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Lawmaker dissents on Institutes for Discovery project

Despite the project's recent approval, some state legislators are still concerned with details regarding the construction of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

The State Building Commission gave Gov. Jim Doyle permission Wednesday to continue with plans to build the new research complex, drawing some worries surrounding the institutes' use of semi-public funding for controversial studies like stem-cell research. The institutes, to be constructed on the University of Wisconsin campus along University Avenue, will house both public and private research.

In addition, the building will be paid for with a combination of public and private funds. A $50 million gift from UW graduates John and Tashia Morgridge will be matched by the state as well as by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, bringing total funding to $150 million.

Permission was granted in a bipartisan 7-1 vote, with Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, casting the only dissenting vote.

"[Fitzgerald] is not opposed to stem-cell research — he is in favor of research in the lines that we have," Jim Bender, communications director for Fitzgerald, said.

According to Bender, one of the major problems Fitzgerald had with the proposal was that private gifts, especially concerning the UW, seem to come with certain stipulations that involve private ways to select the architect and construction manager for the project.

"The people that are making the gift basically control $50 million of the money that is going into that building," Bender said.

He added legislators need to make sure taxpayers are getting the best value for their money, as $50 million dollars of public funds will be used in the project.

"The way that any other public project is done is that you take bids — that's not happening on this project," Bender said.

However, according to Dan Leistikow, spokesperson for Doyle, Fitzgerald was "pretty clear at the [proposal] meeting that he was uncomfortable with the stem-cell research."

Leistikow added that the institutes will not just study stem cells, but biotechnology as a whole.

"Wisconsin is becoming more and more influential in biotechnology research. … These institutes will help accelerate that," Leistikow said.

But Rep. Debi Towns, R-Janesville, who voted in favor of the institutes, agreed with Fitzgerald that care needs to be taken when dealing with $50 million in public funds.

To ensure that taxpayer money is spent properly, Towns authored an amendment that adds an auditor for oversight on the project.

"The reason that [Towns] introduced the amendment was because of concerns she had heard from her constituents regarding the use of public money," Heather Shea, legislative assistant for Towns, said.

Shea added that the auditor will be an independent third party that will be included in all of the panel's discussions on the construction of the institutes.

However, Fitzgerald is still concerned with the institutes' ability to keep public and private research separate.

"If it's a private building. They can do whatever they want to do. It's their money," Bender said. "If you have a public building with [researchers] going in and out of the private-sector side, there are federal restrictions we have to abide by."

Leistikow stressed that there will be two buildings, two sources of money and two research tracks that will be completely separate.

While the two buildings will be connected by various walkways, Leistikow said that he hoped people would be less concerned about walkways and more concerned about the research itself.

"[Doyle] doesn't want to see politics get in the way of the groundbreaking and potentially lifesaving research that is going to be done at the institute," Leistikow said.

He added that Doyle has no problem with the audit, saying that he wants the public to have confidence in the process.

If all goes according to plan, the institutes should open in 2009.