Government Relations

Legislative Update

June 10, 2008

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In this issue:

STATE UPDATE

In The News

►June Board of Regents Meeting

See the Board of Regents meeting news summaries posted online for June 5 and June 6.  The Regents took action on a number of important issues, including setting tuition for 2008-09 and appointing three chancellors.

► Chancellor Searches Update

June 5 – Board of Regents appointed UW-Madison, UW-Parkside, and UW-Whitewater chancellors.  Read various legislative reactions to the appointment of Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin as UW-Madison chancellor.

 

June 4 – UW-Green Bay and UW-River Falls Search and Screen Committees announced.

 

State Legislation Update

►State Budget Repair Bill Finalized
The Governor vetoed several provisions of the budget repair bill, resulting in $270 million in required agency lapses for the remainder of the 2007-09 biennium.  The Department of Administration (DOA) will determine how those lapses are to be distributed across state agencies. At this point, DOA Secretary Michael Morgan has not yet announced what UW System’s share of the $270 million in lapses will be.  Read the Governor’s veto message.

►Pay Plan Changes
Last month, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employee Relations (JCOER) accepted modifications to a previously approved pay plan for faculty, academic staff and other non-represented employees.  The original pay plan approved last year provided a 2% increase in July 2008 and a 1% increase in April 2009.  JCOER approved a revised pay plan submitted by the Office of State Employment Relations (OSER), which instead provides faculty, academic staff and other non-represented employees a 1% increase in July 2008 and a 2% increase in June 2009.  See President Reilly’s statement about the pay plan.

 

FEDERAL UPDATE

►HEA Conference Negotiations
UW System President Kevin Reilly sent a letter to Representative Tom Petri regarding the Higher Education Act (HEA) legislation that is currently being negotiated in a House-Senate conference committee.  The University of Wisconsin System and major higher education associations are concerned about the enormous expansion of the federal government’s involvement in postsecondary education; the huge number of new, unfunded mandates; and college cost provisions.

►Congress Passes Fiscal Year Budget Resolution; Working on War Supplemental
Congress has approved the FY09 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 70), setting the stage for the FY09 appropriations process to begin in earnest. The House approved the budget resolution on June 5 by a vote of 214 to 210; the Senate approved the measure on June 4 by a vote of 48 to 45.  (The budget resolution sets guidelines for congressional tax and spending policies for the fiscal year; it is not signed into law by the President.)

The conference report assumes $21 billion more in discretionary spending in FY09 than the President’s request.  The House Budget Committee Website provides additional details about the measure.  CQToday reports, “Congressional Democrats admit their budget blueprint will serve mostly as a placeholder until the new president and new Congress are elected.  They do not plan to tackle major spending or tax issues this year.” 

Congress has also been working on a war supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, although the fate of this measure is fluid.  The House is considering a version of the bill that passed the Senate by a large majority, which includes an amendment that significantly enhances the education benefits in the Montgomery GI Bill.  House and Senate leaders have disagreed on the amount of additional domestic spending to include, with several senators insisting on including an extension of unemployment benefits and funding for energy and other programs.  Conservative Democratic “Blue Dogs” in the House continue to oppose the extra spending and demand offsets for the veterans’ benefits.  The White House has now reversed its previous position and indicated that it would support the supplemental bill on the condition that it only included the GI Bill, and that the GI Bill is expanded to allow veterans to pass their benefits on to their immediate family members.  Still, prospects for the measure are unclear without the support of the Blue Dogs. 

►Influx of Veterans into Schools Predicted
An article in Inside Higher Ed discusses whether schools are prepared to handle the likely increase of military service members flowing onto their campuses.

On a related note, last Friday the Board of Regents passed a resolution in support of full general state funding of all remissions granted through the Wisconsin GI Bill as essential for increasing access to higher education for Wisconsin’s veterans and their families. 

►House Appropriations Committee Provides Markup Schedule
With final approval of the FY09 budget resolution, the House and Senate appropriations committees are moving ahead to schedule markups in their respective 12 subcommittees.

The House Appropriations Committee has listed its markup schedule on the Committee Web site, which is subject to change.  The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet announced its schedule. 

►Election Season Underway
The American Council on Education (ACE) has updated its white paper, Political Campaign-Related Activities of and at Colleges and Universities. 

►Doyle Nominates National Estuarine Research Reserve
Governor Doyle announced the nomination of the St. Louis River as a National Estuarine Research Reserve, paving the way for a federal designation that will raise the national profile of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes resources and capture additional federal funds to study and provide community outreach.  The designation would include the development of a research center on Lake Superior’s south shore dedicated to making the area a regional leader in research and educational outreach related to freshwater estuaries.  See Governor Doyle’s news release.  UW-Extension and UW-Superior are collaborating on leading the feasibility study process and each institution would have a role in the future operation of the facility's research and outreach programming.

 

AROUND WISCONSIN

 “Around Wisconsin” is a new section for items relating to exciting progress on campus or examples of strong relations with the community and policy makers. Please send items for consideration to externalrelations@uwsa.edu.

  • UW-Stout: The campus will host the first ever Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium, organized with WySis Technology Foundation, Inc; community members, business leaders, and government officials are expected to attend.
  • UW-Extension: A new, free newsletter developed by the UW- Cooperative Extension Environmental Resources Center, "Environmental Communication and Social Marketing," uses research from across disciplines to promote pro-environmental behavior.
  • UW-Milwaukee: The UWM Research Foundation announced it will award $500,000 in catalyst money to fund seven research projects based on their scientific excellence and commercial potential for the regional industries.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

July  
17-18 Wisconsin Science & Technology Symposium, UW-Stout
Aug  
13 UW System Legislative Liaisons/Public Information Officers face-to-face meeting at UW-Oshkosh
20 Student government representatives from across the UW System will convene in Madison for their first annual meeting of the 08-09 academic year
21-22 Board of Regents meeting
Sept  
19 Fall meeting for the Inclusivity Initiative hosted in Madison

 

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