The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 along party lines last week to reduce bonding for new construction by $250 million. Governor Scott Walker’s original 2013-15 biennial budget proposal called for $1.14 billion in bonding.
The committee did not specify which projects would be subject to the funding cut. Almost half the bonding is earmarked for University of Wisconsin System projects, including several at UW-Madison (the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant addition, the Meat Science and and Muscle Biology lab, and planning for the Chemistry addition).
The controversy over financial reserves continues to be part of budget discussions. State Representative Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) suggested that campuses could look to their reserves to fund any building projects that may be cut.