MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC),submitteda request to the Republican-controlled JointFinanceCommittee(JFC)requestingthe release of $20 million in fundingaimed at supporting local communities after recent University of Wisconsin (UW) System branch campus closures. TheBranch Redevelopment Grant Program, which wasestablishedwhen Gov. Eversapproved2023 WisconsinAct250withpartial vetoesto improveflexibility for local communities applying to receive the funds,willbe used tohelp communities transitionclosedcampuss*tes for new purposes.Releasing the funding under the Evers Administration’s request will enable communities to begin implementing the program, accepting applications, and making awards without onerous restrictions.
Gov. Evers’ line-item vetoes to Act 250removedseveralWisconsin StateLegislature-imposed restrictions on communitiesseeking to receivefundingunderthis program, includingeliminatingprovisions that would have:
- forcedlocal communitiestomake a 20 percent match to receivestatefundingunder theprogram;
- prohibited communities from using funding to redevelop facilitiesthat are or will be used for academicpurposes;
- preventedcertaincommunities from receivinggrants under the programbefore others;and
- requiredadditionallegislative approval steps that could have delayedthetimelyrelease of funding toimpactedcommunities.
“Years of lack of meaningful investments in our UW System has causedrecentfaculty layoffs and campus closures that are adversely affecting our students, faculty and staff and their families, local communities, and ourentirestate—these arechallenges that we must work to address, and quickly, to prevent further layoffs and closures.This funding iscritically importantin the meantimeto help communities like Richland Center, Washington County, Fond du Lac, and Marinette find new uses for the infrastructure and existing buildingsto support local communities and economies,”said Gov. Evers.“I look forward to the Joint Finance Committee releasing these funds without delay so we can get them into the hands of the folks who need themandrevitalize these campus sitesas soon as possible.”
TheEvers Administrationrequest comes as Gov. Evers continues to advocate for increased investments inhigher educationafter years ofattacks andalack of meaningful, ongoingstate investmentintheUW System.
During the 2023-25 biennial budget process, Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature rejected Gov. Evers’ proposed investments in the UW System, choosing instead to divert more than $31 million to theJFCsupplemental appropriation—a fund controlled by the committee’s Republicansupermajority, which persistently refuses to expeditiously release already-approved investments from the fund—and attempting to cut 188 positions relating to efforts around diversity and equity, the latter of which Gov. Evers was able to ensure UW could retain throughvetoes in the biennial budget.
In light of Republican lawmakers’ failure to meaningfully invest in the UW Systemthrough the 2023-25 biennial budget process, Gov. Eversshortly thereaftercalled a special sessionof the Legislature for September 2023 for the Legislature to take up his comprehensive workforce plan, which included an additional more than $100 million investment in the state’s higher education institutions, including an additional $66.4 million for the UW System to help recruit, train, and retain talent in an effort to bolster the state’s workforce.
Republicans in the Legislaturerefusedto take up the governor’s comprehensive workforce plan, rejecting investments in Wisconsin’s universities and technical colleges even as several UW campuses have been forced to furlough and lay off employees, shift funding or make cuts, and restructure portions of campus operations. UW-Oshkoshannounced last yearthat approximately 200 employees’ jobs were expected to end. At UW-Platteville, the universityannouncedit would be eliminating 111 positions to help address its deficit. And UW-Green Bayannouncedthat nine staff members would be laid off, affecting library services at their Manitowoc, Marinette, and Sheboygan campuses and a program aimed at helping high schoolers earn college credits.UW-Green Bay alsoannouncedthey are considering discontinuing majors in economics, environmental policy and planning, and the arts, as well as minors in international environmental studies, geography, and physics.
Earlier this year,in responseto the University Financial Assessments released by the UW System for seven UW campuses, UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Superior, and UW-Whitewater,Gov. Eversannouncedhe would be asking theLegislature toapprove the largest increase in state support for the UW System in more than two decades in the nextbiennialbudget.The assessments examine the strained financial circ*mstances facing UW System campuses—a consequence drivenlargely byboth disinvestment in the UW System over the last decade-plus and inadequate recent state investments approved by the Legislature to make the UW System whole.
In March, Gov. Everssigned2023 Wisconsin Act 250 with partial vetoes, creating the Branch Redevelopment Grant Program, administered by WEDC, to award up to $2 million to cities, villages, towns, or counties toassistin the costs of redevelopment of UW System branch campus buildings that will no longer be used for academic purposes. Act 250 also appropriated $20 million to the JFC supplemental appropriation for the program. The governor’s partial veto of the bill, as noted above,removed restrictive statutory requirements to allow greater flexibility for WEDC to award grants to counties more efficiently and reduce financial burdens on the local communities requesting the funds.Additionalinformation on Act 250 is availablehere. The governor’s veto message for Act 250 is availablehere.
A copy of the 13.10 requestsubmittedby WEDC to JFC is availablehere.
Last week,Gov. Everssued the Legislature overthe Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee’srefusal to release a critical investment aimed at improving K-12 student literacy, one of many investments intended to respond to pressing challenges facing Wisconsin.Additionalinformation on Gov. Evers’ countersuit and Republican’s refusal to releasenearly $200 millionin already-approved funding to fight PFAS, improve kids’ literacy, and respond to hospital closures in Western Wisconsin is availablehere.
