The University of Wisconsin is poised to see its state funding get cut yet again after Republicans made no major changes to the UW budget that passed the Senate Tuesday.
The budget Gov. Scott Walker introduced earlier this year cut the UW’s state funding by $300 million. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee reduced that to $250 million.
On Tuesday, Madison Democratic Sen. Fred Risser proposed restoring all of the university system’s funding.
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“The University of Wisconsin is one of our greatest assets,” said Risser. “We cannot afford to lose it. We cannot afford to ruin its reputation.”
But Republicans stood by by their plan, saying it made a challenging budget better. River Falls Republican Sen. Sheila Harsdorf emphasized the budget’s tuition freeze.
“We don’t want to price a higher education out of the range of any student in this state,” said Harsdorf.
Republican senators also left in place a plan to weaken faculty tenure protections and make it easier for the university to fire faculty.
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