Another contentious spending provision in the budget the Senate approved Wednesday is Republicans’ plan to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to force the school officials to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
The final budget bill included some divisive language over cuts to the University of Wisconsin System. Republicans on the budget writing committee removed $32 million from the UW System budget to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs — a move which Democrats decried.
As approved by the budget committee, the spending plan would cut income taxes by $3.5 billion, boost funding for all K-12 schools by $1 billion, increase wages for state workers, increase transit funding by 2%, boost pay for prosecutors and public defenders and cut $32 million in DEI programming funds from the University of Wisconsin System.
Taxes would be cut across all income levels, with the wealthiest benefiting the most, and the University of Wisconsin would get nearly half a billion dollars less than it asked for under a two-year spending plan up for approval Wednesday in the state Senate.
Republicans plan to make no substantive changes to the state budget, meaning that a cut in funding to the University of Wisconsin System that puts the entire spending plan in jeopardy of being vetoed will remain, legislative leaders said Tuesday.
Republican lawmakers have earmarked more than $3 million to help Washington County jumpstart a merged community college pilot program. The county is trying to preserve access to college in West Bend amid steep enrollment declines at UW-Milwaukee’s Washington County campus.
Another contentious spending provision is Republicans’ plan to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to force the school officials to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
The 2023-24 Wisconsin legislative session is underway, with debates brewing on issues ranging from public safety, abortion access, tax cuts and the state’s projected $7 billion budget surplus, funding for schools and more.
Republicans approved a plan Thursday to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to force the school officials to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: The University of Wisconsin System’s budget would be cut by $32 million, leaving UW nearly half a billion dollars short of funding it requested. Republicans cut the amount they say would be spent on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, over objections from UW leaders who say they may have to raise tuition and cut programs in response. The budget also does not include funding for UW’s top priority building project, $197 million to demolish and build a new College of Engineering building on the Madison campus. Republican leaders say there are ongoing discussions about funding that project.
Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee passed their version of the state’s two-year spending plan Thursday night, one that would cut income taxes by $3.5 billion across all brackets, including for the state’s wealthiest residents.
But Democrats objected, saying the tax plan would make the state less competitive when combined with GOP budget decisions to end funding for child care programs and cut spending for the University of Wisconsin.
Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature’s budget-writing committee on Thursday voted to cut funding to the University of Wisconsin System by $32 million and nearly 200 positions in an effort to eliminate diversity offices and programming on campuses.
Republican members of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee were poised Thursday to fulfill an earlier promise to slash funding for the University of Wisconsin System in an effort to curb diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming on campuses across the state.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, ignited debate after indicating on June 13 that he wanted the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee (JFC) to completely cut diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) funding across the University of Wisconsin System.
The University of Wisconsin System, which does not have local property tax authority under state law, received around $15,079 per full-time-equivalent student. That funding ranked Wisconsin eighth worst in the nation.
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman defended campus diversity programming this week as Republican state lawmakers consider cutting university funding by around $32 million because of opposition to those efforts.
Campus closures, tuition hikes and the end of some educational programs are all possibilities if the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee goes through with proposed cuts over diversity, equity and inclusion offices on campus, UW System President Jay Rothman said Monday.
Wisconsin Republicans had to delay a crucial vote to cut funding to the University of Wisconsin school system. The Wisconsin GOP couldn’t come to a final decision about how much to cut from the school’s budget. But that hasn’t dampened calls to punish UW for daring to promote diversity on campus.
The year is 2028, and a state-of-the-art building has opened in the heart of UW-Madison’s College of Engineering campus. It’s six times larger than the Depression-era building it replaced and designed to last a century or more.
A fierce battle over diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education is being waged in the Wisconsin State Assembly, where it has temporarily paralyzed the state budget vote.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday in a newspaper report that he won’t sign the state budget if Republican lawmakers follow through on their plan to cut funding for the state university system’s diversity officers, escalating a bitter fight over dollars for the state campuses.
Evers said Wednesday during a stop at a cheese plant outside of Monroe that such a cut would be “a ridiculous effort” on Vos’ part.
“To cut, at this point in time, the University of Wisconsin System when we have a $7 billion surplus is irrational,” he said. “I’m hopeful that will change before the budget is passed.”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday in a newspaper report that he won’t sign the state budget if Republican lawmakers follow through on their plan to cut funding for the state university system’s diversity officers, escalating a bitter fight over dollars for the state campuses.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday he would veto any state budget that includes a proposed $32 million, Republican-backed state funding cut aimed at eliminating University of Wisconsin System diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Wisconsin Republicans have delayed a vote on the state’s budget for the University of Wisconsin System, hours after a top GOP leader pledged the Legislature would cut the UW’s budget by tens of millions of dollars.
Lawmakers writing the next state budget spent eight hours behind closed doors Tuesday only to delay action on the University of Wisconsin System after the Legislature’s top Republican said UW campuses would see a $32 million cut in state funding − a move the Democratic governor characterized as a “war” on higher education.
Republican state lawmakers on Tuesday suspended a vote on funding for University of Wisconsin campuses, just hours after a top GOP leader promised to slash the college system’s budget as part of an ongoing fight over diversity and inclusion initiatives.
After hours of negotiations behind closed doors, Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee put off any vote Tuesday on whether to slash the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to gut funding for diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
Legislative Republicans and Gov. Tony Evers reached an agreement on changes to Wisconsin’s shared revenue system. Two guests help us better understand how the local funding bill will affect communities across the state. Interview with Ross Milton, assistant professor of public affairs at UW-Madison.
A new chief diversity officer hired by the University of Wisconsin System will start just weeks after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called for eliminating DEI staff at the state’s 13 universities.
State Republicans have a long-standing tradition of supporting economic development in Wisconsin, but – bafflingly—they missed the boat recently when the powerful GOP-controlled state-budget-writing committee axed a proposal for a much-needed new engineering building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Wisconsin has other fine engineering campuses, public and private, but demand for UW-Madison graduates is stronger than ever at a time when industry needs well-trained engineers in all disciplines. Let’s hope negotiations breathe new life into a project that will help Wisconsin’s economy for decades to come.
The University of Wisconsin System has hired a new chief diversity officer amid a Republican push to dismantle diversity programming on campuses and under threat of budget cuts.
And in keeping with Walker’s hostility toward the UW, just last week, Republicans axed $350 million for a new engineering school at UW-Madison, a top priority for the university that officials say is needed to keep the school competitive.
No one is ever going to accuse the Republicans who run Wisconsin’s legislative Joint Finance Committee of being the sharpest tacks in the box. And their failure to approve funding for a new College of Engineering facility for the University of Wisconsin-Madison is another example of their profound cluelessness.
Around $100 million in private donations for a planned engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are at risk after Republican lawmakers pulled the project from the state’s capital budget.
After a stinging defeat by the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee, which last week rejected a new engineering building at UW-Madison, campus and University of Wisconsin System leaders vowed to bring the project to fruition.
Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee voted for a $2.4 billion capital budget Thursday, the largest of any state building program in years but considerably smaller than the one proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
The capital budget would also leave out funding for several key projects, including a new school of engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the UW System’s top priority.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new engineering building is in jeopardy after the state Legislature’s powerful state budget-writing committee voted to leave the project out of its $2.4 billion spending plan for state building projects.
Republican lawmakers have rejected funding for the University of Wisconsin’s top priority, the proposed replacement of an engineering building on the Madison campus.
The Legislature’s powerful budget writing committee on Thursday signed off on state building projects for the next two years that total more than $3 billion.Not on that list, however, was a new engineering building for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which university officials have said is a “top priority.”
GOP lawmakers rejected funding Thursday for the University of Wisconsin’s top priority, the replacement of an engineering building on its flagship Madison campus, approving allocations for about 60% of the state government and UW projects sought by Gov. Tony Evers.
The GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee on Thursday also rejected Evers’ request to spend nearly $350 million to fund a new engineering building on UW-Madison’s campus, a top priority for the school.
“Today is certainly a sad day for UW-Madison, but the real tragedy is for the state of Wisconsin,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said. “This building would promote the state’s economic development. It would create significant workforce opportunities. It would propel innovation.”
Republicans’ proposed capital budget does not include the $347 million that Evers proposed to build a new engineering building on UW-Madison’s campus, a top priority for the university. A new building would replace the College of Engineering’s 83-year-old facility, which is currently in “poor and unsatisfactory condition,” adding over 1,000 engineering students per year.
The president of the University of Wisconsin System warned Thursday that all but three of the four-year UW campuses will run at a deficit by the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman is calling on lawmakers to provide more funding to the system.
Without increased state funding, the University of Wisconsin System is projected to reach a $60.1 million structural deficit by the end of 2023-24, according to figures released Thursday by UW System President Jay Rothman.
Most University of Wisconsin System schools will fall millions of dollars short of the money needed to maintain operations by the end of 2023-24 without additional state support, System President Jay Rothman warned Thursday.
As lawmakers consider the next round of spending on higher education in Wisconsin, new data shows per-pupil taxpayer funding for state technical colleges is more than twice as high as it is for state universities. At the same time, the University of Wisconsin System says 10 of its 13 universities have structural deficits ranging from millions to tens of millions of dollars.
As Republican state lawmakers consider limiting future University of Wisconsin System tuition increases for residents, UW officials say most campuses cannot meet ongoing expenses with current revenues.
The state’s Legislative Black Caucus pushed back against Republicans who are targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programming on University of Wisconsin System campuses.
Wisconsin’s budget forecast dipped slightly Monday, but the latest projection still calls for the state to collect about $6.9 billion more than anticipated by the end of June.
The new forecast also comes ahead of votes in coming weeks over tax cuts, funding for K-12 schools and the University of Wisconsin System and a host of other priorities and programs as lawmakers piece together the next two-year state budget.
Coumbe Gitter, who got her degree in biochemistry with an environmental science minor, graduated in good company outside of her own family tree — Saturday’s ceremony was the largest commencement in UW-Madison history, with 7,826 degrees conferred, according to UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
In an Assembly committee hearing focused on concerns about free speech on campuses, Rothman said diversity statements could be perceived as political or ask an applicant to agree with a particular viewpoint. He told chancellors in a Wednesday letter to eliminate the requirement of such statements by June 30.
These changes would cut back on delays and roadblocks that drive up prices, said Kurt Paulsen, professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Housing dies a death of a thousand cuts because every change, every delay, just adds costs,” Paulsen said.
The University of Wisconsin System will still launch its Wisconsin Tuition Promise this fall, using $13.8 million it has on hand to fund the program for low-income students.
Unfortunately, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, decided last week to declare war on these programs. Vos’s timing could not have been worse, and his thinking could not have been more wrongheaded.
Noted: Pocan’s $24 million also covered 15 projects, including $3 million for a Dane County water filtration upgrade, $2 million to expand a Green County YMCA, and $3 million to build a new food pantry in Madison. It also includes a $2 million request for the University of Wisconsin-Madison to aid in PFAS contamination research.
Vos, R-Rochester, told conservative WISN-AM radio host Jay Weber that he’s open to cutting more funding, saying the nearly $14 million only reflected positions explicitly mentioning diversity, equity and inclusion, “not the funding that actually implements much of their left-wing agenda.”
