- Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:14 pm
#53302
Walker to cut spending from public university system, so he can subsidize NBA owners...
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cut of $300 million to the University of Wisconsin System comes as other states, nationally and in the Midwest, have inched up funding for higher education, restoring support lost during the economic recession. More increases are expected in coming years.
“The numbers do seem to be improving,” said Lara Couturier, director of postsecondary state policy at Jobs for the Future, a Boston research nonprofit focused on education and employment for low-income Americans. “Since the dog days of the recession, the national picture is looking a little better but it doesn’t change the fact that there has been overall a declining investment in higher education by our states.”
Wisconsin is one of a handful of states that hasn’t restored funding in this fiscal year to where it was in 2009-2010, when higher education systems nationwide — in addition to most other public agencies — saw dramatic funding cuts due to the economic recession that started in late 2007.
Nationally, state support for public universities is up 10 percent since then, according to the annual Grapevine survey at Illinois State University. In Wisconsin, it’s down 4 percent even before the proposed 13 percent drop to come in the next two years.
MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker proposed a plan Tuesday that calls for Wisconsin to help build a new basketball arena for the Milwaukee Bucks with $220 million in bonds that would be funded by projected growth in income taxes from NBA players.
The Republican governor said his "Pay Their Way" proposal would protect state taxpayers and keep the team in Milwaukee. A new arena in downtown Milwaukee could cost about $450 million to $500 million.
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cut of $300 million to the University of Wisconsin System comes as other states, nationally and in the Midwest, have inched up funding for higher education, restoring support lost during the economic recession. More increases are expected in coming years.
“The numbers do seem to be improving,” said Lara Couturier, director of postsecondary state policy at Jobs for the Future, a Boston research nonprofit focused on education and employment for low-income Americans. “Since the dog days of the recession, the national picture is looking a little better but it doesn’t change the fact that there has been overall a declining investment in higher education by our states.”
Wisconsin is one of a handful of states that hasn’t restored funding in this fiscal year to where it was in 2009-2010, when higher education systems nationwide — in addition to most other public agencies — saw dramatic funding cuts due to the economic recession that started in late 2007.
Nationally, state support for public universities is up 10 percent since then, according to the annual Grapevine survey at Illinois State University. In Wisconsin, it’s down 4 percent even before the proposed 13 percent drop to come in the next two years.
MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker proposed a plan Tuesday that calls for Wisconsin to help build a new basketball arena for the Milwaukee Bucks with $220 million in bonds that would be funded by projected growth in income taxes from NBA players.
The Republican governor said his "Pay Their Way" proposal would protect state taxpayers and keep the team in Milwaukee. A new arena in downtown Milwaukee could cost about $450 million to $500 million.