Governor Doyle's 2003-05 Biennial Budget Proposal
Impact on the University of Wisconsin
Base Budget and Positions
- Cuts the UW System budget by $250 million GPR over two years: $110 million in 2003-04 and $140 million in 2004-05.
- UW System is asked to absorb 38 percent of the proposed cuts made in the budget, though it only accounts for 9 percent of state tax spending.
- With tuition increases (see below), the UW System would see a net reduction of $60 million in 2003-04 and $40 million in 2004-05., or $100 million over the 2003-05 biennium.
- Eliminates 650 state funded UW System positions.
- Authorizes 567 of 980 program revenue positions requested by the UW System.
- Provides an additional $73 million in GPR and tuition in 2003-04 and in 2004-05 to fund fuel and utility, debt service and standard budget adjustments. These funds cannot be used for other purposes.
Tuition
- Caps tuition increases at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee at $350 a semester, or $700 each year of the two year biennium. Tuition increases would be capped at $250 a semester for the other UW System campuses.
- Even with a $700 annual increase, UW-Madison resident undergraduate tuition would still be second lowest in the Big Ten.
- Allows certain undocumented persons to pay resident tuition.
Financial Aid
- Increases financial aid for the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant by an average of 26.5 percent each year to help offset the tuition increase. This is more than the statutory requirement to increase WHEG by the same amount as UW tuition increases.
- Removes the $1800 cap on WHEG grants.
- Increases funding for the Lawton Minority Retention Grant and Advanced Opportunity programs.
- Financial aid increases would be paid for with UW System auxiliary reserve funding.
- Eliminates the Higher Educational Aids Board and transfers its duties to administer all state financial aid programs to the UW System.
Personnel Issues
- Provides funding in the compensation reserve to fully fund the anticipated 2003-05 cost of pay increases included in the contracts that were negotiated with state employee unions. These contracts were recently rejected by the Joint Committee on Employment Relations.
- Increases the employee contribution rate for health insurance. An exact figure for the increase is not yet available.
- Allows Wisconsin Retirement System participants to purchase additional service credits with funds from certain tax deferred plans.
- Removes the 30 day break-in-service requirement for certain retired participants to permit them to begin part-time employment with a state entity immediately after retiring from their career positions.
- Permits state employees with at least 20 years of service to escrow accumulated sick leave credits without being eligible for an immediate annuity from the Wisconsin Retirement System. In addition, employees could have their accumulated sick leave credits valued at their highest rate of pay instead of the rate in effect immediately prior to retirement.
Other
- Increases State Laboratory of Hygiene program revenue spending authority by $221,000 each year for support of public health functions.
- Increases Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory program revenue authority by $1,318,000 each year to support activities related to chronic wasting disease. Also provides 6.0 FTE, funded by part of the increase in program revenues, to conduct these activities.
The budget bill has been introduced as SB44 which is available at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2003/data/SB44hst.html.