Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced the Wisconsin State Building Commission approved over $103 million for statewide projects.

The Universities of Wisconsin System requested a variety of projects when the State Building Commission was considering allocation of its funds, according to the official State Building Commission’s agenda and requests statement. These included new electrical systems, demolition and replacement of old or outdated buildings along with fixing and adding parking lots around campus, according to the agenda and requests statement.

For the university system, multiple projects were approved including the demolition of four buildings at UW-Eau Claire, the former UW-Milwaukee chemistry building, renovations for the UW-Stout Communications Technology Classroom and the demolition of the UW-Madison George L. Mosse Humanities Building, according to a press release from Gov. Evers.

The funds will also go toward building a new dormitory at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and completing construction of the Forensic Science and Protective Medicine Facility used by the Department of Justice and Milwaukee Crime Lab, according to Evers’ release.

Additionally, Evers’ 2025-2027 budget proposal proposed $856 million for the UW System including a compensation plan for employees for increased employee retention, according to UW-Madison and the State Budget.

Although Evers has the final say when it comes to budgeting, the State Building Commission works with UW chancellors, faculty and the community to take into account what the universities need most, according to Wisconsin Assembly Rep. Jill Billings, D-La Crosse, who is a member of the building commission specializing in higher education.

“So far, about half a dozen chancellors have talked with me already about the budget,” Billings said. “They invite us to come sometimes and take a look at current projects, ribbon cuttings, or buildings that need to be replaced.”

Chancellors and faculty experts often suggest projects which the commission then approves or denies, according to Billings.

Representatives and senators on the Building Commission often visit schools to truly figure out what campuses need, Billings said.

“I’ve been to every single campus [in Wisconsin],” Billings said. “They’ll invite us to come sometimes and take a look at either current projects or look at buildings that really need to be replaced.”

Billings and other members of the commission are taken around campuses and go to basements and rooftops to see the true state of university buildings and facilities.

On these visits, members of the State Building Commission look for whether campuses are up to standards in terms of the accessibility required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, infrastructure and laboratory quality, according to Billings.

“A lot of our campuses grew in the 50s and 60s, and while they were fine for the time, they aren’t holding up well,” Billings said. “Students really deserve functional buildings where they can study and write and get their education.”

While executives on the Building Commission visit schools and work with faculty, the commission also uses local experts to advise and oversee projects, Billings said. She said projects done by the Building Commission are almost always completed in a timely fashion and are below budget.

It is not necessarily good that the government can control where funding comes from, UW-Madison finance professor and leader of the economics master’s program Ananth Seshadri said.

“Almost every other major research university and flagship university has what’s called bonding authority — which UW-Madison does not and should be given access to, ” Seshadri said.

Bonding authority for the university is the ability to tap into capital markets to secure funds for large projects — meaning that the university must rely on the state to organize certain funding which reduces efficiency of projects rather than if universities could organize it themselves, according to Seshadri.

Bonding authority would allow UW to complete projects — like the construction of the new engineering building — in a timely manner, according to Seshadri. He said lack of bonding authority has caused the university to falter behind other flagship campuses.

“The 2010s was a decade where every other major research campus was essentially expanding, making huge investments by borrowing significant sums at basically 0% real interest rates,” Seshadri said. “But we [UW-Madison] didn’t. We didn’t have that opportunity.”

In response to state politicians that are hesitant to grant bonding authority in fear of UW-Madison mismanaging funds and entering debt, Seshadri said the reward is greater than the risk.

The university historically has not had issues filling seats of classrooms, so bonding authority would increase efficiency of project completion which in turn betters the experience for current and prospective students, according to Seshadri.

“We should be given the opportunity and the ability to build these infrastructure projects on our own,” Seshadri said. “I just don’t see a good reason not to give us this option.”

As the Trump administration places tariffs on goods coming in from other countries such as steel, lumber and aluminum, the Building Commission anticipates disruptions in building projects, according to Billings. But, the Commission is confident that local professionals are considering these disturbances as they work, according to Billings.

The Commission worries these disruptions will affect smaller UW campuses more than UW-Madison because federal funding is especially important for the development of less established institutions, Billings said.

“Madison is our flagship university and also it has been really good at being in touch with alumni and bringing in funds that are outside of state that help with building projects,” Billings said.

Alongside the $103 million approved from the State Building Commission, the capital budget will be agreed upon in the next two to three weeks, according to Billings. This will further address university funding, as well as crime reduction, tax relief and K-12 budgeting, according to the State of Wisconsin Budget in Brief.