Tag: Legislation

PROFS Statement on College Affordability Bills

The Wisconsin Assembly is scheduled to vote today on a package of bills designed to improve college affordability. The bills were announced by Governor Scott Walker and quickly approved by the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee last month. The bills have widespread Republican support, but Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said lower-than-expected tax revenues may pare back funding for the proposals.

While PROFS is pleased the governor and legislative leaders are discussing college affordability we strongly believe renewing the state’s commitment to public higher education is the most effective way to keep college costs down.

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Hesselbein and Berceau to Introduce Legislation Returning Shared Governance to State Statutes

PROFS President Judith Burstyn

PROFS President Judith Burstyn and PROFS Steering Committee member Dave Vanness

State Representatives Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Terese Berceau (D-Madison) announced yesterday they intend to introduce legislation that would return strong shared governance to state statutes.

Shared governance for faculty, staff and students was changed from a participatory role to an advisory one in the most recent state budget. Hesselbein and Berceau have drafted legislation that uses the same statutory language that had been in place since 1973.

The proposed legislation states faculty “shall actively participate in institutional policy development” and gives faculty primary responsibility for personnel issues and academic and educational endeavors on campus.

PROFS President Judith Burstyn voiced support of the bill:

“Make no mistake about it. One of the reasons faculty stay at UW-Madison, despite pay well below out peers, is our strong history of shared governance.”

Hesselbein concurred:

“This simple step – to upgrade the faculty’s role from advisory to decision-making – will have a far-reaching effect on morale. It will give the University an important recruiting tool that was lost. It will build loyalty and improve the quality of decisions.”

PROFS statement on proposed legislation:

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Legislative Update

Capitol & ForwardUW System Tenure Policy Task Force

PROFS continues to actively follow the work of UW System’s Tenure Policy Task Force and lobby for the best possible result. PROFS met with Regent Vice President and task force chair John Behling In late November to discuss the University Committee’s proposed changes to the task force draft recommendations and share information on existing post-tenure review practices. The task force will meet again on December 23 and is expected to forward recommendations to the Regent Education Committee for action in February. Full Board of Regent action is expected in March.

Possible Health Insurance Changes

The Wisconsin Group Insurance Board recently discussed a report recommending a change to self-insurance for state employees. The report’s author, Segal Consulting, maintains the switch could save the state $42 million, but in 2012 a different consultant found the change could cost the state $100 million. The board is scheduled to meet and vote on the recommendation in February. The legislature’s Joint Finance Committee must also approve any change.

Currently state employees can choose from 18 insurers, and state employees comprise 14 percent of the state’s health insurance market. Under self-insurance, the state would pay for benefits directly and assume risk. A private insurer would likely be hired to manage the program for the state.

Wisconsin Legislature

The Legislature finished its regular floor period on November 7 and held a one-day extraordinary session on November 16. While legislators are not expected to meet again in a floor period until January 12, committees continue to meet and hold executive sessions. PROFS is monitoring and lobbying on several items, including:

Assembly Bill 305/Senate Bill 260, Limits on Scientific Research

PROFS officially registered and delivered testimony against AB 305 and SB 260, proposals that would make it illegal to provide or use for experimentation fetal body parts. If passed, the bills would criminalize the research and use of scientific material previously derived from fetal tissue. Both bills have passed out of committee but have not been scheduled for a floor vote. PROFS will continue to strongly oppose the proposals, which have far-reaching negative consequences on campus.

Assembly Bill 480/Senate Bill 363, Campus Concealed Carry

PROFS is registered against AB 480 and SB 363, legislation that would require UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System campuses to allow concealed carry of weapons in campus buildings. Current law permits concealed carry on campus grounds, but allows individual campuses to forbid weapons in buildings. PROFS is vigorously opposed to this legislation telling legislators in a statement that “we believe that making it easier for people to carry firearms and bring them onto university property would make it more dangerous for the faculty, staff and student of the University of Wisconsin.”

 

PROFS Statement on Concealed Carry on Campus

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The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department and University of Wisconsin System issued statements on concealed carry Tuesday:

UW-Madison Police Department Statement

Recent school shootings have elevated discussions across the country about gun safety, protecting the rights of citizens, and protecting the safety of our schools. This is a serious issue and there are many questions to consider.

The UW-Madison Police Department and the University of Wisconsin-Madison support existing state law, which appropriately balances individual rights with community safety. We oppose any legislation that would allow citizens to legally carry concealed weapons inside university buildings.  Current policies at UW-Madison allow concealed carry on university lands – but not in buildings.

To us, as law enforcement professionals at UWPD, the evidence does not support the idea that our campus would be safer if concealed firearms are allowed in our buildings. In states that allow concealed carry, these mass shooting tragedies have still occurred. According to 2014 FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) numbers, you are less likely to become a victim of a violent crime at UW-Madison – which currently does not allow concealed weapons in buildings – than you are in the state of Wisconsin as a whole.

Allowing concealed weapons inside a building like Camp Randall Stadium, filled with 80,000 people, creates a major security issue. The training required to obtain a concealed carry permit is minimal.

We urge our legislators not to change the existing law. Doing so would put the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and guests at risk.

UW System Statement

We take the safety of our campus communities very seriously and know that our legislative partners do as well. We have significant concerns and questions with this proposal and cannot currently support it. We are, however, actively engaged in a dialogue with the legislative authors, Regents, and campus police professionals to ensure our concerns are addressed.

PROFS Opposes Bill That Limits Scientific Research on Campus

stem_cell_cultures2_01PROFS has officially registered against Assembly Bill 305. The bill, introduced by Representative André Jacque (R-De Pere), would make it illegal to provide or use for experimentation fetal body parts. A public hearing on the bill will be held at 10 am today, Tuesday, August 11, in Room 225 Northwest, State Capitol.

The proposal is the same as one opposed by PROFS in 2011. If passed, AB 305 would criminalize the use of scientific material previously derived from fetal tissue, which includes stem cell lines that have been in use for more than 30 years.

“PROFS has consistently opposed legislation that limits potentially life-saving research on campus,” said Judith Burstyn, PROFS president. “UW-Madison is an international leader in stem cell research, and this legislation could bring that research to a devastating halt.”

Robert Golden, dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and John Raymond, president and CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin, wrote in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the legislation has far-reaching consequences:

“This proposed law only will ensure that promising lines of research will be shut down in Wisconsin. It will cut off work in our state on diseases that cripple and kill children and adults . . .  Some of our best researchers and private companies may be forced to leave Wisconsin in order to continue their work without criminal penalties, and this will have an absolutely chilling effect on the creation of new biotech companies in our state.”

Federal law allows for the use of fetal tissue research, and all research on this campus meets federal guidelines. UW officials believe as many as 100 researchers could be affected by the proposal.

Cures for Tomorrow, an non-partisan advocacy group, released a video (below) in 2013 in opposition to the legislation, noting that the “legislation would criminalize the current development of cures and treatments for the following conditions and diseases: spontaneous pregnancy loss and recurrent miscarriages; Down’s syndrome; infertility; maternal diseases of pregnancy, including preeclampsia, and other such conditions which limit human fertility and reproductive success, and prevent couples from having healthy babies; cancer treatments for diseases like childhood leukemia; improved transplant outcomes; new and more effective vaccines for flu, tuberculosis or typhoid fever or against multi drug resistance bacteria (so called “flesh eating” bacteria); and heart attacks and sudden cardiac death.”

 

Robin Vos on Teaching Load and Tenure

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) recently spoke with the Racine Journal Times editorial board, where he shared his views on a range of issues including right to work, school accountability and employment for prisoners.

Vos also discussed his views on UW System and its faculty, saying he was concerned about the amount of time faculty spend outside the classroom:

“If they’re bringing in research, I totally understand that; they’re helping to grow the economy or even grow the public good. But if they are just being allowed course releases to have a sabbatical or to do something that’s not productive, we don’t have the money to do that.”

On tenure:

“Do I believe in tenure? I don’t. It’s an anachronism; it was something that was back from the ‘50s and ‘60s. I don’t think anyone should be given a job for life, which is what tenure is.”

PROFS President Grant Petty notes that tenure is not a job for life, and in fact tenure was developed in the early 20th century to offer faculty due process and protect their academic freedom:

“Tenure is the foundation of great research and teaching institutions. It does not offer one a job for life, but instead allows faculty to pursue scholarly endeavors without fear of ideological or political attack.”

State Supreme Court to Rule on Voter ID, Act 10 and Domestic Partnership Registration Thursday

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will issue opinions on three extremely high profile cases tomorrow morning, Thursday, July 31:

Act 10  The court will rule on the constitutionality of Act 10, a law that severely restricted collective bargaining by most public employees. Several lawsuits followed passage of the bill, but the law has been upheld every time, including in federal court. The state court is considering whether Act 10 violates workers’ rights to free assembly and equal protection under the law.

Voter ID  The court will consider two cases that argue the state’s voter identification law is unconstitutional. One lower court struck down the law, while another has upheld it. Tomorrow’s ruling will not affect an earlier federal ruling that found the law unconstitutional and is being appealed.

Domestic Partnerships  The court will rule whether or not the state’s domestic partner benefits passed in 2009 violate Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions passed three years earlier.

 

Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges to Vote on Classified Research Bill

Inside CapitolThe Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges will hold an executive session today to vote on Senate Bill 578, a proposal that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

The bill will go to the Senate on April 1 if approved today. An amended version of companion bill (AB 729) passed the Assembly February 20. The original bill included language that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law, but that language was removed after Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) said he would not schedule a vote on proposal if it included the exemption.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in favor of the bill. This statement was given to the senate committee at a public hearing on March 5.

The committee will also vote on several appointments to the UW System Board of Regents and Wisconsin Technical System Board. Governor Scott Walker announced three regent appointments last week and named UW-Madison student Nicolas Harsy to a two-year term as the non-traditional student regent yesterday.