January 18, 2005
GOVERNOR HIGHLIGHTS UW IN STATE OF STATE MESSAGE
Last Wednesday, January 12, Governor Jim Doyle delivered his annual state of the state message to both houses of the Legislature and state agency secretaries. Of interest to the University, the Governor noted the significant cut the UW System took in the last budget and promised to reinvest in the UW System in the 2005-07 budget. He did not reveal any budget specifics; those will be shared during his budget message scheduled for February 8. However, at the last minute, the Governor did not include a line in his message about investing more in the UW System and financial aid than in the corrections budget. This line was included in his prepared remarks that were shared with the media, but according to the Governor’s office, were dropped from the actual speech because the numbers were still “being crunched” to make sure that statement was true.
Also in his UW-related remarks, the Governor introduced UW-Madison professor, Dr. Jeff Johnson, and highlighted Dr. Johnson’s work in Alzheimer’s research. These remarks came as the Governor talked about his proposal for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and a separate $3 million investment in Alzheimer’s research.
Finally, the Governor proposed expanding the Wisconsin tax deduction for college expenses from $3000 to about $5000, or the average cost of tuition at the UW System.
The full text of the Governor’s State of the State message is available on the Governor’s web page at http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?prid=903.
LEGISLATION CIRCULATING
Representative Debi Towns (R, Janesville) and Senator Judy Robson (D, Beloit) are circulating a bill that allow UW-Rock County, in cooperative effort with UW-Platteville, to host the junior/senior year of an engineering degree for approximately 200 qualified students. The degree-granting campus would be UW-Platteville.
For more information on state related issues contact,
Kristi Thorson or Don Nelson
Assistant Directors, State Relations
608/262-8967