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State Relations Update (May 29)

After a marathon, late night/early morning session, the Joint Committee on Finance has completed their action on the state’s biennial budget.

While the operating portion of UW–Madison’s budget was dealt with last week, the capital budget portion still needed the committee's approval and that happened early this morning.

The committee also took action in regards to the repealed 2 percent pay increase and the furloughs. Essentially, the committee only dealt with the fiscal end of the repealed pay increase and the furloughs and not any specifics as to implementation. The one action in this area they did take was to include language to give the Governor authority to implement furloughs for UW System faculty and academic staff. This action was expected.

As far as the action on capital budget items, all votes were as expected except one. While all of the projects that were submitted by the State Building Commission were approved, the committee, at the suggestion of Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit), include an enumeration in the 2009–11 budget for a School of Nursing facility. We have known for sometime that the nursing school facility was a priority for Sen. Robson and other legislators, so, to that end, this did not come as a huge surprise. As you can see from the motion, several other items were added as well. The nursing school addition is item 14 on the motion #751. Items 4, 5, 6 & 7 all refer to the LFB papers 182, 183, 184 & 185. All of those items were approved as submitted. Item 10 on the motion refers to all of the other projects listed for which there was no LFB paper written for those projects.

Listed below are all of the projects that were part of the Governor’s Capital Budget that were approved by the committee.

Going forward, action by the full Legislature is still needed and we are hopeful that positive action on our items tomorrow will remain in place as the process moves forward. To that end, it is important that we remain sensitive to how UW–Madison's portion of the Capital Budget is perceived across the state. Other campuses may not feel as if the process was as fair to their projects as it could have been, so it is important that our reaction be reserved so as not to raise our state legislators’ interest.

This week, the Joint Committee on Employment Relations also took action with regard to the 2 percent pay increase that was scheduled to go into effect June 1, 2009. Their action this week repealed that pay increase originally set for June for all non-represented classified and certain unclassified state employees. The action also repealed the pay increase for all University of Wisconsin System senior executives, faculty, and academic staff. This action was taken for the current budget year as well as the 2009-11 budget going forward. All of the action was unanimously approved.

The most current known information on the budget and other related items, including copies of the budget memo distributed to legislators, is posted to the new budget website which is the campus resource for the most current messaging and information (UW–Madison and the State Budget).

I hope these updates will be helpful. Please forward these updates to those in your units, schools and colleges. If you have any questions about the state relations effort on this or any other issue, please feel free to contact me.

I hope these updates will be helpful. Please forward these updates to those in your units, schools and colleges. If you have any questions about the state relations effort on this or any other issue, please feel free to contact me.

Don Nelson
Assistant Director, State Relations
Office of the Chancellor
University of Wisconsin - Madison
96 Bascom Hall
608-265-4105 office
608-217-5110 cell

http://www.staterelations.wisc.edu