Thankfully. Yet the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau announced May 11 that, because of improved tax collection projections, Wisconsin has an extra $636 million for budgeting purposes. That?s a 1.6 percent increase in tax revenue over the next two years.
This story appeared first in the Sunday edition of the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper.
UW-Oshkosh leaders argue they could save $20,000 a year by buying cheaper trash bags. UW-Madison officials say they could complete a $400,000 remodeling job in Sterling Hall in four months, rather than a year-and-a-half. And the UW-Parkside chancellor contends she would have an extra $50,000 each year in tuition revenue.
These are examples offered by University of Wisconsin System leaders of ways they could save money and time ? if only they had more freedom from state bureaucracy.
The medical director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene says women will likely die of cervical cancer if Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposal eliminating $266,400 for cervical cancer screening prevails.
“I see at least 1 – 2 high-grade lesions every day during cytologic evaluations,” Dr. Daniel Kurtycz says in prepared remarks to be given Wednesday to the Joint Finance Committee, which will consider Walker?s budget request.
In a recent guest column (Opinion, May 10), a University of Wisconsin System regent and member of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Advisory Council stated her case against the New Badger Partnership. As an alumnus of UW-Madison, I would like to offer a different perspective.
Numbers from the state Department of Administration and the University of Wisconsin-Madison show how important the dues of public-employee union members are to those unions – dues Walker?s changes would dramatically cut, if not eliminate.
In one year, UW-Madison unionized workers and workers in agencies of state government controlled by the governor, paid $13.9 million in union dues, And, of that total, $8.2 million – or 59% – went to the Wisconsin State Employees Union.
State support for the UW System now makes up less than a quarter of the system?s total spending, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. Decades ago, state dollars funded almost half of the university system?s needs, but today, the colleges are far more dependent on tuition and fees paid by students. Lawmakers are considering Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to split off UW-Madison as a public authority.
Breakups are always hard, and UW-Madisons request for a split from the rest of the UW System through the proposed New Badger Partnership has evoked passions worthy of an epic love affair. Of course, in every breakup, friends are asked to take sides, and one might fairly ask whose side Madisons and Wisconsins business communities should be on.
Thousands of protesters massed at the Capitol on Saturday in an effort to show that outrage over Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposals is not dead, three months after he unveiled his plan to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers.
Rep. Pat Strachota, R-West Bend, is working on a compromise proposal that could keep UW-Madison within the University of Wisconsin System — but would grant Wisconsin?s flagship institution its own board within the Board of Regents. The details of how such a body might be set up and operate, however, remain in the development stage.
“What I saw early this year (in Madison) was not our Wisconsin. You clearly had ideological forces trying to divide rather than bring us together.”
Another example of dividing people is Walker?s effort to try to split the “flagship university” from the rest of the system, a reference to the plan Walker developed with UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin to separate the UW-Madison campus from the rest of the UW System. Walker is acting more as a king than a governor, according to a Barrett speech line.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison?s student government voted Saturday to stress it neither supports nor opposes Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to grant Wisconsin?s flagship institution public authority status and break it away from the rest of the UW System.
The 18th session of the Associated Students of Madison?s Student Council passed a resolution which reads, in part, that it “remains neutral on the New Badger Partnership until the 18th session feels sufficient dialogue with (the) student body has been accomplished.”
Dear Editor: I did a Jericho march on Sunday ? seven times around the Capitol Square. Many UW-Madison graduates were out being photographed by their proud parents. I congratulated them, the grads and their parents. Also congratulated them on possibly being the last class to graduate from the UW. All but a very few of the grads knew exactly what I meant.
….the chancellor is pushing a new argument, insisting that the only way to save UW-Madison from certain peril is to split from the UW System, creating an independent governing structure for the flagship campus. This is a major departure from the earlier argument, and many people think it is a bad idea ? both for UW-Madison and the other UW campuses.
I write as a longtime administrator at the UW-Madison and former chief of staff to Chancellor Donna Shalala. For eight of those years, I spent a great deal of time lobbying in the state Capitol for the university. I strongly agree that the restrictions on construction, hiring and budgeting should be changed. A separate governing board for the UW-Madison, however, would be harmful to my university.
Increasingly, government entities are required to run more like businesses. UW-Madison is no exception. To that end, the university seeks a New Badger Partnership with the state that allows it to search out efficiencies, recruit top talent and set priorities like any private company does. As Wisconsin?s major research university, UW-Madison requires a different way of doing business and should be established as a public authority.
Granting public authority status to the University of Wisconsin-Madison would help us provide a better, richer and more valuable experience for our 29,000 undergraduate students. With public authority, we would offer more of the kinds of educational experiences that students ? and employers ? want us to provide.
Families in town for college graduation ceremonies this weekend can check out or join protests at the State Capitol, where a big “We Are Wisconsin” rally is set for Saturday afternoon. The Wisconsin AFL-CIO is calling on its union members to rally again against Gov. Scott Walker, the Republican-dominated Legislature and legislation drastically limiting collective bargaining for public workers.
The battle over the future of the University of Wisconsin System continues. UW-System leaders Wednesday sent an open letter to all state legislators calling for new leadership flexibility, as contained in their Wisconsin Idea Partnership.
Wisconsin?s state universities need a new business model. It is mistaken to see the best first step as allowing UW-Madison to go it alone. [Letter to the editor from Robert L. Burns].
Catching up on a couple higher education-related items …
** Leaders from across the University of Wisconsin System — at least those not affiliated with UW-Madison — continue to push hard for statutory changes which would allow all UW campuses some long-sought freedoms from state oversight.
** UW-Madison is closing in on hiring a new dean of its Law School.
** Song Jin, an associate professor in UW-Madison’s department of chemistry, was honored as a Scialog Fellow and awarded a $100,000 grant for “enabling solar energy conversion using rational and scalable growth of 1D nanomaterials made of inexpensive semiconductors.” According to a news release, these solar energy grants are designed to fund innovative research that can be quickly applied and developed by business and industry.
** It’s hard to believe it’s graduation time once again. Philanthropists John and Tashia Morgridge will deliver the charge to the graduates at UW-Madison’s four undergraduate commencement ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker refused Wednesday to back down from his plan to take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public workers and force them to pay more for benefits, despite news that the state?s budget is in better shape than previously expected. Walker pushed for the collective bargaining concessions as a way to help address the state?s projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall. But on Wednesday, a new economic forecast said the state will receive $636 million more in tax collections than expected when Walker unveiled his plan _ almost double what would be saved through forcing workers to pay more for health and insurance benefits. No matter the spin, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau?s more positive economic forecast will almost certainly increase the pressure on Walker and the Legislature to rethink some of the most dramatic cuts in the governor?s budget. Those include $1 billion in cuts to schools and local governments, a $250 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System, and changes to the popular SeniorCare prescription drug program.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker refused Wednesday to back down from his plan to take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public workers and force them to pay more for benefits, despite news that the state?s budget is in better shape than previously expected.
The battle over the future of UW-Madison continues. In his two year budget proposal, Gov. Scott Walker suggested breaking the university off from the current UW-System.
Wisconsin will get more revenue than previously estimated.
Governor Scott Walker says encouraging new state revenue projections don?t change the need for changes to collective bargaining. The state is projected to collect some $636 million dollars over the next two years, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau and state Revenue Department.
MADISON (WKOW) — New income projections released by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau show the state should collect $636 million in tax revenue by the end of 2013.
Wisconsin?s budget has gotten a $636 million boost over three years thanks to a new, improved tax collection projection.
Republican legislative leaders sought to dampen enthusiasm over an improved budget forecast Wednesday, saying the $636 million in additional tax revenue shouldn?t be used for new spending or to replace savings that would come from forced benefit concessions from state workers.
About 130,000 UW-Madison alumni in the state of Wisconsin got a recorded message from Chancellor Biddy Martin last night, inviting them to take part in a Tele-Town Hall. Paid for by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, alumni who stayed on the line could take part in a one-hour conversation with Martin about the budget proposal for public authority status for UW-Madison, known as the New Badger Partnership.
First, let?s pause to celebrate. Over the past two decades, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has come to deserve the descriptor ?world-class research institution,? one that attracts more than $1 billion per year in grants.
And let?s stipulate to this: Really smart people agree that to protect and extend UW?s top-tier stature, its chancellor and other campus leaders need to have operational flexibility to compete in the global arena. And, further, let?s agree that other UW System schools would benefit from freedoms scaled to their situations.
….Martin clearly believes in her cause, that only through her version of change can UW-Madison succeed as an international player, but it appears to be time to punt.
UW?s players should let bygones be bygones and hope that the university?s brain trust ? which aptly describes the intellect and energy on campus ? can reunite to effectively confront the grave threat posed by dwindling state financial support and Capitol meddling.
So let?s applaud Martin for placing the issue in the brightest of lights and then turn quickly to achieving greater flexibility not only for UW-Madison but for the entire system, keenly mindful that Madison is vastly different from other schools.
Quoted: Former UW-Madison chancellor John Wiley.
Attempts to break the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the UW-System are wrong in their central view. Wisconsin?s state universities need a new business model. It is mistaken to see the best first step as allowing UW-Madison to go it alone.
Together, Wisconsin?s public universities, two-year colleges, technical schools and private institutions produce a highly educated workforce. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is proud to be a part of this collaboration and shared legacy of excellence.
We are competing against research organizations and universities throughout the world for top researchers, students and research dollars. UW-Madison competes for and wins over $1 billion in research funds per year. This reflects the significant difference in the mission of UW-Madison and UW-Oshkosh. This is not elitism. The campuses are not better or worse than the other, just different. These different missions drive the need for a different set of operating rules.
I can?t resist an opportunity to draw Bucky, and I thought the ball and chain was a good metaphor for the relationship between the UW-Madison and the UW-System.
The University of Wisconsin athletic department contributed about $50,000 to the School of Nursing building project with funds generated from ticket sales at the spring football game. School of Nursing dean Katharyn May believes a $1 million donation received about three weeks prior to the spring game probably would not have happened without the affiliation with the football program. Fans were charged $5 for admission to the spring game, which had been free in past years. The official crowd was a disappointing 11,169, though UW athletic director Barry Alvarez remains committed to using the game as a fundraiser for campus projects. Proceeds from next year?s game will go to the Human Ecology department.
In this time of intense political discussion in our state, one issue of significant concern is the proposal to separate the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the 25 other campuses in the UW System. As someone who cares deeply about education in our community and our state, I cannot support a plan that I believe positions our flagship university to compete with UW-Green Bay and other UW campuses for scarce resources.
….The Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grant program was part of former Gov. Jim Doyle?s 2008 budget and was designed to connect local food producers with local buyers. It has awarded about $220,000 annually in development grants over the past three years. Recipients in 2010 included the Bayfield Apple Co., Perfect Pasture in Ashland, the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition and Green & Green Distribution in Mineral Point.
Quoted: Steve Deller, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison
But the grant program is on Gov. Scott Walker?s budget chopping block and was not included in his proposed 2011-2013 budget ? a development that some are calling short-sighted and contrary to Walker?s goal of growing the private-sector economy.
Wisconsin?s technical colleges help keep the economy humming. They are responsive to business leaders? needs and provide students with bang for their buck. They?re so popular, in fact, that enrollment is up 40 percent statewide in the last decade.
There?s only one problem. The state is in a budget crisis, and technical colleges are facing cuts just like many other state agencies, communities and schools.
Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker and GOP leaders have launched a push to ram several years? worth of conservative agenda items through the Legislature this spring before recall elections threaten to end the party?s control of state government. Republicans, in a rapid sequence of votes over the next eight weeks, plan to legalize concealed weapons, deregulate the telephone industry, require voters to show photo identification at the polls, expand school vouchers and undo an early release for prisoners. At the same time lawmakers are pushing through conservative policies, they will be wrestling with Walker?s budget proposal. Walker wants to cut roughly $1 billion from schools and local governments, split the Madison campus from the University of Wisconsin System and slow the growth of Medicaid by $500 million.
I am a proud graduate of UW-Madison. I am also a proud graduate of UW-Oshkosh.These sentiments should not conflict. Yet I feel a wedge has been driven between them by the debate over UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and Gov. Scott Walker?s New Badger Partnership plan to make UW-Madison a public authority.
Quoted: Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Together, Wisconsin?s public universities, two-year colleges, technical schools and private institutions produce a highly educated workforce. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is proud to be a part of this collaboration and shared legacy of excellence. [A commentary by Stephanie Lee Swartz, a member of the UW-Madison School of Nursing Board of Visitors and the Wisconsin Alumni Association Board of Directors.]
On Tuesday I finally had a chance to take in some of the new Union South in person and it is, as I?ve been reading for weeks now, quite lovely. The design is sleek and modern without feeling sterile. There are multiple food options encompassing a decent range of health and diet options. Students were seated everywhere, working on laptops or noses buried in books.
BROOKFIELD — Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch says he and Gov. Scott Walker remain hopeful that the guv?s proposed split of UW-Madison from the rest of the university system will pass.
