Members of a University of Wisconsin student government committee met Monday to share lobbying strategies for a campaign to freeze tuition increases, set to launch before the state biennial budget is released.
The Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee will submit several tuition proposals to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, according to committee member Gen Carter. She said depending on the specific provisions of the budget, the committee will likely advocate for the tuition cap.
A tuition cap would keep the rising cost of education under control for Wisconsin residents, a statement from the committee said.
The previous cap meant tuition could only be increased 5.5 percent every two years when the new biennial budget comes out. Carter said the committee hopes to hold it to at least the current level but also hoped to minimize the increase.
“We want to make legislators aware to how important the tuition cap is not only to students on our campus, but also students for UW System campuses across the entire state,” Carter said.
Carter said the students would advocate for a freeze on tuition increases in their proposal to the state finance committee.
The tuition freeze proposal states whatever a UW System student pays in their first year at their university, students would be guaranteed that tuition price for four years.
After meeting with JFC members, Carter and other members of the committee plan on attending committee hearings to offer testimonials from students on campus about their own ideas and experiences with current tuition levels and past increases and how these factors have affected their financial situations.
Carter said members would like to receive as many insightful tuition testimonies from students to bring to the committee as possible.
The Legislative Affairs Committee also emphasized the personal aspect of tuition increases for the campaign. An information packets sent to legislators included committee members’ personal experiences with the increases.
Chair Daniel Statter said in a previous interview with The Badger Herald tuition is a vital issue for UW students and it is important to have legislators hear their stories.
Besides the tuition cap and freeze, the committee is advocating for an increase in funding for cost-to-continue programming and need-based financial need.
The committee also took up an addition to the Responsible Action Campaign to include more clear language to define what will happen for people that need police assistance after alcohol consumption.
The committee added details stating if a student knowinglymakes a false claim when describing their story to police, they will be held liable and receive a citation.
“We wanted to add more clearly defined language to the clause so that people may have a better understanding of what might happen to them when they really need help,” Morgan Rae, a committee member, said.
