The state

Reminder: 78th Assembly District Candidate Forum

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PROFS will host a public forum of candidates in the Democratic primary for the 78th Assembly District on Monday, July 21 at 7pm. The forum will be held in Room 1325 in the Health Sciences Learning Center. A map of the district, which includes much of the west side of Madison, is here. Free parking for the forum is available in lots 60 or 82 (Nielsen Tennis Stadium/Waisman Center).

Madison alders Mark Clear and Lisa Subeck will be on the ballot on Tuesday, August 12. Clear has served on the Madison Common Council since 2007 and is currently executive director of Accelerate Madison, an association of digital technology busineses. Subeck has served on the Madison Common Council since 2011 and is executive director of NARAL-Pro Choice Wisconsin, a reproductive rights advocacy organization.

WisconsinEye recently interviewed both candidates:

Isthmus also profiled each candidate this week. The full article is here.

Political Science professor Kathy Cramer, Interim Director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, will moderate the forum. Audience members will be able to contribute questions at the forum, but we encourage you to leave questions in the comments section below.

The winner of the primary will almost certainly win election in November since no other partisan candidates will be on the ballot.

The forum is free and open to the public.

The state

Fall Primary Election

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The Wisconsin fall primary will be held on Tuesday, August 12. The date was moved from September to August three years ago to comply with the federal Military and Overseas Vote Empowerment (MOVE) Act which requires states to mail overseas ballots at least 45 days before the general election.

Returning students and vacationing faculty and staff may find themselves away from the polls on election day. Voters may request an absentee ballot by mail or vote early between July 26 and August 8. Weekend voting is no longer permitted. More information on absentee voting is here.

Many legislative races are uncontested, but there will be statewide primaries for Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer:

Most incumbent legislators in Dane County face token or no opposition. However, first term Representative Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) will face Middleton Republican Brent Renteria in the 79th Assembly District.

Two Democrats are vying to represent Assembly District 78: Alders Mark Clear and Lisa Subeck. The winner will be unopposed in the November general election and will almost certainly be elected. PROFS will host a candidate forum with Clear and Subeck at 7 pm on Monday, July 21 in Room 1325 Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Avenue.

The state

State’s Revenue Projections Down

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The Wisconsin Department of Revenue announced last week that nearly all state tax collections were down for the month compared to May 2013 (see chart below).

Corporate tax collections fell the most (20.2 percent), while income tax collections fell by 5.5 percent. State sales tax collections were up just .2 percent. Overall tax collections were down 2.5 percent for May and .4 percent year-to-date.

According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau predicted earlier this year tax collections would increase by about 1 percent. As a result of those projections, Governor Scott Walker announced he would implement income and property tax cuts, citing a surplus of more than $900 million. Now, the state could end the year with $200 million less than predicted if collections continue to fall below projections.

Revenue projections May 2014

PROFS, The state

78th Assembly District Candidate Forum

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Kathy Cramer, Interim Director, Morgridge Center for Public Service

PROFS will host a public forum of candidates in the Democratic primary for the 78th Assembly District on Monday, July 21 at 7pm. The forum will be held in Room 1325 in the Health Sciences Learning Center. A map of the district, which includes much of the west side of Madison, is here.

Political Science professor Kathy Cramer, Interim Director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, will moderate. Audience members will be able to contribute questions at the forum, but we encourage you to leave questions in the comments section below.

Madison alders Mark Clear and Lisa Subeck will be on the ballot on Tuesday, August 12. Clear has served on the Madison Common Council since 2007 and is currently executive director of Accelerate Madison, an association of digital technology busineses. Subeck has served on the Madison Common Council since 2011 and is executive director of NARAL-Pro Choice Wisconsin, a reproductive rights advocacy organization.

The winner of the primary will almost certainly win election in November since no other partisan candidates will be on the ballot.

The forum is free and open to the public.

The national context

University Boards and the New Normal

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wiscapeJane Wellman, the executive director of the National Commission on College and University Board Governance, will visit UW-Madison tomorrow and participate in a discussion on changes to college and university boards.

University Boards and the New Normal, a conversation with Jane Wellman will be held at 4 pm on Wednesday, June 11 in Room 159 Education, 1000 Bascom Mall. It is free and open to the public.

The talk is sponsored by WISCAPE, the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education.

The continued defunding of public higher education has put enormous pressure on governance boards, and in some cases, resulted in changes to shared governance. Wellman will discuss these challenges and explore ways in which to improve the functionality of public-sector governing boards.

UW, UW System

June Board of Regents Meeting

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uw system logoThe University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is meeting at UW-Milwaukee today and tomorrow, June 5 and 6. The regents will meet in committee Thursday morning and in full Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Video and audio stream of the full meetings is available here.

Four new regents are participating in their first meeting — José Delgado, Eve Hall, UW-Madison student Nicolas Harsy, and UW-La Crosse student Anicka Purath.

The board will discuss the 2014-15 annual budget and begin discussion on the 2015-17 biennial budget process. UW System President Ray Cross told the Wisconsin State Journal he expects the current tuition freeze to continue into the 2015-17 biennium. Governor Scott Walker recently expressed support for a continued tuition freeze.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank has repeatedly said she would like to raise professional school tuition to levels similar to peer institutions, but Cross said the timing is not right for such an increase and tuition will be frozen for all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of residency.

The board will also discuss plans to spend down financial reserves. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the current budget will spend down about 15 percent of the reserves, much of it coming from tuition reserves. UW System will carryover about $61 million in unspent tuition in 2014-15, down from $151 million one year ago.