Gov. Jim Doyle signed the 2007-2009 budget Friday at the UW Madison Memorial Union, ending the 118 days late legislative process, despite some legal disputes remaining due to the makeup of the finalized version.
Doyle, flanked by lawmakers, UW System Administrators, local officials, students and state workers, said the budget would hold down tuition at the UW System and fund the UW Growth agenda, a long term plan to increase the overall number of college degrees in the state.
The UW Growth Agenda will produce more nurses to provide care to our citizens, more teachers to educate our future generations, more researchers to pursue innovation and more engineers to build a vibrant and dynamic state,"" Doyle said.
The budget also allows students and parents to make a $400 tax deduction on tuition and other fees.
Over 5,000 UW System students who have had their financial aid approved, but, until recently, inaccessible due to the budget impasse, will also receive their funds in the coming weeks now that the budget is passed.
The budget provides an increase of $159 million to the UW System for largely cost-to-continue items, like increases in utility fees and staff contract agreements.
""This is a budget that realizes the UW System is the core economic engine for the future of Wisconsin in a 21st century globally completive knowledge economy,"" said UW System President Kevin Reilly before the signing.
Now that the budget is signed, other legal and legislative disputes have arisen because of provisions left out of the budget or contentious items kept in the final version.
The Wisconsin Medical Society, the largest doctors association in the state, said they would sue the state because the final budget includes a $200 million transfer from the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund.
The IPFCF is to pay for medical malpractice court settlements, and according to WMS Senior Vice President for Government Relations Mark Grapentine, a transfer from it is illegal since only doctors and hospitals, not taxpayers, pay into the fund.
Doyle told reporters after the budget signing that the IPFCF is a public fund and even after the transfer it will have $500 million.
""The fact that this money could help to provide better and more affordable health care in this state just seems, to me, to make common sense,"" Doyle said.
Doyle vetoed few major items in the budget, with two exceptions being partial vetoes of provisions limiting property tax increases levied by local governments and districts with technical colleges.
Jim Bender, spokesperson for Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said the two levy limit vetoes would not likely be overridden by the Legislature.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said he agreed with a provision Doyle vetoed that would have forced the UW System to list a teacher when students register for classes.
Giroux said since the spring course catalogue is listed in November, and teaching contracts for classes are sometimes not done until December or January, it would be difficult to list teachers for every course initially.
