A Republican lawmaker announced plans Monday to introduce a bill that would limit this summer's arranged salary increases of University of Wisconsin System administrators.
Authored by Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, the drafted bill came in response to the UW System Board of Regents' unanimous decision last Friday to raise pay ranges for top administrative positions.
"If we allow the Board of Regents to simply use their discretion, they will continue to be reckless when they get so far out of line providing pay raises … to chancellors and UW officials," Nass said. "The taxpayers expect the Legislature to step in and say 'no more.'"
As the administrative salary-range increase is set to take effect July 1, Nass's bill aims to limit increases to no more than 5 percent from July 2005 through July 2006, after which the matter will be permanently addressed by the biennial budget.
According to Nass, the board has become lost in a "big black hole of accountability" in which board members are not properly representing Wisconsin's taxpayers.
In response, UW System Communications Director Doug Bradley said System President Kevin Reilly is currently out of state and unable to make a statement.
While Nass cited the need for legislative action, other Republican leaders disagreed and said the board should retain university discretion.
Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, and Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, both raised concerns regarding the Legislature's attempt to interfere with UW System issues.
"[Sen. Schultz] does not feel that the Legislature should micromanage any state agency, including the UW System," Schultz's spokesperson Todd Allbaugh said. "He was inclined to leave the decision up to the Board of Regents."
Both Allbaugh and Gard's spokesperson Christine Mangi said that while the board knows its own needs better than the Legislature, it still must be held accountable for mismanagement.
"The regents know what they need to stay competitive," Mangi said. "But that doesn't mean they just have free range to do whatever they want. They have to report to the Legislature."
But, according to Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, the UW System has already demonstrated an inability to properly manage itself.
"Unfortunately, the UW System just does not get it," Vos said. "On decisions like this where [the board is] clearly out of step with the mainstream of Wisconsin, it is our job as the only elected officials dealing with the UW System to actually stand up and say this is wrong."
Vos, a former student regent member, announced a piece of his own legislation last week, proposing to cap the amount of taxpayer dollars allowed to fund UW administrative salaries.
According to Vos, the board has "misplaced [its] priorities" and risks losing long-term public support for the UW System.
"Everybody in the whole state — regardless of their political position — wants a great university system, but they also want one that's accountable," Vos said, adding that both his and Nass's bills share positive objectives to address the issue.
The Board of Regents additionally voted last Friday to lower non-resident tuition, prompting Nass to include a provision in his bill mandating out-of-state tuition not be decreased to less than this academic year's rates.
Nass's bill is currently seeking cosponsors in the Legislature and is expected to receive a hearing soon by the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities.
