Wisconsin Lawmakers Suspends Vote on UW Funding

Thursday, June 15th, 2023 -- 12:00 PM

(AP) Republican state lawmakers on Tuesday suspended a vote on funding for University of Wisconsin campuses, just hours after a top GOP leader promised to slash the college system's budget as part of an ongoing fight over diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state's top Republican, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he expected the GOP-controlled Legislature's budget-writing committee to cut all funding that the university system would use for diversity initiatives. He estimated the cuts would total $32 million.

That generated a wave of angry reactions from Gov. Tony Evers and other Democrats. After nearly seven hours of closed-door discussions, Republicans who control the finance committee could not come to an agreement and postponed consideration of UW's budget.

Talk of university budget cuts comes just days after Republicans refused to fund the university's top building project priority, a new engineering facility on the flagship Madison campus. Tensions between Republicans who control the Legislature and the state's university system are nothing new.

But the fight this year centers on issues of free speech and UW's work to advance diversity and racial equity.

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