Government Relations

Legislative Update

April 1, 2005

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Legislative Action

Joint Committee on Finance

The Joint Committee on Finance began agency testimony on the 2005-07 budget proposed by Governor Jim Doyle.  On March 29, Executive Senior Vice President Don Mash testified on behalf of UW System Administration.  Dr. Mash’s testimony and other links to the testimony presented at this hearing may be found at: http://www.wisconsin.edu/news/2005/r050329a.htm

(Testimony from the committees public hearings on the budget will soon be available at: http://www.wisconsin.edu/budget/toolbox.htm)

The committee also passed, on a vote of 8-7, the following measure:

AB 53 will be taken up by the full Assembly on April 5.

Senate Committee on Higher Education and Tourism

The Senate Committee on Higher Education and Tourism has scheduled a public hearing for April 6, at 10 a.m. in 300 Southeast.  The Committee will discuss the following bills:

  • SB 121, introduced by Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, an act relating to the appointment of student members to the UW System Board of Regents.

http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/SB-121.pdf   

Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee

The Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee met on March 22.  The committee passed the following measures:

  • AB 27, introduced by Rep. Mark Gottlieb, authorizes a program for tuition gift certificates for the UW System. http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-27.pdf  Amendments lifting the two-year deadline and requiring the gift certificates to be refundable were passed.  AB 27 passed 11-0.
  • AB 31, introduced by Rep. Steve Nass, allows individual income tax deduction for certain amounts contributed to any section 529 college tuition program.  http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-31.pdf  AB 31 passed 8-3.
  • AB 111, introduced by Rep. Rob Kreibich, which provides income tax deductions for contributions by parents to a college savings or tuition account for a child who is not considered a dependent.  http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-111.pdf  AB 111 passed 11-0.
  • AB 158, introduced by Rep. Andy Lamb, relating to the appointment of a nontraditional student to the UW Board of Regents.  http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-158.pdf An amendment to stagger the terms of the two student regents and to prohibit UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee students from serving at the same time were passed.  AB 158 passed 11-0.

The committee heard testimony on:

  • AB 246, introduced by Rep. Steve Wieckert, relating to standardizing admissions rules for health occupation programs at the Wisconsin Technical Colleges.   (An executive session on this bill will be held on Tuesday, April 5 at 9:30 a.m. in 225 NW)

The committee delayed a vote on:

Building Commission

The Building Commission passed the UW System Capital Budget on March 18.  The projects approved will make significant new investment in academic facilities as well as student residence life facilities.

Overall, the capital budget for the UW System matches the state’s investment of about $280 million with $280 million of gifts, grants and program revenue.   The Building Commission recommended $220 million to be shared among all state agencies for maintenance, repair and renovation.  The UW System has asked the Joint Finance Committee to concur with the Building Commission’s recommendations.

The Building Commission approved funding for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery on the UW-Madison campus.  The first phase of the project will begin in 2005-07 and will continue for the next 10 years.  This institute will serve as a dynamic, interactive hub for collaborative research among all UW institutions.

The UW portion of the State’s Capital budget will mean more than $1.3 billion in economic impact over the biennium and will support more than 4,000 industry jobs.

Here is the link to the detailed list of projects approved: http://www.wisconsin.edu/budget/archive/2005-07/StateBldgComActionFinal.pdf

Timeline of State and Federal Budget Activities

April
7 Poster Day In the Rotunda (Regent/Student/Faculty/Staff legislator visits) http://www.wisconsin.edu/posters
10 Spirit Week Begins (community, alumni, legislator visits)
12 Alumni and mascots connect with legislators
13 President Reilly Roundtable at the UW-Madison campus
15 Spirit Day, all wear campus colors to work
May
11 UW Colleges Legislative Breakfast

End Note

Bills and Board of Regents positions are posted at:

www.uwsa.edu/execvp/govrel/pending/index.htm

For further information, contact Margaret Lewis at (608) 262-4464.

UW System's analysis of the Governor's 2005-07 Budget Proposal is available at:

http://www.wisconsin.edu/budget/

Information on the Web

UW System Government Relations:
http://www.uwsa.edu/govrel/

UW System Budget:
http://www.uwsa.edu/budplan/

Wisconsin Legislature:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/

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