The state’s powerful Joint Finance Committee eliminated Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal Thursday that would have allowed UW System students to opt out of paying segregated fees.
Rather than crying over spilled milk, state legislators decided to take action to address the steady price decline of Wisconsin’s dairy industry by writing UW System President Ray Cross urging university researchers to find alternative uses for the dairy product. Wisconsin, championed as the dairy state, is one of the largest producers of milk in the country.
One of the largest referendums in state history passed in the Verona School District Tuesday in large part due to tech corporation Epic.
A well-known former state senator recently announced he will not challenge Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin’s 2018 election, making him the most recent of a number of state Democrats who have already ruled out a gubernatorial run.
UW System officials praised Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget Thursday in an appearance before the state’s powerful budget-writing committee, saying they were “very pleased” with the suggested funding level. In his testimony, UW System President Ray Cross told the Joint Finance Committee that Walker’s proposed 2017-’19 biennium budget is the most investment in the UW in over a decade. Walker’s proposal calls for $140 million in new funding to the state’s 16 public universities, including $42.5 million tied to each university’s performance in certain metrics.
Gov. Scott Walker appointed two new members to the UW System Board of Regents Wednesday. A Milwaukee attorney and a Green Bay bank executive will join the 18-member board.
Youth who commit crimes could face tougher penalties in Wisconsin due to two bills included in a package of anti-crime bills considered by a state Senate committee Wednesday.
Adults who host underage drinking gatherings in their homes could face fines and jail time as part of a new proposal presented by two state legislators Tuesday. The proposed bill, spearheaded by state Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, and state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, aims to address binge drinking and drunk driving, issues the lawmakers believe are being exacerbated by a cultural acceptance of underage drinking.
State legislators are proposing an audit of UW schools’ private foundations, after allegations that UW-Oshkosh officials misused funds by hiding money in the school’s non-profit foundation.
While some cheered Walker’s funding proposal for the UW System Tuesday as a means of reinvigorating UW following a $250 million cut in the 2015-’17 biennium budget, others expressed skepticism and even outright dismay at some of the smaller pieces the plan. The proposal includes a pledge of an additional $140 million in funding and a 5 percent cut to in-state tuition at each of Wisconsin’s 16 public universities. UW System President Ray Cross said in a statement that the plan shows the state and the system were aligned on many issues. “The UW System provides a great return on investment, and we appreciate the recognition of the role the UW System plays in Wisconsin’s economy and workforce,” Cross said in the statement.
Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said the program signals that UW-Madison “declared a war on men” and the university thinks Wisconsin parents have done a “poor job of raising their sons by instilling in them values necessary to become a man.”
Split between university-centered cities and vast dairyland, state leaders are moving to re-format environmental regulations, which protection-minded activists said they find troubling. Last month, the state Department of Natural Resources moved to privatize permit acquisition, proposing what DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, in an opinion editorial on the agency’s website, called “assurance programs” which she explained would increase independent information sourcing, relieving the agency until the final step. While staff rates dwindle, the DNR is crafting methods to deal with budget cuts, redirecting positions and reorienting systematic structures, inducing environmentalist’s anxieties. Since her appointment by Gov. Scott Walker in 2011, Stepp’s actions drew criticism from conservationist groups.
November’s election left not only both major political parties in a crisis of identity, but political journalism as well, a panel of journalists and experts said Thursday at the Overture Center. The event, organized by UW-Madison’s Center for Journalism Ethics, discussed the role of political journalism in presidential elections and the relationship between news media and the electorate. Following a general election where few pollsters, pundits or journalists accurately predicted the result, public distrust of the media is at an all time high, panelists said. Michael Wagner, an associate professor in the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said he thought this was relatively unfair. “I’m not sure we should have expected an easy Clinton victory in the first place,” Wagner said.
Republican congressman Sean Duffy is facing criticism for describing Madison as a “communist community” when he attacked the ongoing presidential recount in Wisconsin Wednesday.
The UW System Board of Regents voted Thursday to recommend an increase in UW System employee salary in the 2017-’19 biennial budget. If passed, some UW employees would see an annual 2 percent increase in their salary for the next two years.
A new policy brief released Wednesday from a UW-Madison research center shows relatively high rates of students submitting the FAFSA to obtain federal student aid. Authored by UW–Madison associate professor Nicholas Hillman and two Ph.D.
Wisconsin ranks 31st in the country in job creation, according to a quarterly report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday.
Poor highway conditions are expected to deteriorate at double the current rate over the next decade, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation testified Tuesday, creating contention among GOP lawmakers over how to fund roads in the upcoming budget.
All counties are on track to report their recount results by the federally mandated Dec. 13 deadline, the state said Monday. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell also released a statement earlier in the day detailing the progress of the recount in Dane County. “We are one-third of the way through the number of days we have to conduct the recount and we are slightly ahead of schedule with over 100,000 ballots counted to date,” McDonell said.
Jason Sidener will take over as the new executive director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, replacing current director Kory Kozloski.
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