Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
Opposing Governor Walker’s proposed 2015-2017 budget reductions to the University of Wisconsin System and calling upon members of the Dane County delegation in the State Assembly and State Senate to protect the University of Wisconsin.
Body
WHEREAS, the State of Wisconsin has had a long and proud tradition of supporting higher education; and,
WHEREAS, the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an economic institution for our region enrolled 39,000 students in 2014-15 and had a total faculty and staff of 16,000 with a total budget of $2.9 billion;
WHEREAS, the Governor’s proposed budget proposal to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System budget would greatly impact and hasten the educational decline resulting in the loss of faculty and senior staff who conduct research, accrue more than $1,000,000,000 in research grants in 2014 to UW-Madison, create products resulting in hundreds of patents that have profoundly advanced every sector of the state economy and immeasurably improved the human condition and;
WHEREAS, as a result of the budget reductions, the inevitable loss of faculty and senior staff who are renowned scholars would impact significantly the recruiting efforts for the best undergraduate and graduate students from around the world; and,
WHEREAS, the adverse effects of the 13% budget reduction on our world-class institution would severely weaken the University of Wisconsin-Madison and thus, Dane County and the State of Wisconsin for generations to come; and,
WHEREAS, nearly all of the job growth in the state in the 2009-2014 occurred in Dane County and much of that growth was due to the research and scholarship of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and,
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Madison Common Council calls upon the members of the Dane County delegation in the State Assembly and State Senate to protect the largest economic institution in the state from this short-sighted at...
Click here for full text