October 12, 2007
GOVERNOR CALLS SPECIAL SESSION TO SPUR BUDGET COMPROMISE
For weeks, the Legislatures conference committee negotiating the budget has provided some rays of hope that a budget deal is near, only to break down with no significant progress. In light of the current stalemate, Governor Jim Doyle has called the Legislature into special session on Monday, October 15 to consider a new budget bill that incorporates elements of some of the compromises that have already been made. Also, the bill would strip out any non-fiscal policy items. Preliminary details of the new bill have been released by Governor Doyle and are available at: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/071011BJTBillCompare.pdf
A summary of the bill can be found at:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/071012SpecSesBJT.pdf
The overall level of spending and reductions for the UW System are $25 million less than the Governors original proposal. This reduction would be split over two years and $12.5 million each year with UW-Madison share of the reduction being approximately $9.8 million over the same period. Of note for UW-Madison, several other budget items seem to be closer to being removed from the budget. The items that appear to be close to compromise include:
- Retention of High Demand Faculty
- UW-Madison Law School
- University Relations and Communications reductions
- Islet Transplantation Program
- Elimination of certain administrative positions
- The Havens Center
- Physician Loan Forgiveness Program
- Veterinarians Loan Forgiveness Program
The rules of the special session require that both houses must convene to act on the bill that the Governor sends to them, however, they are not required to specifically act on the bill. It is expected that both houses will vote on Monday, though, it is unknown whether there are enough votes in the Assembly to pass the bill.
DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS UPHILL EFFORTS CONTINUE
One of the items not included in the Governors new bill is the domestic partner benefits provision. This item was not included because it was deemed a non-fiscal policy item. While this provision still remains in the Senate version of the budget, the Assembly has yet to come to any level of compromise on this issue. If the Governors new bill does pass the Legislature on Monday, while it is possible it can be amended into the bill, the more likely scenario would be that it does not get included into the final agreement. If the budget does not pass on Monday, the provision remains alive in the Senate version of the budget and we will continue to work with leaders of the Assembly to push for a compromise.
If all efforts to include domestic partner benefits into the budget are not successful, efforts will continue to ensure a separate piece of legislation is introduced. This is an important issue for UW-Madison and all legislative efforts to secure these benefits will continue.
WILEY RESPONDS TO GOVERNOR'S PROPOSAL
Continuing a message about the destructive effects of the budget proposals being considered, Chancellor John Wiley sent a letter this week to all legislators reminding them of the importance of a fully funded budget for the university. This letter follows up on a previous letter to legislators that specifically identified what operations at UW Madison would be directly affected with no budget in place.
Chancellor Wiley's letter can be found at: http://www.staterelations.wisc.edu/images/Budgetletterattachments9-25-07.pdf
The most current letter that Chancellor Wiley sent to legislators this week can be found at: http://www.chancellor.wisc.edu/pdf/LegislatorsReBudget10-11-07.pdf
For the complete text of all bills and their current status, please visit:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/ab_list.html (Assembly bills) or
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/sb_list.html (Senate bills).
For more information on state related issues contact,
Don Nelson
Assistant Director, State Relations
608-265-4105