Gov. Scott Walker blamed the state budget office Thursday for removing the Wisconsin Idea from his budget proposal in response to the ensuing public outcry.
Walker acknowledged the polarizing nature of his proposed budget cuts in a press release, but said “there is no debate over the principles contained within the Wisconsin Idea.”
While his original revision of the state statute had removed phrases that emphasized the System’s commitment to serving the greater good of the state, Walker said he only intended to add new goals to the mission statement, not remove any existing ones.
The new language written into the statute placed importance on work readiness, although it originally appeared to be at the expense of the university’s more humanitarian efforts. Walker blamed the mistake on a miscommunication within the state budget office, the administrator of which is a Walker appointee.
“Clearly, changing the Wisconsin Idea serves no purpose,” Walker said. “That is why I made it clear on Wednesday that we would not change it in the budget. It is not a change of heart. It was a simple miscommunication during the natural back and forth of this process.”
Emails between UW System officials and the state budget office show the System asked for the removal of the provision deleting those parts of its mission statement, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday.
In other emails published by Wisconsin Public Radio, Executive Policy and Budget Analyst Nathan Schwanz instructs state lawyers to remove the clauses which promote the improvement of the human condition in the mission statement.
Schwanz made these edits after Mark Kunkel asked for “guidance on how to deal with the powers and duties of the UW” in a December email.
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, was skeptical of Walker’s “drafting error” explanation, and said she was concerned over his apparent lack of control over the budget.
“Gov. Walker’s excuse that rogue staffers were responsible for writing portions of his budget raises serious questions about who is in control while he is busy running for president,” Shilling said in a statement.
