Disappointed that UW System is not receiving more GPR support, but pleased that tuition authority is being returned to regents and that funding for a pay plan along with support for Letters & Science building and building maintenance and repairs are included
July 1, 2021
Late yesterday evening, a 2021-23 Wisconsin state budget was approved by the Wisconsin State Senate. The budget was approved by the State Assembly on Tuesday. The budget now goes to Governor Evers, who can sign it as is, sign it with partial vetoes, or veto the budget in its entirety.
PROFS is the Public Representation Organization of the (UW-Madison) Faculty Senate.
PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals issued the following statement:
“Early in the process, PROFS endorsed the budget proposed by Governor Tony Evers. We recognized that the Governor’s proposal would provide the UW System with the resources it needs to successfully recover from the pandemic and continue to provide the results that the people of Wisconsin expect from the UW.
“Governor Evers also proposed funding for a 2% per year pay plan, and a Building Projects plan that would allow UW-Madison to begin the process of building new Letters & Science and Engineering buildings and provide desperately-needed funds for maintenance and repairs. It also made some important changes relating to management flexibilities.
“And the Governor’s budget also took important steps to generally improve our state, including initiatives to promote domestic partnerships, gender equity, economic development, and fair redistricting maps.
“In addition to supporting the Governor’s budget, PROFS made the case to legislators for returning in-state tuition-setting authority to the Board of Regents. We were concerned that the tuition freeze would remain in place while GPR spending would be severely cut.
“We are pleased that the budget returns tuition authority to the regents, where it should be. The budget also includes funding for the 2% per year pay plan, bonding authority for the Letters & Science building and funding for building maintenance and repair.
“PROFS is disappointed, however, that the budget passed by the Legislature provides less than 5% of what Governor Evers asked for in program funding and less than 10% of what the regents requested. The management flexibilities and other quality-of-life provisions (domestic partner, gender equity, etc.) were also removed.
“PROFS will continue to advocate for more state support for the UW System, and for ways to ensure that UW-Madison remains competitive with other major research institutions in our peer group. We thank Governor Evers and legislators who advocated for UW-Madison and look forward to working with them into the future.”