This legislative update was shared with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Senate yesterday. The senate meets the first Monday of every month at 3:30 pm during the academic year, October through May, except in January. Guests are welcome to attend the meetings. More information is here.
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Due to a scheduling conflict, State Representative Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) is not able to participate in the PROFS/ASPRO State Budget Forum on Tuesday, May 2. State Senator Kelda Roys (D-Madison) will take her place on the panel. Senator Roys, elected to the State Senate in 2020, is a member of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee. She served two terms in the State Assembly from 2009-2012. She was also a candidate for the House of Representatives in 2012 and Governor in 2018.
The forum will be held at 4 pm, Tuesday, May 2 in the Wisconsin Idea Room in the Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall. The additional panelists:
Each panelist will offer insight to the 2023-25 state budget and members of the audience will have the opportunity to submit questions to the moderator. We expect a lively, bipartisan discussion.
This event is open to the public and refreshments will be served.
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PROFS and ASPRO will host a campus forum on the state budget at 4 pm, Tuesday, May 2 in the Wisconsin Idea Room in the Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall. This event is open to the public and refreshments will be served.
Our panel:
PROFS Legislative Representative Jack O’Meara will moderate.
In February, Governor Tony Evers announced a $104 billion spending plan that reflected the state’s record $7.1 billion surplus. The governor’s budget focused on increased funding for K-12 education and aid to local governments, middle-class tax cuts, and seed funding for a paid parental leave program for most of the state’s workers, but Republican leaders said they plan to work off the current base budget and create their own plan in the Joint Finance Committee.
The governor also announced a $3.8 billion capital budget, which directed $1.8 billion to UW System. Evers’ plan included four major projects at UW-Madison: a new Engineering Building, a new Athletics practice facility, new space for the Art Department, and restoration of Music Hall, but his proposal was deadlocked in the State Building Commission, leaving the Republican-led Joint Finance Committee to determine the capital budget as well.
Our panelists will offer insight on what a GOP-crafted budget may look like and how Governor Evers may use his veto authority once the bill reaches his desk later this summer.
PROFS recognizes the importance of paid family leave to UW-Madison faculty and supports paid family leave for all state employees. We have had discussions with Governor Tony Evers and his staff on the issue and continue to make it a top legislative priority.
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The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet at UW-Stout on Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30. Registration to view livestream coverage of the public sessions of the board is available here. Members of the board will also participate in an awards ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, an informal reception on Wednesday evening, and a polytechnic showcase on late Thursday afternoon.
Regent committees will meet Thursday morning:
The full board will meet Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. On Thursday, the Regents will hear updates from UW System President Jay Rothman and Board of Regents President Karen Walsh. The Regents will also approve 2023-24 tuition rates and hear presentations from UW-Stout and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference before going into closed session to discuss several items, including honorary degrees, student appeals, and the search process and strategies for a UW-Madison position.
On Friday, the board will hear committee updates and consider approval of action from the previous day, hear an update on improving student accessibility, and present the Board of Regents 2023 Teaching Excellence Awards.
This legislative update was shared with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Senate on Monday. The senate meets the first Monday of every month at 3:30 pm during the academic year, October through May, except in January. Guests are welcome to attend the meetings. More information is here.
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Michael Bernard-Donals,
PROFS President
PROFS president Michael Bernard-Donals will present the PROFS Annual Report for 2021-22 (below) to the Faculty Senate Monday, March 6. The senate meets in Room 272 Bascom Hall at 3:30 pm. A full agenda of the meeting is here.
Faculty senators and visitors are invited to join PROFS for refreshments in the rotunda area outside Room 272 Bascom Hall beginning at 3 pm.
We are also undertaking a membership drive and faculty members who join PROFS will receive a free PROFS mug. Information about PROFS and membership forms will be available before and after the Senate meeting.
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Last night, Governor Tony Evers delivered his biennial budget address, announcing a $104 billion in spending over two years. His plan for the 2023-25 state budget reflects increased spending as a result of a projected $7.1 billion budget surplus at the end of the current fiscal year. The largest items include a $2.6 billion K-12 budget, $1.2 billion in middle-class tax cuts, a second year $576 million increase in aid to local governments, and almost $250 million to seed a new family leave program for public and most private sector employees.
Evers’ budget also includes pay raises of 5% in the first year of the biennium and 3% in the second year and funding UW System’s Wisconsin Tuition Promise.
Our statement on Governor Evers’ budget proposal:
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Governor Evers’ University of Wisconsin System proposed budget:
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Following the release of results from a System-wide survey of students and their perceptions of free speech, PROFS and ASPRO (Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization) will host a campus forum to discuss free speech on campus in a time of increased polarization and student confusion over the First Amendment.
The forum will be held at noon, Wednesday, February 22 in the Grainger Hall Executive Dining Room (Room 1266). PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals will moderate the panel discussion:
This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
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