State Budget 101

PROFS, along with several other cosponsors, will host a state budget roundtable on Thursday, February 10 at 4 pm in the Wisconsin Idea Room in the Education Building. The forum will feature several experts on the state budget process — Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell, lawyer/lobbyist Peter Christianson, and State Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison). Jack O’Meara, PROFS legislative representative, will moderate.

Each panelist brings a wide array of experience to the forum. Prior to becoming Vice Chancellor in 2003, Bazzell served as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He has ably served the state for more than 25 years. Christianson, an attorney with DeWitt, Ross and Stevens, is a fourth-generation alum of the university and served as chair of the Wisconsin Alumni Association in 2009-10. He has long been active in WAA’s alumni advocacy efforts. State Representative Pocan has represented downtown Madison in the legislature since 1999 and served as co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance in 2009-10.

PROFS hopes these experts will help the university community better understand Wisconsin’s lengthy budget process. While the budget will not be introduced until later in February, some hints may be offered during Governor Walker’s State of State address on February 1.

The following campus organizations are cosponsoring the forum: CAPE (Coalition for Affordable Public Education), TAA (Teaching Assistants Association), UFAS (United Faculty and Academic Staff), WISCAPE, (Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education), Wisconsin Student Lobby, and WUU (Wisconsin University Union).