BREAKING DOWN WALKER’S BUDGET A detailed look at some of Gov. Walker’s most prominent budget proposals University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Walker’s budget means big cuts across the board
UW System split, large funding cuts in budget
Local governments, schools and UW System will face huge decreases in state funding.
By Alex DiTullio and Kayla Johnson
By Patrick Tricker The Daily Cardinal
In front of a joint session of the legislature Tuesday, Gov. Scott Walker presented his 2011-’13 budget, which reduces Wisconsin’s projected shortfall of $3.6 billion to $250 million. Most of the savings come from cutting $1.25 billion of aid to local government, a reduction of 9.2 percent compared to 2009. Walker said this will result in a net increase of more than $150 million because of savings in the budget repair bill, which has yet to be passed by the Senate. “Instead of making the tough decisions that are needed, Gov. Walker has left it to local towns, cities and counties to make the tough decisions that he is unwilling to make himself.” Jennifer Shilling state rep. D-LaCrosse
“This is why it is so vitally important for the Senate Democrats to come back and do their jobs,” Walker said. “If they
do not, our schools face massive layoffs of teachers. However, if they do come back, overall savings for schools across the state will outweigh reductions, ultimately allowing schools to put more money in the classroom.” Outside the Capitol, tens of thousands of protesters gathered to show their continued discontent with Walker’s budget repair bill, while police limited public access to people seeing their legislators and some protesters. Walker commended the protests and resulting national attention as necessary for healthy public debate. “A great deal of attention has been focused on Wisconsin. That’s okay because freedom thrives each time there is a passionate debate in our society,” Walker said. “Passion and civility can go hand in hand, and that’s what’s on display here in Wisconsin.” Delivering the Democrats’ response, state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-LaCrosse, accused Walker of limiting democracy by restricting access to the Capitol and said his budget cuts would hurt families and communities. “Instead of making the tough decisions that are needed, Gov. Walker has left it to local towns, cities and counties to make the tough decisions that he is unwilling to make himself,” Shilling said. In addition to cutting aid to local governments, the budget saves $600 million by denying state agencies’ requests, $440 million in debt restructuring and $500 million in Medicaid re-estimates and efficiencies. Walker said his budget would
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Ben Pierson/the daily cardinal
Gov. Scott Walker announced his budget Tuesday, saying the proposed cuts would reduce the state deficit by 90 percent. reduce all funds spending by $4.2 billion compared to the 2010-’11 fiscal year. The bill limits the amount local governments could increase property taxes to prevent them from offsetting the aid decreases. Additionally, recycling requirements and corresponding financial assistance would be drastically cut, and the early release program, which allowed decreased prison sentences for good behavior, would be eliminated, costing the state more money. Walker’s budget would provide $196 million for
the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and eliminate the capital gains tax on investments in Wisconsin companies, costing the state $36 million. Walker said he was confident his budget would help meet his goal of creating 250,000 jobs. “Our budget lays that foundation by freeing taxpayers to create jobs in the private sector, by limiting the size and scope of government and by focusing our government on meeting core priorities,” Walker said. “Where we must make reductions, we do so wisely.”
Judge issues injunction requiring public access to the Capitol Confusion reigned at the Capitol Tuesday as protesters were denied access into the building for the second straight day despite a judge ordering the doors be opened for the public. The Department of Administration changed access rules throughout the day. People were admitted on a one-to-one basis up until 5:30 p.m., at which no one was allowed access. “These procedures are intended to keep the total number of Capitol visitors at a level that will allow state government to continue in a safe and secure environment,” the DOA said in a statement. Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser issued the tempo-
rary injunction and restraining order to keep the Capitol open to the public Tuesday during normal business hours or when hearings, listening sessions or court arguments are being conducted. The DOA said they complied with this order even though access to the Capitol remained restricted. Scott Trigg, a dissertator, was protesting on Sunday when the police announced demonstrators could return Monday at the start of business hours. “The next day, Walker’s department of administration said ‘We’ve changed the rules,’” Scott said. “It’s a complete sham.” State Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, access page 3
Kathryn Weenig/the daily cardinal
Protesters scrambled to get into the Capitol Tuesday after a judge issued an injunction requiring the DOA to let them in.
While some are optimistic, others remain hesitant about substantial changes to the UW System proposed in Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011’13 budget. In an effort to combat the budget deficit, Walker proposed a plan to remove UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee from the UW System, in addition to cutting $250 million in state aid from the system, $125 million of which will be directly from UW-Madison. Chancellor Biddy Martin said although the “very deep and painful” cuts would require the university to make sacrifices, the flexibility granted through the removal of UW-Madison from the system would the blow. “What we have got to do now is use all the tools we have available to us, which will include greater flexibility, some tuition increases that we have to be very thoughtful about and some actual cuts, because there is no way to do all of this without changing something in the way we are operating,” Martin said. Martin said although it is too soon to announce how the 13 percent cut will materialize at the university level, deans, unit heads and academic planning councils have already started working to allocate the cuts. “What we’ve asked everyone to do is think really hard about their priorities, about the university’s strength, about our educational programs and make strategic decisions, not just cut everything across the board,” Martin said. In a similar fashion to UW-Madison, Walker’s budget proposes establishing UW-Milwaukee as a public authority model. As a public authority model, the universities would have independent governing boards and would receive their funds from the state in block grants to be allotted at their discretion. Walker brought up the possibility of a flexibility model for UW-Milwaukee after meeting with UW System chancellors in February. Some in the UW-Milwaukee community have apprehensions concerning the split. “We welcome the governor’s commitment to give us greater flexibility, however we don’t know what the impact of moving to a different governance system would be on our campus,” said UW-Milwaukee Vice Chancellor for University Relations Tom Luljak in a statement. As the only two research universities with doctoral programs in split page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”