Wisconsin Politics - Wisconsin - onPolitix

Impact of proposed tuition freeze

2013-05-17T22:05:50Z

GREEN BAY — University of Wisconsin schools are facing the prospect of a two-year tuition freeze.

Governor Walker revised his budget for the UW System this week, after news it has a $650 million surplus.

The governor's proposed tuition freeze is drawing rave reviews from many students on the UW-Green Bay campus.

The UW System has raised tuition 5.5% each year for the past five years.

"That would be really nice especially since I am working full-time, and going to school full-time, it would be way less stress free basically," said UWGB junior Jaime Bauer.

Some parents paying that tuition, which this year ran about $7,650, agree.

"Freezing the tuition I think will help a great deal, will help a great many families," said Tim Valdez of Madison.

Others FOX 11 spoke with have concerns. That's because the governor is also proposing scaling back the system's $181 million spending increase to $87 million.

"It's actually quite irresponsible of legislators to say that we are going to freeze tuition while not guaranteeing for the university system funding from a different source," said Heba Mohammad, UWGB's student government president.

University officials say it's too early to tell what the impact of a freeze would be, because tuition is only one component of the budget. But they don't foresee it being a problem.

"I don't think so because I think there would be sufficient one time money available to help use as a stop gap," said Kelly Franz, vice chancellor for business and finance.

Franz said tuition accounts for a quarter of the university's budget. He adds a freeze would not impact the quality of a UW-Green Bay education.

"We would not cut any programs. What we may do is put off purchasing a road grader or some other big ticket items for another year," said Franz.

While tuition is the biggest expense for students, students still have to worry about paying for room and board, student fees, books, and other items.

These expenses are expected to cost more than $11,000 next academic year .

But Franz says those costs won't increase, because of a tuition freeze.

"Absolutely not. We keep those funds separate from tuition," Franz said.

The Legislature's budget committee is in the process of voting on changes to Governor Walker's proposal before sending it to the full Legislature.

It has not yet taken up the UW System's budget, but will do so in the coming weeks.

Cost of Walker's Medicaid plan increases

2013-05-17T21:38:48Z

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The cost of Gov. Scott Walker's plan to reject federally funded Medicaid expansion and instead tighten income eligibility for the program has gone up.

A new estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says the cost of Walker's medical assistance proposal is $73.5 million more than when he released it in February.

Of that, $52 million is directly related to the changes Walker is proposing.

The total additional funding for the program is now estimated to be $734 million, up from $664 million.

Democratic Rep. Jon Richards says the higher estimates "should scream to the Legislature that it's time to reverse Gov. Walker's position and take the federal money so we can save even more money and cover more people."

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee hasn't voted on the plan.

Walker signs layoff alternative bill

2013-05-17T17:49:00Z

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker on Friday signed into law a bill creating a program that gives employers an alternative to laying off employees when work slows.

Under the program, instead of laying off a few workers, hours for groups of employees would be reduced. Those affected could collect unemployment, paid for by the federal government. The employer would also be required to maintain retirement plans and health insurance coverage.

The program will be in effect by the end of the year. It is expected to save the state's unemployment reserve fund nearly $5 million a year. The measure passed the Assembly on a bipartisan 74-22 vote and cleared the Republican-controlled Senate on a party line 18-15 vote.

"Instead of getting a pink slip during an economic downturn, workers now have an opportunity to stay on the job and receive unemployment benefits for the hours they lose," Walker said in a statement.

Senate Democrats objected after Republicans rejected an amendment, supported by unions and business groups on a state advisory council, to add a protection in the work-share program for labor agreements.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ed Brooks, R-Reedsburg, and Sen. Paul Farrow, R-Pewaukee.

Also Friday, Walker signed a bill designed to help one of the state's most popular tourist destinations, the military-style amphibious vehicle known as the Wisconsin Duck.

The bill allows the vehicles in Wisconsin Dells to travel up to five miles on land instead of just two before they would have to be registered as a vehicle and not a boat.

The vehicles have wheels and can operate on land but are shaped more like a boat and also float on water. They can carry up to 10 passengers and have been popular with sightseeing tourists for years.

"I'm pleased to sign a bill which modernizes the law for a part of Wisconsin's tourism industry," Walker said in a statement.

The measure cleared both the Senate and Assembly on voice votes with no opposition. It was sponsored by Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, and Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan.

Walker signs bill benefiting Wisconsin Ducks

2013-05-17T17:46:44Z

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker has signed into law a bill benefiting the military-style amphibious vehicle known as the Wisconsin Duck.

The measure Walker signed Friday would allow the vehicles popular with tourists in Wisconsin Dells to travel up to five miles on land instead of just two before they would have to be registered as a vehicle and not a boat.

The vehicles have wheels and can operate on land but are shaped more like a boat and also float on water. They can carry up to 10 passengers and have been popular with sightseeing tourists for years.

Walker says he is pleased to sign a bill that modernizes the law for a part of the state's tourism industry.

Bill requires annual WEDC audit

2013-05-17T15:50:31Z

MADISON (AP) — A bill introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers would require annual audits at Gov. Scott Walker's troubled quasi-public jobs agency, as well as put limits on terms that board members appointed by the governor serve.

The bills introduced on Thursday come as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. faces mounting criticism over its operations during its first two years. An audit released earlier this month found that WEDC didn't consistently follow the law or its own policies during its first year, failed to adequately track loans and provided tax breaks to companies that didn't qualify.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday that one new bill would require WEDC board members to serve fixed terms instead of serving at the pleasure of the governor and legislative leaders. A second proposal would require WEDC to undergo an annual independent financial audit. Currently it is audited every other year by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau.

The bills' lead sponsor, Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, said she had been working on the measures long before the audit or Democrats' calls for reforms.

Last week, the Legislature's powerful budget committee voted to require WEDC to take a series of steps recommended in the audit or face losing funding starting in mid-2014. Top Republican lawmakers and Walker said Wednesday they wanted to see whether those steps worked before making more changes at WEDC.

Tea party group says IRS asked about Walker recall

2013-05-17T12:04:05Z

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Texas tea party group said the Internal Revenue Service asked about its involvement in verifying signatures provided in the effort to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker, of Wisconsin.

IRS officials asked for extensive information about its activities, including an explanation of its involvement with Verify the Recall, which worked to confirm signatures in last year's effort to recall Walker, who eventually retained his position, said Northeast Tarrant Tea Party of Fort Worth, Texas.

Northeast Tarrant president Julie McCarty told the Journal Sentinel for a story published Friday that she thinks her group was unfairly targeted by the IRS and is still waiting for a decision on its tax-exempt status. Her group had minimal involvement with the recall fight in Wisconsin or Verify the Recall, she said.

"I don't know what's behind that," she said of the recall question. "I know that I don't trust them."

The IRS is accused of improperly targeting conservative groups who were applying for tax-exempt status.

The ousted chief of the IRS told Congress Friday that his agency made errors in targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, but he says the mistakes were not the result of partisan views.

In a prepared statement, former acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller was ready to tell the House Ways and Means Committee that the screening system agency workers set up was designed to deal with a growing caseload of groups seeking tax-exempt status. Miller said it was not due to "any political or partisan viewpoint."

He says that the IRS has instituted new processes designed to prevent the problem from occurring again. Miller was testifying in Congress' first hearing into the targeting of tea party and other conservative groups by the IRS.

The IRS did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the claims of the Texas tea party group.

Verify the Recall effort attempted to check whether more than 900,000 signatures to recall Walker were genuine. Verify the Recall was a joint project by the GrandSons of Liberty, We the People of the Republic and True the Vote, said Catherine Engelbrecht, leader of True the Vote. Engelbrecht's group provided the computer application used for verification.

Engelbrecht said True the Vote received many of the same extensive IRS questions when it applied for tax-exempt status, but was not asked about Verify the Recall.

Redistricting case settled

2013-05-16T14:58:49Z

MADISON (AP) — A group of Democrats and an immigration rights organization which sued the state over redistricting have dropped their efforts to determine why Republicans failed to turn over records in the case.

Documents filed in federal court say the two sides in the lawsuit say they found no proof that thousands of files deleted from state computers were removed maliciously. The State Journal says the report indicates it could not be determined whether the deleted files were the result of "inadvertence or ineptitude."

The report is part of a post-trial effort to find out why the state failed to turn over records to the plaintiffs as ordered by the court. The plaintiffs include the Milwaukee group Voces de la Frontera. The lawsuit was filed after Republicans who controlled the Legislature in 2011 drew district lines benefiting their party.

Gov. Walker tours wildfire damage

2013-05-16T09:10:30Z

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker toured the damage from a massive wildfire in northwestern Wisconsin on Thursday.

That tour was from the air and on the ground in Douglas County.

Photos: Germann Road Fire

Wednesday night, the governor issued a state of emergency for the area, which makes the Wisconsin National Guard available for recovery efforts.

The governor says all state agencies have been directed to do everything they can to help residents recover from the fire.

Walker revises UW budget, calls for tuition freeze

2013-05-15T22:34:43Z

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker submitted a revised budget for the University of Wisconsin System on Wednesday that calls for freezing tuition over the next two years and imposing additional spending cuts in light of news the university has a $650 million surplus.

The change in Walker's budget proposal was outlined in a letter from Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch to the Republican co-chairs of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee.

Walker had been saying for weeks that he would be revising UW's budget and calling for a tuition freeze. What wasn't known was how much of his original $181 million spending increase for UW he would take back.

Walker's new plan calls for cutting that increase by about $94 million. Walker has said that money would now be available for other uses, such as K-12 education or deeper income tax cuts. It would add to the state's budget surplus, which currently sits at about $500 million.

The Legislature's budget committee is in the process of voting on changes to Walker's proposal before sending it to the full Legislature for consideration. It has not yet taken up UW's budget but will do so in the coming weeks.

"We share the Governor's interest in keeping college affordable and tuition low," UW System President Kevin Reilly said in a statement released Wednesday evening. "While UW tuition is already lower than many peer colleges and universities, a two-year tuition freeze will send the right message to Wisconsin students and families."

Freezing tuition for two years, instead of raising it 2 percent each year as Reilly proposed, would amount to a $42 million loss in revenue. Walker also is calling for $65.7 million in spending cuts the university had previously been exempted from making.

Additionally, Walker is no longer proposing giving new money to pay for $28.6 million in economic development programs at the university. Instead, that money would have to come from their own reserves.

In total, paying for those three changes would lower the university's reserves by $136 million, the letter said.

"These revisions present UW System with an opportunity to scrutinize its processes, programs, finances and operations so that in the future, tuition will not be accumulated for special projects under the cloak of maintaining a favorable reserve ratio," Huebsch said in the letter.

UW's reserves grew at the same time that it raised tuition 5.5 percent annually since the 2007-2008 academic year. Of the university's reserves, about $414 million was surplus tuition.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers had joined with Walker in calling for a tuition freeze in light of the reserves.

Rep. John Nygren, one of the co-chairs of the Legislature's budget committee, said he agreed with the governor's approach released Wednesday.

"Economic development is vitally important to our state, and their programs should be funded with the tuition dollar erroneously taken from the students," Nygren said in a statement. "Fiscal mismanagement is the common theme that repeats itself within UW System. We hope that after this budget cycle the UW System will work with the Legislature to be more transparent and responsible with their finances."

A Marquette University law school poll released Tuesday showed that 76 percent of respondents supported a tuition freeze and 44 percent backed reducing Walker's original $181 million funding increase for UW.

Budget committee OKs stewardship reductions

2013-05-15T20:59:09Z

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Legislature's Republican-controlled budget committee has approved a plan that would dramatically scale back the Department of Natural Resources' ability to borrow to buy land through the state's stewardship program.

Gov. Scott Walker's 2013-2015 executive budget authorized the DNR to borrow up to $60 million each year through 2019-20. Republicans on the budget committee proposed revisions Wednesday that would ratchet that down to $47.5 million in the budget's first year, $54.5 million in the second and $50 million every year from 2016-17 through 2019-20.

All in all, the revisions would reduce the DNR's bonding authority over the next seven years by $63.5 million.

Committee Democrats complained the last budget cut stewardship borrowing authority by $26 million annually. But Republicans still pushed the revisions through on a 12-4 party line vote.