Lawmakers will bring forward a bill to fund the construction of UW-Madison’s new engineering building, among other projects, that was one of the most significant aspects of the deal struck last month between the Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester.
The bill, LRB-5439, would amend the state’s approved capital budget plan to approve state borrowing for the new $347 million engineering building, renovations for three decades-old UW-Madison Lakeshore residence halls and $78.4 million to repair the exterior facades on two of UW-Whitewater’s aging academic buildings. The bill also would provide $45.4 million to demolish uninhabitable buildings, which include facilities at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Green Bay.
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Sponsored by Vos, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and other Republican lawmakers, the bill is being brought forward to fulfill the agreement, a narrative shared with lawmakers last week.
The deal came after a monthslong battle over the UW system’s diversity, equity and inclusion staff and programming. Started by Vos earlier during the budget process last year, he and other Republicans made good on a promise to cut $32 million — or about what they estimate the UW system spends on DEI every two years — from its budget and also declined to fund the new UW-Madison engineering building and withheld pay raises approved as part of the state budget over DEI.
The facilities bill is the priciest piece of the deal, equating to about $740 million of the $800 million agreement, which the UW Board of Regents initially rejected but ultimately approved.
In return for $800 million in UW system investment, Republicans are requiring that UW system administrators reclassify a third of DEI employees, or 43 positions, as “student success” employees over the next two academic years.
The building approvals are one of many aspects of the deal given a time restriction. Last month, Republicans on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations approved pay raises for nearly 35,000 UW system employees after Vos had withheld them for two months over DEI staff and programming. That vote needed to take place by Dec. 31.
The Legislature is required to approve state borrowing for the projects no later than Feb. 22 before being sent to Gov. Tony Evers. It’s unclear whether Evers would sign the bill, but he’s been open with his criticism of the deal. In an interview last week with WISC-TV, Evers called the deal “rotten” and said the UW system should not have needed to negotiate to access staff pay raises already approved in the budget.
Other aspects of the deal, some of which do not have firm timelines attached, are in committee. Two bills — one that would give UW system schools the difference between what Minnesota students pay in tuition compared to Wisconsin students instead of having it go into the state’s general fund, and another that would require the UW system to automatically admit Wisconsin high school students in the top percentages of their class — had public hearings scheduled for Tuesday, but those were canceled.