Opinion

Deficit sidetracks worthy UW bills

Wow. The Wisconsin Legislature continues to impress. With a budget that was late by over four months, and now a budget deficit upwards of $650 million, according to the Wisconsin State Journal, we really have to hand it to them. They have managed to fail to act in the interest of anyone in Wisconsin.

But it is not the fact that the budget was delayed or that we have a huge deficit that irks me most. It is that the
Legislature will now more than likely spend the remainder of the session time to discuss this deficit issue and nothing else. Granted, it is a huge deficit, but there were several important pieces of legislation — which would have instantly impacted the general welfare of students across Wisconsin but especially on this campus — that will probably be pushed to another legislative session.

For example, Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, had drafted a bill regarding textbooks. No, it wouldn’t require every textbook to be under ten dollars — which would be amazing — but it did have several provisions that could have lowered textbook costs significantly for students.

One provision of the bill was that textbooks publishers would have to provide students with an unbundled alternative to their bundled packages. Bundling not ringing a bell? Every textbook you purchased that contains a CD or is pre-wrapped with a study guide (that you will probably never use) are examples of bundled textbooks. In requiring textbooks to be offered without the bells and whistles, the price of textbooks would decrease, while allowing students to determine if they will actually utilize the study guide or CD that complements the book.

Another provision was that textbook publishers would be required to disclose the prices of the books to the professors. This is based on the assumption that, if professors were able to see the variation in prices between political science textbooks, they would make a fiscally responsible decision — meaning they would choose books that were more reasonably priced so that more students could afford them.

Another example of a piece of extremely important legislation that will probably not be entertained this session is Senate Bill 450, regarding Wisconsin Higher Education Grants. Currently, the WHEG increases by the same percentage as tuition. These increases are by no means equivalent. This bill, however, proposes that the WHEG increase dollar-for-dollar with tuition. If tuition increased by $1,000, then so would the WHEG. According to the Higher Education Aids Board, there were 85,805 applicants for the WHEG, and approximately 6,000 students here at Madison receive this grant aid. This bill could aid a considerable percentage of the Madison student population but may not be passed due to concerns over the budget deficit.

The University of Wisconsin System cannot be strengthened if the state is not investing time in the Legislature to introduce, discuss and, one would hope, pass bills that address current student issues. Instead of progressing in terms of implementing new initiatives, strengthening the financial aid program and making tuition more affordable, UW must defend itself in lieu of the looming budget deficit.

I would hope that the Wisconsin Legislature would consider the UW System to be vital to the state, though the commitment to passing bills that directly affect its students have been quite lackadaisical. If the textbook bill and Senate Bill 450 are not entertained this session, I would request that the Legislature, upon returning in September, focus on these bills before campaigning for reelection. As I see it, not many of the current legislators will be returning after the November elections unless they demonstrate their commitment to aiding the state, but especially to aiding its college students.

Hannah Karns (hkarns@wisc.edu) is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies.