Gov. Scott Walker proposed his budget plan for the next two years earlier this month, and the reaction on campus has been overwhelmingly negative so far. Mass email messages sent out to the student body by both University of Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blank and the Associated Students of Madison have primarily focused on only one aspect of the budget proposal – the proposed cut. However, they have lacked substantial information regarding the proposal for public authority, more autonomy for the UW System and protections from future tuition hikes.
In 2011, former UW Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin also proposed a plan that offered more flexibility to UW. In addition to receiving support from the governor in his 2011-13 budget proposal, the student government agreed with her plan.
As the College Republicans, we believe Blank and ASM should be in favor of, and spread more positive information regarding, the current proposal for public authority and more autonomy for the UW System.
Public authority for the UW System will allow for the system to streamline costs in construction, purchasing, compensation and other areas. To be free from the burdens of state government is something leaders and supporters of the UW System have wanted for years.
The proposal for a public authority will ultimately allow the entire system more efficiency, as it is similar to the authority that currently runs the UW Hospital and Clinics. Basically, the UW System will receive a permanent block grant from the state government that would be adjusted for inflation each year.
A legitimate concern, given this new autonomy, is the possibility of the university enacting massive tuition hikes. However, the current budget proposal extends the current freeze on tuition for in-state undergraduates across all UW System schools for another two years. To ensure affordable quality education into the future following this two-year freeze, the governor supports a permanent cap on tuition tied to inflation.
Walker said he is open to extending tuition cap for UW past 2017
For those of us who remember when former Gov. Jim Doyle was in office, he cut $250 million (almost $322 million in today’s value) from the UW System but did not provide tools for the UW System to make up for those cuts. In contrast, Walker has provided the UW System a tool to save money. This tool is a public authority model. Without such a tool under Doyle, the UW System raised tuition an average of 18 percent in the 2003-04 school year when he made cuts. With Walker’s proposal, this will not happen again.
While $300 million in cuts over two years is high, it is important to keep in mind Walker’s budget proposal only represents 2.5 percent of the total system budget.
It is absurd to claim Walker is against higher education when he currently has two sons in college. Walker’s ultimate goal is to make college in Wisconsin as affordable, effective and efficient as possible for students and their families.
By focusing on the cuts being “too large,” and not focusing on supporting the public authority proposal and protections against massive tuition hikes, Blank does not appear to be standing with students, even though she claimed in the past that one of her goals is to “make sure this is a university everyone in Wisconsin can afford to go to.” Blank has supported tuition increases in the past, however.
As students at UW, it is important for us to realize Walker had students in mind when coming up with his budget proposal. The governor and Republican lawmakers in this state are not against us, and their goal is not to make college more expensive or difficult for us.
Overall, the public authority proposal in the governor’s budget plan gives the UW System the tools it needs to save millions in the future and leaves students and taxpayers in the state of Wisconsin in a better place financially.
Courtney Mullen ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and is the chair of the College Republicans. Ryan Grunwald ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and economics and is the vice chairman of the College Republicans.
