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New budget plan offered

May 31, 2002

Assembly Republicans this week offered “a streamlined solution” to the state’s current fiscal crisis that is expected to be discussed by a committee trying to reach a legislative compromise on state budget cuts.

“This plan allows local governments, school districts and workers across Wisconsin to move ahead with their lives and their business while we argue this fall about the long-term vision for our state,” Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen says in a statement.

The plan does not address the longer-term structural deficit facing the state, and would leave a $1 billion or more structural deficit to be dealt with in the 2003-05 budget.

The proposal would discard cuts to travel, advertising and international education. The bottom line appears to be about $10 million less in revenues to the UW System than the Governor proposed, UW System officials say.

A conference committee is expected to meet the week of June 3 to take up this proposal. While Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature have not formally agreed on any of the 314 items dividing their respective packages, the latest proposals would:

  • Return to the across-the-board cuts originally proposed by the governor — $51 million from the UW System.
  • Retain the 8 percent tuition proposal adopted by Joint Finance Committtew, which would yield about $10 million less than governot’s planned 10 percent cap on tuition hikes.
  • Maintain compensation reserve fund levels required to pay for state employee raises, including $10 million for UW employee raises.
  • Adopt the governor’s recommendation on the Wisconsin Higher Education Grants, a 10 percent increase in this financial aid program.
  • Add a $10 per month payment for health insurance for individuals and $20 for families.
  • Delete a provision to charge a 10 percent tuition surcharge to out-of-state students.
  • Delete a provision to cut the UW travel budget.
  • Maintain the existing study abroad scholarship program and funding.
  • Delete the provision to reduce agency printing expenditures by 10 percent.
  • Delete funding for length of service payments to classified employees.
  • Suspend state employer payroll contributions for both the accumulated sick leave conversion credit program and the supplemental health insurance conversion credit program.

For a list of conference committee items of interest to UW–Madison, including those that appear to have been agreed upon by both parties, visit the state relations Web site.