“Families are struggling and we recognize that,” Petersen said. “One of the benefits of the tuition freeze, quite frankly, right now is that for the dollar, there is no better place to get a four-year education — I would argue — in this country than the UW System.”
Instead, he said, “if we’re going to hold the line on tuition, then we have to have appropriate and significant reinvestment back in the UW System.” Higher education may be one of few areas that remains “relatively bipartisan,” and Petersen said he sees no one better than Thompson to bring its case before Evers, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The System’s budget proposal is a list of seven initiatives, including expanded mental and behavioral health services, funding for agricultural research and a partnership with the Department of Corrections to expand education and reduce recidivism in prisons. In August, Thompson requested a 3.5% budget increase for the 2021-2023 biennium that, if approved, would equal a $95.7 million increase in System spending.
The System bore the majority of a 5% state budget cut last biennium, and Evers’ next budget is no more auspicious, with an anticipated $373.1 million revenue shortfall based on state agency requests. Evers, who requested in June that agencies not request additional expenditures this biennium, plans to deliver his budget address virtually Feb. 16.
“(The budget) really is focused on being a true solutions partner in the state,” Petersen said. “What I like about this budget is it’s quintessential Tommy Thompson. We’re not gonna spend a dollar unless it’s going toward something that’s going to improve the state of Wisconsin.”
This is what Thompson calls “the new Wisconsin idea,” alluding to the original concept that a UW education should improve lives beyond classroom walls to the boundaries of the state. Every chance he gets, he reminds people that the System is not only a worthy investment — one that returns $23 for every $1 the state invests — but that he wants it to be a problem solver for the state.