The Senate Colleges and Universities Committee voted to approve eight of Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees to the Board of Regents.
Yesterday’s vote comes amid a standoff between the Legislature and the Universities of Wisconsin over diversity, equity and inclusion. It also comes after the state Senate voted to fire eight of Evers’ appointees, including four members of the Natural Resources Board.
Each of the appointments was approved with bipartisan votes via paper ballot. State Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, voted against each of the appointees, and state Sen. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, joined him in opposing Regent Ashok Rai.
Along with Rai, those approved yesterday are: Angela Adams, Evan Brenkus, Héctor Colón, Jim Kreuser, Joan Prince, Jennifer Staton and Kyle Weatherly.
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Eleven members of the 16-member board are awaiting final confirmation by the Senate. Unconfirmed appointees John Miller, Amy Blumenfeld Bogost and Dana Wachs were not included on today’s committee agenda.
The committee also approved Regent Joan Prince’s appointment for a term that ended in the spring — and will vote again today on the new term she was appointed to earlier this year.
Evers originally appointed Prince in February to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Tracey Klein, who had been appointed to the board by former GOP Gov. Scott Walker. That term expired May 1, and Evers appointed her to a new term that runs through 2030.
Hutton’s office told WisPolitics the vote on the term ending in 2030 was mistakenly excluded from yesterday’s agenda.
Only five members of the board have been confirmed by the Senate, including three appointees by former GOP Gov. Scott Walker. None of the appointees on the board appointed after 2019 have been confirmed.
See the votes here.
