In a move that allayed the fears of Wisconsin State Historical Society employees and history buffs everywhere, the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance unanimously voted to partially restore some of the Society’s funds cut by Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget.
The severity of the proposed cuts alarmed Society workers, who began arguing that they would be harmed by funds drying up disproportionately to other state agencies.
“We realize we have to absorb cuts just like any other state agency; we’re just asking that we get a fair, even share of the burden,” said the Society’s public information director Bob Granflaten in an open letter to the Committee in April.
The Committee did not turn a deaf ear to the Society’s pleas and restored part of what Doyle had proposed cutting.
Rep. Steve Freese, R-Dodgeville, serves as a member of the Society’s Board of Curators and lobbied heavily with his colleagues on the Committee.
“In essence, instead of cutting $3 million and cutting 30 positions, the Society will only be cut $1.5 million and have to cut 15 positions,” Freese said. “It doesn’t make them whole, it just treats them like any other state agency.”
The Legislature has four appointments to the Board of Curators, which must include two people from the Senate and two from the Assembly. Of those four, two must be Republicans and two must be Democrats. Freese worked with fellow Board of Curator member Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland, members of the Committee and the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau to develop a less harsh set of cuts to the Society.
“The Legislative Fiscal Bureau put together a number of recommendations and the Board of Curators used them to develop a plan to deal with the cuts,” Freese said.
Following Doyle’s original plan, according to Freese, would have proved catastrophic for the Historical Society, which would have had to cut many services and programs out of its operations.
All 16 Committee members voted in favor of the new amendment to the budget proposal, but Freese said the unanimity was not an easy task for fellow legislators and Society employees, who lobbied the Committee members heavily.
“There was a great deal of work that went into getting that unanimous vote,” Freese said. “As a member of the Board of Curators and as a legislator.”
Freese said becoming a member of the Board was something he was intrinsically motivated to do, as he has always had an active interest in history.
Richard Pifer, director of public services for the Society and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, expressed trepidation at the prospect of a decrease in Society staff for April when the severity of cuts became apparent. Pifer said a skeleton crew Society would not be able to properly preserve artifacts for future generations.
“When a student wants to research the present in 20 or 50 years, they will not have a complete picture. When we are unable to hang onto the present, we lose the future,” Pifer said.
