In a sign that a potential state budget deal could be approved soon, a special Assembly-Senate conference committee started work late Wednesday on a compromise to send to the full Legislature.
A special committee of lawmakers created to reach a budget deal met for the first time late Wednesday.
But a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker says there is no budget deal. Decker’s spokeswoman Carrie Lynch says members of the conference committee are meeting, but there is no agreement on the budget.
Will the final state budget cut out the governor? A budget conference committee meets this evening. Where does that leave Governor Jim Doyle? Senate Majority Leader, Russ Decker, was asked about that this afternoon. “The governor’s always in play, he’s at the beginning, he’s there at the end, so we’ll be talking to the governor,” said Decker. “Well, the governor’s people, I should say.”
“It sounds like the governor’s been cut out of the whole thing, to me,” said Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. “It’ll be interesting to see if they push this right up to the final minute, ’cause obviously he doesn’t have the ability then to veto anything. So if they give him kind of a bag of goods, that he doesn’t know what’s in it, that’s going to make it very difficult.”
This week marks the centenary of a landmark known to UW-Madison alumni everywhere: the statue of Abraham Lincoln seated in front of Bascom Hall.
The sculpture was a duplicate made by Adolph Weinman, who created the original for Lincolnâ??s birthplace. When he agreed to cast a single replica, requests came from around the nation, but Madison won the bidding. Philanthropist Thomas E. Brittingham covered the cost in honor of the 100th anniversary of Lincolnâ??s birth.
The statue was unveiled at commencement on June 22, 1909, part way down the slope of Bascom Hill. It was moved to the top of the hill only after a decade of wrangling between the University and the Legislature over details concerning its stone base.
Tuesday marks two years since the disappearance of Kelly Nolan. The 22-year-old’s body was found roughly two weeks later – but what happened to her, and who’s responsible, remains a mystery.
The mystery of what happened to 22-year-old Kelly Nolan began with a mother’s plea two years ago.
Nolan, a UW Whitewater communications major who was working in Madison the summer of 2007, was last seen the early morning hours of Saturday, June 23rd.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – Harvard University is cutting 275 staff jobs as fallout continues from the school’s dropping endowment.
The layoffs amount to less than 2% of Harvard’s 16,000 staff and faculty. The school also is reducing hours for 40 staffers. The cuts don’t apply to faculty.
Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday again urged the Legislature to act soon on a budget so that planned spending cuts by state agencies can start as scheduled July 1.
But if the Legislature can’t put a budget on his desk by that date, the governor said, lawmakers might have to pass separate bills on individual spending issues that need to be addressed in the short term.
Time is running out for lawmakers to reach an agreement on the state budget.
Governor Jim Doyle says lawmakers are cutting it close, when it comes to finishing work on the state’s $63 billion budget plan. He says they need to get it to his desk before July 1, or else the state risks losing a significant amount of Medicaid funding.
Occasionally through the years our Evjue Foundation has been able to help fund the publication of books that deal with Wisconsin or Madison history.
….The latest of these Evjue Foundation-assisted endeavors has just been published — “Mensch,” a biography of the late and deeply loved Madison Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky.
Four campus and downtown Metro bus routes will be detoured starting Tuesday, June 23, because of road construction, while an east side Metro route will be detoured beginning June 29, also due to construction.
A committee of Wisconsin lawmakers is working on the final draft of the state budget.
They are trying to reconcile differences between the assembly and senate versions.
It is less than two weeks away from the budget deadline.
Compromises have to be reached before it heads to Governor Doyle’s desk for consideration.
College life may look different in the not-so-distant future: Students squinting out dirtier windows, faculty offices with full wastebaskets and no phones, sporting events in which opponents never meet, and paper course catalogs existing only as artifacts of the wasteful old days.
Formal action on the state budget will have to wait until next week.
In order to resolve differences between the versions of the budget passed in the Senate and Assembly, lawmakers are expected to meet in a conference committee. However, officials in both chambers say they don’t intend to form the committee until at least next Tuesday.
Does tutoring in public schools really work?
A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor is getting $3 million to expand her exploration of that question.
Carolyn Heinrich, a professor of public affairs and director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, has been awarded a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand her research on evaluating tutoring programs mandated under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Her research to date concentrated on the Milwaukee public school system.
Dear Editor: Your headline says: “UW police crack down on speeding through campus.” With all due respect, I find it difficult to believe that people could actually speed through campus or any part of the construction sites because of the extreme and unnecessary traffic congestion.
The state Senate passed a budget Wednesday that kills Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s plan to tax oil companies and instead repeals the tax break on capital gains, which would cost investors $485 million over two years.
The 17-16 vote endorsed a two-year spending plan that totaled $62.5 billion – about $300 million more than the budget recommended by the state Assembly on Saturday.
The state would raise the capital gains tax by nearly a half billion dollars and ditch a tax on oil companies that could have been passed on to consumers under the budget bill passed by Senate Democrats Wednesday.
In a 17-16 vote, Senate Democrats barely approved wide-ranging changes to the $62 billion state spending plan, adding an automatic increase to the state minimum wage but dropping provisions that would have aided illegal immigrants and expanded defendantsâ?? liability in negligence lawsuits.
The Wisconsin Senate passed a $62 billion state budget Wednesday night just before 9 o’clock.
The vote was 17-16, with Democrat Jim Sullivan of Wauwatosa voting with Republicans against the budget.
The senate began debating the budget at about 4:30 Wednesday afternoon.
By a narrow one vote margin, the Wisconsin Senate has passed its version of a state budget. Democrat Jim Sullivan sided with Republican members in the 17-16 vote. A conference committee will resolve differences between this Senate version of the budget and the Assembly version of the $62.2 million spending plan, which passed last weekend.
A second attempt by the University of Wisconsin System to install a new computer payroll program is millions of dollars over budget and a year behind schedule. Moreover, a company fired over subpar work creating Wisconsin’s statewide voter database in 2007 is working as a subcontractor on the project.
The system’s top budget official, Tom Anderes, told the Board of Regents this month that planning for the project alone is now expected to cost $12 million. A year ago, officials had said planning would cost $1.6 million and implementation would begin that fall. In February, they raised the planning budget to $8 million and said it would last through this summer.
MADISON — Three years after the University of Wisconsin System put an end to its first attempt to install a new computer program for payroll, a second try is now months behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
A UW System spokesperson says project leaders remain confident the program will succeed, but adds the planning is taking longer and costing more because it’s more complicated than they had anticipated.
A proposal to redevelop the Badger Bus site at the corner of West Washington Avenue and Bedford Street has moved forward, despite pleas from mass transit backers.
Badger Bus co-owner David Meier said 80 percent of his customers now use Memorial Union for a stop. Most customers today also buy their tickets online, he said.
Facing a record deficit that forced them to raise taxes and fees by $2.1 billion to balance the budget, Assembly Democrats added millions for projects they can brag about back home – a $500,000 upgrade for an opera house; $50,000 for a shooting range; and $46,000 for a town’s recycling bins.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said the approval of the projects made it easier for the 49 Assembly Democrats to vote for the 2009-’11 budget, which will go before the Senate as early as Wednesday.
The state Senate is scheduled to vote on the budget Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader, Wausau area Democrat Russ Decker, is still lining up votes and preparing amendments to the budget. “I think we’re getting closer,” Decker said Tuesday. “We’re narrowing it down and working out some compromises.”
A church that owns a private dorm for UW-Madison students wouldnâ??t have to pay roughly $239,000 in property taxes under an amendment inserted into the state budget last week.
Because the Pres House Residence, which opened in 2007, is the only residence hall operated by a religious organization on a public campus in the entire state, it fell into a â??gray areaâ? in the tax code, said Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison.
A natural gas leak forced the evacuation of several buildings on old University Avenue at Lathrop Street late Tuesday morning, but the gas was turned off and conditions were returning back to normal as of noon.
The cause of the leak wasn’t determined yet, but Madison Gas and Electric crews were on the scene to look for the cause.
Madison Fire Department public information officer Lori Wirth told The Capital Times that the leak was discovered in the Institute for Enzyme Research, a four-story University of Wisconsin-Madison facility in the Biochemistry Department at 1710 University Ave.
A church that owns a private dorm for UW-Madison students wouldnâ??t have to pay roughly $239,000 in property taxes under an amendment inserted into the state budget last week.
Because the Pres House Residence, which opened in 2007, is the only residence hall operated by a religious organization on a public campus in the entire state, it fell into a â??gray areaâ? in the tax code, said Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison.
Black, who sponsored the legislation, said it is only one of three such facilities in the country.
Dear Editor: I wrote a book in 2004. It was not created to become a bestseller; only 200 were printed. But it was my book, about my family. I say “was” because the University of Wisconsin, in a commercial venture with Google Inc., has digitized it and now holds virtual copies, which I consider digital printing plates, and an infringement of my copyright.
As I registered my copyright with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office-Copyrights in 2004, the University of Wisconsin, with a few clicks of the mouse, could have found the information to contact me for my permission. It chose not to.
I feel that copyright infringement is akin to plagiarism, and universities have strict rules about plagiarism. Most universities of the world teach their students about copyright infringement.
A University Square grocery store could open in October, said Jeff Maurer, former president of Pierceâ??s Supermarkets of Baraboo.
The 18,000-square-foot store would have all retail space on the first floor, with the second floor allocated to back-room operations and storage.
The leader in the Democrat-led state Senate pushed Monday to put controversial measures involving a tax on oil companies and negligence lawsuits back into the state budget, even as several key Democrats said any bill with those provisions in it was doomed.
“I donâ??t know how much clearer I can be in that I think it would be extremely difficult for the budget to move forward with this in it,” said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, speaking of the changes to negligence lawsuits. “I donâ??t know how a budget would pass with this in it.”
This summer, it’s hard to miss at the neon signs, chain fences, and huge bulldozers around town.
It seems like half of downtown Madison is torn up.
27 News asked Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz why all the road projects seem to be happening at once.
“We decided it would be better just to get it all done in one year,” he said. “The reduction in disruption by delaying wasn’t going to be that great.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison police were nabbing speeders at a good clip last week, cracking down on fast drivers in construction zones on campus, not unlike county deputies doing likewise in rural area construction zones.
The state Senate plans to draft its version of a state budget quickly, after the Assembly vote to approve a $62.2 billion, two-year spending plan early Saturday.
“We will be busy over the next few days reviewing the changes the Assembly made to the budget so we can have the budget on the floor of the Senate as soon as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston) said in a statement Saturday.
That set up a timetable that could put the budget on Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk by July 1: a Senate vote Wednesday or Thursday, reconciliation of Assembly-Senate differences over the next few days, and votes on the final budget deal in the Assembly and the Senate the week of June 22.
Nearly four years after a consultant’s report cited poor communication, lack of leadership and low morale in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Education, the problems continue and now include a $1.1 million deficit because of declining enrollment.
The Badger Bus Company plans to close its intercity bus terminal at West Washington and Bedford. The best site for a future central transit hub should not be permanently lost. When the issue comes up at its June 15 meeting, the City Planning Commission should withhold approval of the redevelopment plan until viable plans for intercity bus service have been made.
No plans have been offered for future service other than to pile Madison’s intercity bus activity onto the curb at Langdon Street and have the Union service the passengers. UW-Madison has said it will not cooperate with this development, and the added bus traffic is likely to make worse an already crowded location. But a worse alternative would be for bus service to be completely dispersed to peripheral locations.
With no support from Republicans, the Wisconsin Assembly passed a state budget early Saturday after an all-night session.
The budget plugs a record-high $6.6 billion shortfall over the next two years through tax and fee increases, spending cuts, borrowing and accounting moves.
Under the budget, up to 1,400 state workers could lose their jobs. Most state agencies will be cut 6 percent.
After an hours long overnight debate which saw minority Republicans offer more than 100 amendments to a state budget bill, the Wisconsin Assembly passed the two year spending plan early this morning.
The Public Service Commission voted to approve the controversial 32-mile power line project on Thursday proposed by the American Transmission Company.
“This is extremely disappointing,” said Kevin McSweeney, director of the UW Arboretum. “The negative reverberations of this will continue for years.”
The reason given by state officials for including the UW System in the furlough of all state employees – that it would be “too complicated to assign days off proportionally based on where a state worker’s paycheck comes from” – is ridiculous.
Picnic Point has been a favorite spot of mine for years, so I’m glad there are plans to clear invasive species and make the site more accessible.
However, I was puzzled that some people involved in the planning process think handrails would make the steps too obtrusive.
People who visit Picnic Point all share one characteristic: they don’t know at what age they might need a handrail. Balance problems can affect the young and fit as well as the elderly and disabled.
In unusual move, UW-Madison officials apparently asked legislators to remove a $47 million School of Nursing building from the state budget, said Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison.
Assembly Democrats voted to cut funding for the project during a closed-door meeting Wednesday night, following a motion sponsored by Black.
The Assembly has put off action on the state budget for another day.
After meeting behind closed doors for much of the day, Assembly Democrats announced they would not be bringing the budget to the floor on Thursday after all.
Other changes by Assembly Democrats made late Tuesday and Wednesday at their budget caucus leading up to floor action, as announced by Speaker Mike Sheridan’s office, included dropping a plan to issue $28 million in bonds for a University of Wisconsin-Madison nursing building. The earmark was one of several that came under criticism after the Joint Finance Committee inserted it into the budget in the middle of the night last month.
The University of Wisconsin Athletic Department will have to turn over nearly $3 million to the state to cover the cost of furloughs and pay cuts for its employees over the next two years.
John Jentz, the UW associate athletic director for finance, said Wednesday the department will pay the state $1.499 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11. That total is comprised of a 1 percent government efficiency fee, a 2 percent pay cut for employees and 3 percent reduction for 16 furloughs for each employee.
The State Public Service Commission is expected to make a ruling Thursday on a new high voltage power line that would run across Dane County.
Sarah Justus of the American Transmission Company says they’ve made a compelling case for the 345 kilovolt line, which the company says is needed to serve massive growth in the region over the last 30 years. The line would run near the UW Arboretum.
The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation has elected Leigh Richardson as its new president, the group announced Tuesday.
Richardson is the owner of The Richardson Group, specializing in custom health programs and communications, and holds a doctorate from the UW-Madison. She has taught at three state universities and directed education and outreach activities at Meriter Hospital here for 12 years.
MADISON, Wis. — University of Wisconsin System officials are commending state lawmakers for investing in new campus building projects despite the recession.
Instead of putting on your bike helmet or tightening your seatbelt for the morning commute on Thursday, grab a paddle and take the water route to work.
As part of the 15th annual Take a Stake in the Lakes Days, the county Lakes and Watershed Commission is hosting the 11th annual Paddle to Work Day, a fun alternative to getting to work or school on Thursday.
When the nation was deep into World War II, soldier Gordon Cunningham was sure he’d die, so he blew his $1,500 savings dining and dancing with his girlfriend. Story tells of the wartime experiences of Cunningham, who taught forestry at UW-Madison from 1963-83.
Gifts and grants to area educational, cultural and civic organizations have been announced by The Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times.
The grants this year total $1,219,411, considerably less than what the foundation in past years has been able to give the nonprofit and educational communities in the Madison area. Of the total, $452,911 this year has been donated to the University of Wisconsin for 22 projects and $766,500 to 56 Madison area community nonprofits.
This year was bleak for state higher-education budgets. But college leaders are even more worried about what comes next.
The billions of dollars in federal stimulus aid to plug shortfalls in state education budgets have helped limit the damage this year, but the money hasn’t prevented all of the cuts to college budgets. Most states are spending the bulk of the stimulus money they are receiving for education on elementary and secondary schools, and roughly 20 percent on public colleges. In one state, Wisconsin, none of that federal aid is going to higher education.
At the end of 2005, Robert D. Felner was riding high. A well-paid dean at the University of Louisville, he had just secured a $694,000 earmarked grant from the U.S. Department of Education to create an elaborate research center to help Kentucky’s public schools.
The grant proposal, which Mr. Felner had labored over for months, made some impressive promises. Five Louisville faculty members would devote time to the center, and four other people would be hired. The advisory board would be led by Virginia G. Fox, Kentucky’s secretary of education.
Gov. Jim Doyle on Wednesday appointed a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student to the UW Systemâ??s Board of Regents.
Aaron Wingad will replace UW-Madison student Colleene Thomas as a student representative. His appointment is effective immediately and will expire May 1, 2011.
A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student will join the UW System Board of Regent.
Governor Jim Doyle says Aaron Wingad will replace UW-Madison graduate student Colleene Thomas as the student representative on the 18-member board that sets policy for the UW System.
Former Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin John D. Wiley and serial entrepreneur Eric Apfelbach join the StudyBlue Board of Directors. They will be joining current board members Charles S. Wallman, a securities analyst and a primary investor in StudyBlue, and CEO Becky Splitt.
Most Wisconsin residents probably want good training for our nurses. But last Friday’s budget addition of $47 million for a UW-Madison facility doesn’t seem like a responsible way to deal with the budget deficit.
With so many Wisconsinites concerned about stagnant wages, unemployment and mortgage foreclosures, the budget committee should have given more thought to that last-minute surprise.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the Milwaukee 7 Water Council are joining forces to train students to work in water-related industries, officials announced Tuesday.
Dean Van Galen has been named chancellor at University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
The Wisconsin native comes from the University of West Florida (Pensacola), where he was vice president of advancement for six years. He led alumni relations, development, marketing communications and the foundation.
The UW’s accountability report is new and improved. The University of Wisconsin System’s new report, “Investing in Wisconsin’s Future (PDF),” is the latest in an annual series of accountability reports.
System spokesman Dave Giroux says they’ve try to answer the most frequently asked questions. “For example, people are often understandably concerned about the level of administrative overhead in the University of Wisconsin,” says Giroux. “We now have a section of the accountability report specifically related to that.”
Madisonâ??s Alcohol License Review Committee is recommending tough discipline for another troubled Downtown bar.
The ALRC on Monday voted 5-2 for a rare 30-day license suspension plus new license conditions for Ram Head Ratskeller, formerly Bull Feathers, 303 N. Henry St. The suspension, which would run July 1 through July 30, and license conditions requiring use of better technology to detect fake IDs, will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday.
