Hundreds of Madison residents, including UW students and faculty, rallied at the state capitol to protest Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill Monday, kicking off what promises to be a turbulent week for the new governor.
Democrats and unions criticize the bill, which will raise state workers' contributions to health care and pensions while taking away unions' bargaining rights, calling it an attack on labor rights.
UW-Madison students partaking in the Valentine's Day rally distributed valentines at the capitol in an effort to convince Walker and the rest of state government not to cut funding for the university in the upcoming budget.
""Have a heart, don't tear the UW apart,"" the valentine said. ""Make sure UW gets all the love we need in your budget proposal.""
Sophomore Kate Gutkowski said she turned out to rally because she is concerned about what Walker's proposals could mean for her education.
""It just seems with the budget cuts he's making our tuition more expensive and our degree less valuable, less impressive,"" Gutkowski said.
Although Walker has not yet announced any specific funding cuts for the UW System, university employees are up in arms over the budget repair bill.
Communication arts graduate student Amy Tully, who will be subject to the proposals in the budget repair bill as a teaching assistant, said she is most upset with how the bill will take away state workers' rights to negotiate with the government.
Walker held a press conference Monday afternoon addressing the public's visceral reaction to the bill, saying many of the protesters were misinformed.
He said the increased pension and health care contributions rate for state workers is reasonable, and that it is a sacrifice that has to be made.
""If I have to choose between 5,500 or more state government employees and an equal or larger amount of local employees and teachers and others being laid off versus making very modest contribution changes for pension and health care, I am going to choose those changes,"" he said.
Walker also said the bill will not affect students, and the redirection of funds from teachers' benefits will mean more money in the classroom.
""Unless someone can find me a kid who's paying for the health care or pension benefits in this state, this budget repair bill has no impact on children,"" he said. ""Zero.""
Chancellor Biddy Martin sent out a letter to the UW community Monday expressing concern about how the bill and potential upcoming cuts could affect the university, but did not directly condemn the legislation.
Martin's letter emphasized the importance of her proposed New Badger Partnership plan is to keep the university financially secure in the face of the economy and potential cuts.
However, the Teaching Assistants Association called on Martin to take a stronger stance against the bill, calling her initial statement ""overly guarded.""
They asked Martin not use the Badger Partnership as a solution to the budget repair bill, and that she give ""unconditional support for the right to her thousands of employees to bargain collectively.""
—Maggie DeGroot contributed to this report.
