“I would like to thank the members of the Joint Finance Committee for their support of the UW System. In particular, I want to thank Speaker Vos, Majority Leader Fitzgerald, Finance Co-Chairs Darling and Nygren, as well as Senator Harsdorf and Representative Born, for their leadership in bringing forward the UW System budget motion and their commitment to working with us throughout the budget process.

“We put forth a reasonable budget request that strategically aligns our resources with the state’s greatest needs. While we have concerns with some of the provisions, the vast majority of our requests were approved, and we look forward to working with the legislature on remaining issues, including our capital budget and compensation requests. Our Regents, Chancellors, and System leadership will continue to advocate for the UW System, our students, families, and the taxpayers of Wisconsin.”

The Joint Finance Committee has released an omnibus motion on the UW System budget. Read the motion here.

The committee is currently debating the motion. The meeting can be viewed on WisconsinEye.

UPDATE: The omnibus motion passed on a 12-4 vote.

The co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee are saying that the UW System budget will be on the panel’s calendar for Thursday.

The committee is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. The session can be viewed live at WisEye.org.

The UW System portion of the 2017-19 state budget has been pulled from today’s Joint Finance Committee’s calendar. The committee’s vote on UW System funding will be rescheduled at a later date.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank issued the following statement on the announcement of the establishment of the Tommy G. Thompson Center for Public Leadership on campus.

We are delighted that UW-Madison has been chosen as the home for the Tommy G. Thompson Center for Public Leadership. We expect the center will make significant contributions to public policy and leadership in our state and nation. 

Gov. Thompson is a distinguished alumnus who has been a constant supporter of the university. He has helped build our capacity in world-changing areas such as biotechnology. Now through this center, his legacy will help forge closer ties between our researchers and state policy-makers in ways that benefit the people of Wisconsin and beyond. We are grateful for the state’s investment in and support of this work. 

The center, which has been in the works for two years, will embody three of the principles Gov. Thompson expressed during his long and distinguished career in public service: 

• A belief in the value of objective, non-partisan professional research to inform public policy;
• A belief that public universities and in particular their faculty have a central role to play in public life;
• A belief in the Wisconsin Idea – that the university has a duty to ensure that discoveries and knowledge from campus are used to benefit the entire state and beyond. 

Gov. Thompson is one of the great leaders in Wisconsin history and we are privileged to honor his legacy. Just as he did during his time as governor, the Tommy G. Thompson Center will be committed to bringing people together to develop policy reforms that improve public leadership and the practices of American government.

Media coverage:

UW-Madison leadership center will be named for former Gov. Tommy Thompson

UW-Madison leadership center to honor Gov. Tommy Thompson

UW-Madison leadership center to be named after Thompson

Joint Committee on Finance announced that it will take up the UW System portion of the 2017-2019 budget on Tuesday, May 23rd at 1:00 pm.

Budget papers for UW System can be viewed here.

Streaming of the session can be found here at WisconsinEye.

The state legislature’s budget-writing committee, the Joint Committee on Finance, will begin its deliberations on the 2017-19 state budget this week.

Three days of agency briefings kick off on Tuesday, with the University of Wisconsin System on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. The schedule of agency briefings can be viewed here.

Public hearings on the budget are schedule around the state beginning next week, schedule and locations can be found here.

WisconsinEye will have live or taped coverage of the meetings. For program information, visit WisconsinEye.org.

The non-partisan state Legislative Fiscal Bureau today released papers analyzing Governor Scott Walker’s 2017-19 budget recommendations.

The papers analyzing the governor’s recommendation for UW System can be viewed here.

The full document can be viewed here.

Analysis of Walker’s recommendations for other state agencies can be accessed here.

Governor Scott Walker yesterday released his capital budget recommendations for 2017-19, detailing $803 million in projects over the next two years. Walker’s proposal defers four requested UW-Madison projects but does include significant funding for general maintenance at UW System campuses.

“We appreciate the all-agency funding included in the governor’s capital budget,” UW-Madison Vice Chancellor for University Relations Charles Hoslet said. “We understand his desire to hold down the overall bonding level but look forward to talking with legislators about whether to defer for two more years projects that are supported by program revenue and that we can afford to do now, as delaying will only increase the cost.”

UW System President Ray Cross said the funding provided in Walker’s proposal will allow for general repairs across the UW System, as well as update the technology our students are using in the classroom. He said System will work with the governor and legislators to “ensure we have adequate and refurbished teaching and living space for our students.”

“We carefully developed a reasonable capital budget plan to perform a limited amount of work each year at a steady pace.  The longer we delay these critical repairs, the more it ultimately costs students and taxpayers in the end,” Cross said.

UW System 207-19 capital budget request

Governor Walker’s 2017-19 capital budget recommendations