University of Wisconsin Police Chief Susan Riseling testified that 41 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition were found Thursday morning scattered at several locations outside the Capitol. No guns were found with them. “I don?t like to see live ammunition outside when I have significant crowds,” Riseling said. “You can?t do much with live ammunition without the gun, but the presence of it doesn?t thrill me.”
Thousands of Wisconsin state workers were bracing for layoff notices Friday as Republican Gov. Scott Walker and absent Democrats remained in a standoff over a budget balancing bill that would also strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights.
A new group will lobby on behalf of UW-Madison in an effort to persuade state legislators to support the flagship university?s split from the University of Wisconsin System. The Badger Advocates filed as a lobbying firm with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board on Tuesday, the day Gov. Scott Walker released his budget proposal.
About 50 pro-union protesters peacefully left the state Capitol late Thursday after a judge ruled they could no longer spend the night to show their opposition to Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to eliminate nearly all collective bargaining rights for public workers.The judge also ruled the state had violated the public?s free speech and assembly rights by restricting access to the building. University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling read the order to the crowd, eliciting cheers when she read the judge?s determination that the state had unconstitutionally restricted access to the building.
Quoted: “Madison is kind of a perfect storm of factors for this,” said Don Taylor, assistant professor of labor education at the University of Wisconsin School for Workers in Madison. “It?s an extremely progressive city in terms of politics. It?s one of those places in the country where people will refer to it as a ?People?s Republic.?”
In an effort to recruit top-tier graduate students from around the world, University of Wisconsin officials have offered an assurance that tuition remission for teaching assistants will continue under the new budget proposal.
The protesters demanded to see a written copy of the order before they would go. University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling read the order to the crowd, eliciting cheers when she read the judge?s determination that the state had unconstitutionally restricted access to the building.
“I?ve been here 19 years and I don?t remember any other governor coming in with as ambitious, or effective, a first month,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A lobbying group has been created to advocate for Chancellor Biddy Martin?s New Badger Partnership, which includes the university?s proposed split from the UW-System, in the state legislature.
Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to remove the flagship Madison campus from the University of Wisconsin System would hurt the remaining campuses, UW-Green Bay Chancellor Thomas Harden said Wednesday.
University of Wisconsin Police Chief Susan Riseling said 41 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition were found Thursday morning scattered at several locations outside the Capitol.
Gov. Walker says he?ll start sending out layoff notices to state workers on Friday if his budget repair bill doesn?t pass by then.
Protesters leave the capitol by 10pm Thursday, but not without contemplation and surprise.
There is much to be made of Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed budget and the effects it will have on the University of Wisconsin. But considering the state?s present $137 million budget deficit and Walker?s blunt crusade to tackle it, one thing is clear: It could have been much worse.
A Dane County Judge says rules put in place this week to restrict public access to the state Capitol building violate the Constitution. As a result, Judge John Albert issued an order Thursday evening for the building to be fully reopened to the public by Monday morning, with the access policies that were in place on ?January 28, 2011.?
A mixture of optimism and concern surrounds Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal to split UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee from the UW System. As Chancellor Biddy Martin has asserted that the public authority model will give UW-Madison the ability to deal with deep cuts in state aid, other UW System chancellors have expressed concern that the split could negatively affect their schools and the state as a whole.
As I commented yesterday, Chancellor Biddy Martin is getting what she wants out of the governor?s budget. The budget proposes making the University of Wisconsin-Madison a public authority, meaning it will have more independence from the state to set tuition rates and professor salaries, construct new buildings and do a wide variety of other things that are currently restricted by state regulations. In short, UW-Madison will no longer be treated as another state agency.
The proposal to split the flagship University of Wisconsin-Madison campus from the rest of the UW System has taken a backseat to Gov. Scott Walker?s other budget plans, but it nonetheless merits careful consideration because of what?s at stake.
Chancellor Biddy Martin and Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell answered questions about how a proposed public authority model and major budget cuts would affect UW-Madison faculty and students at a forum Wednesday.
In the wake of the governor?s budget announcement, protesters at the Capitol continue to voice discontent with strict limitations on public access to the building as University of Wisconsin students rallied in opposition to the proposed ?marriage? between the university and the state on Wednesday.
After the governor?s budget proposal outlined extensive budget cuts in higher education, the University of Wisconsin chancellor clarified the details of a public authority status and said the university must remain a contender among international institutions in a public forum Wednesday.
Tucked in Gov. Scott Walker?s state budget among the big ticket items that will hit the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Technical College systems in big ways, is a small line item that is not likely to save the state much money but will have a big impact on the state?s immigrants, advocates for the community say.
The budget would repeal a year-old provision that allows undocumented students who have lived in the state for several years to pay resident tuition, instead of the more expensive non-resident tuition.
Nothing is certain but death and taxes. Oh, and a jump in tuition when state funding for public higher education is slashed.
Under Gov. Scott Walker?s 2011-13 biennial budget proposal released Tuesday, UW-Madison and the UW System each will see state aid slashed by $125 million over the next two years.
“The size of the cut is really sobering,” says UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin.
Wisconsin is certainly facing some significant budget challenges but its public worker pension system isn?t one of them. With current assets of nearly $80 billion, the Wisconsin Retirement System WRS is the ninth-largest public pension fund in the U.S. and by all accounts one of the most solvent.
Protesters who have turned out en masse for the past two weeks to oppose Republican Gov. Scott Walker?s budget repair bill are now fighting a second battle: Just getting through the Capitol doors. Also on Wednesday, testimony continued for a second day in Dane County Circuit Court to determine if current restrictions on public access to the Capitol are legal. UW-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling, who is among the officials leading law enforcement efforts, testified that the protests have been “unprecedented” in their peacefulness.
Wisconsin?s budget stalemate over union bargaining rights shows no sign of resolution — and it could be a long wait.
Chancellor Richard Telfer addressed UW-Whitewater faculty and staff this morning regarding the governor?s budget repair bill and the 2012-13 biennial budget.
Governor Walker?s proposed biennial budget calls for separating U.W.-Madison from the rest of the University of Wisconsin System so it can operate on its own — and remove more than 20,000 employees from the state payroll.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin says Gov. Walker?s budget proposal will give the school more flexibility, but it will result in higher tuition.
Governor Scott Walker?s proposed budget means major changes for the state, especially its longtime flagship university.
Along with local governments and school districts, the UW-System will also see large cuts in state aid.
In the wake of the debate over Gov. Scott Walker?s budget repair bill, UW Oshkosh faculty, staff and union workers universally noted their concern and discontent with the plan.
Although Chancellor Richard Wells used a metaphor to illustrate his stance on the idea of UW Madison separating from the system, how he felt about the issue was clear.”There is no flagship without a fleet,” was the highlight of his March 1 statement speaking out against UW Madison?s plan.
The UW System would be forced to tighten its belt under Gov. Walker?s new state budget, especially UW-Madison which will absorb half of the $250 million cut to the UW System.
UW-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling, who is among the officials leading law enforcement efforts, testified that the protests have been “unprecedented” in their peacefulness.
Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday the state government could send initial layoff notices to public workers by the end of this week.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will shoulder half of the $250 million cut to the UW System in the governor?s budget. As many begin to digest Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed cuts, UW-Madison officials are trying to answer questions.
Among the many provisions in his proposed state budget, Gov. Scott Walker wants to repeal a law that allows some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
I wrote this yesterday in response to the Governor?s budget proposal:
Dear members of ASM,Today, Governor Walker released his proposal for the state?s budget for the 2011-13 biennial.
UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin probably would have preferred lesser cuts her university?s budget. However, the $125 million of cuts Gov. Walker proposed in his budget yesterday comes with a big present: The separation of UW-Madison from the UW System.
They have filled Madison?s Capitol Square and spilled down State Street, a sea of Wisconsin Badger red. They have jammed the Capitol rotunda, remaining around the clock, dozing on hard marble floors in sleeping bags, testifying before the Assembly, and transforming the beautiful Capitol building into a house of the people.
With states providing a dwindling share of money for higher education, many states and public universities are rethinking their ties.
The public universities say that with less money from state coffers, they cannot afford the complicated web of state regulations governing areas like procurement and building, and that they need more flexibility to compete with private institutions.
Gov. Scott Walker?s budget proposal calls for major changes to the UW System and drastic funding cuts to higher education.
While some are optimistic, others remain hesitant about substantial changes to the UW System proposed in Gov. Scott Walker?s 2011-?13 budget. In an effort to combat the budget deficit, Walker proposed a plan to remove UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee from the UW System, in addition to cutting $250 million in state aid from the system, $125 million of which will be directly from UW-Madison.
In front of a joint session of the legislature Tuesday, Gov. Scott Walker presented his 2011-13 budget, which reduces Wisconsins projected shortfall of $3.6 billion to $250 million.
Add support for the arts to the list of items getting slashed under Gov. Walker?s proposed budget. The budget unveiled Tuesday calls for a 68 percent cut in state funding for the Wisconsin Arts Board while rolling the agency into the Department of Tourism.
Walker also wants to eliminate the Percent for Arts Program, which provides $500,000 annually for public art in new state buildings. Among the projects funded by the Percent for Arts program is the “Nails Tails” sculpture in front of Camp Randall Stadium.
Gov. Scott Walker introduced a budget Tuesday which contained serious cuts to state and local programs he said are tough but necessary to balance the projected $3.6 billion deficit.
After the governor unveiled funding reductions for higher education and plans to establish the Madison campus as a public authority, the chancellor said University of Wisconsin officials will use the new flexibilities to combat ?painful? budget cuts.
Gov. Scott Walker, whose push to limit collective bargaining rights and increase health and pension costs for public workers has set off a national debate, proposed a new budget for Wisconsin on Tuesday that called for deep cuts to state aid to schools and local governments, provoking a new wave of fury.
As protesting public employees encircled the Capitol on Tuesday, Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed a two-year budget that would cut $1.5 billion to schools and local governments. Walker also proposed making the University of Wisconsin?s Madison campus autonomous and eliminating 735 jobs that have been vacant.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison would receive a slightly deeper cut than other state universities in Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed budget, but would split from the UW System and be given more freedom to chart its future development.
UW-Milwaukee would be placed on a path to also break from the rest of the UW System. Walker?s proposal calls for spending $250,000 over the biennium on developing a planned split.
Gov. Scott Walker vowed Tuesday to close a $3.5 billion budget gap by remolding Wisconsin government at every level: slashing aid to public schools and local governments while setting up increases in private school aid; eliminating 1,200 state jobs; and placing the tightest limits on property taxes that the state has seen.
To balance the budget without raising taxes or fees, the Republican governor is calling for sacrifices and changes affecting residents across the state, from students and participants in the SeniorCare prescription drug plan to poor families receiving health care or welfare from the state.
The two-year, $59.2 billion budget proposal also has a host of effects on Milwaukee, including ending the requirement that Milwaukee Public Schools teachers live in the city; expanding the use of voucher schools; and studying the possibility of converting the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee into a separate authority – a shift already being targeted for UW-Madison in the bill.
A poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling found 51 percent of Wisconsin residents surveyed said they side more with unions “in the current conflict,” while 47 percent said they side more with Walker. Quoted; UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin, an expert on political polling
Gov. Scott Walker just gave a boost to the Urban League of Greater Madison?s intriguing proposal for an all-male charter school.As part of his state budget address late Tuesday afternoon, Walker said he wants to let any four-year public university in Wisconsin create a charter school for K-12 students. That gives the Urban League of Greater Madison a second potential partner for its proposal, should the Madison School Board reject the League?s idea. Partnering with the Urban League on the innovative school could potentially help UW-Madison attract more minority students.
At UW-Whitewater, every student, faculty and staff member is part of a community. Likewise, UW-Whitewater is a member of a greater family: the UW System.
Quoted: “I think it?d be fair to categorize the proposal (to cut union bargaining) as an overreach,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor David Canon. “Maybe the biggest reason for that claim is the fact that he didn?t campaign on this.”
MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) — When it comes to higher education the budget cuts aid to UW-Madison by $125 million and another $125 million to the other 25 campuses.
Universities around the state will be forced to take a big hit if Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed 2011-2013 budget is enacted.
The recent buzz about UW-Madison?s possible separation from the UW System has generated significant negative reactions. In a move that has been seen by some as an attempt by Gov. Scott Walker to politicize public education, it is not surprising that students and staff are outraged.
While some are optimistic, others remain hesitant about substantial changes to the UW System proposed in Gov. Scott Walker?s 2011-?13 budget. In an effort to combat the budget deficit, Walker proposed a plan to remove UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee from the UW System, in addition to cutting $250 million in state aid from the system, $125 million of which will be directly from UW-Madison.
