June 9, 2009

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee has approved 36 major UW System building projects, including new residence halls, state-of-the-art research laboratories and academic buildings.

UW System building and maintenance projects would receive $380 million in taxpayer support and another $486 million in student fees, private donations and other non-tax sources under the plan pending in the Legislature.

The committee included all 34 projects that had been recommended by the State Building Commission and added two more to the state budget at the last minute. Those were a $47 million building for the nursing school at UW-Madison and a $44 million academic building at UW-Eau Claire.

Those two projects would not receive funding until 2011, but UW System officials said the action allows planning to move forward and will free up money for other buildings in the next budget.

"All of these will have a lasting impact on our ability to educate students and conduct world-class research at the University of Wisconsin," UW System President Kevin Reilly said. "They will also boost the state's ability to compete in the knowledge economy."

The System's top budget official, Tom Anderes, praised the budget committee for passing "a very strong capital budget." The plan needs approval from the full Legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle to become law.

System officials said it was the first time in recent memory that lawmakers have added and not cut the number of UW projects forwarded by the building commission. UW System officials also said they expect to receive $130 million of the $200 million approved for statewide maintenance to help reduce a backlog of repair projects at buildings.

The investment in buildings comes as UW campuses prepare to implement deep cuts to help balance the state's projected $6.6 billion budget shortfall. Faculty and staff aren't getting the 2 percent raises this month they had been promised, employees will be furloughed for 8 days for each of the next two years and campuses are considering additional layoffs.

Reilly said the budget will mean larger class sizes, heavier workloads for employees, longer wait times for student services and the elimination of some unpopular degree programs.

State officials have defended the spending on building projects during the recession, saying it will help stimulate the economy. The UW System says its projects are expected to create 8,000 jobs in the construction industry and support 8,000 more through their economic impact.

A majority of the projects are also funded through student fees and donations set aside for them — not the tax dollars that are in such short supply these days.

But UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago acknowledged he was facing questions about why the university was growing and making deep cuts at the same time.

"That mismatch is playing out," he said.

His campus won approval for a six-year, $240 million initiative to build laboratory and academic buildings designed to make the university more of a player in research and economic development. Plans are still being developed but could include new buildings to house the colleges of engineering, public health and School of Freshwater Sciences.

At UW-Madison, the committee approved a $134 million medical research building, a $100 million energy research center and its $250 million plan to renovate a coal-fired power plant to run on biomass.

Associated Press