Time to give the truth about UW funding

“Well, it’s only a 2.5% cut….”

This is the latest talking point given out by Republicans trying to defend Governor Walker’s proposed reductions for the University of Wisconsin System, and it's being relayed by WisGOP spokespeople on AM radio and paid Koch-bots polluting comment pages. It seems like a “modest proposal” to the casual outsider, and the GOPs are cynically hoping the everyday Wisconsinite doesn’t look at how the UW schools really operate, to hide the full picture on just how crippling this cut would be

What Walker and his supporters come up with this “2.5% cut” talking point is by conflating the $6.1 billion in one-year total expenses for the UW System, and then taking $150 million a year out of it. However, one look at the first page of the 2014-15 UW System budget shows why this line is disgustingly dishonest BS.

Category of UW System expenses
GPR (General Taxes) $1.18 billion
Academic tuition $1.35 billion
Gifts, Grants and Contracts $1.21 billion
Federal Indirect Costs (reimbursed by fed sources) $149.1 million
Auxiliaries (athletics, dorms, other self-supporting) $698.1 million
General Program Ops (UW Press, sports camps, etc) $250.7 million
Other (largely financial aid, other outside initiatives) $1.27 billion
TOTAL EXPENSES- $6.097 BILLION

As you can see, most of these other areas aren’t touched by general tax dollars – GPR makes up less than 1/5 of the UW System’s expenses, and even when you add tuition dollars to that total, it’s still only 41.4% of all expenses. The majority of UW System dollars cannot be directly changed by state actions, and cannot be used for general, everyday expenses. The anti-UW righty politicians and media types know this, but they’re counting on the fact that the rubes listening to them don’t.

And here’s the second prong of attack against the UW that’s being tried out. “Well, you have all this money left over, and so what’s the problem?” This is referencing the $1.3 billion or so of money that the UW System had in its coffers at the end of December, which the Journal-Sentinel dutifully reported on today. Naturally, the pro-Walker J-S leads with that big-number headline, and also prints a Walker spokesperson dropping the “it’s only a 2.5% cut” BS. Only later in the story do they give the important detail that follows, which is that most of those reserves can’t be used on everyday expenses.

The UW System's total unspent program revenue balances — including tuition, student fees and federal reimbursement for overhead costs associated with research — was $1.36 billion as of Dec. 31, UW officials confirmed Wednesday. A year ago, the balances totaled $1.49 billion, which UW System officials say was $129 million more than current balances. The UW System's total annual budget is $6 billion.

UW System officials say they have been making strategic, concerted efforts to draw down the carryover balances, which infuriated lawmakers two years ago because the money wasn't fully disclosed, and UW officials didn't even know how much they had in total until a nonpartisan audit. UW System officials have acknowledged they were less than forthcoming about the cash balances, but said they were a necessary cushion against future enrollment losses and revenue volatility.

Unrestricted cash balances have decreased by $151.2 million in the past year, and tuition carryover has been reduced about $175.8 million systemwide, UW System officials said Wednesday.

Two years ago, the UW System and its campuses were holding onto $414 million in unspent student tuition. That's when the governor and Legislature forced a two-year resident undergraduate tuition freeze — a freeze that Walker says he wants to continue another two years to further force down tuition balances.

And many of those reserves are set aside for specific projects, such as new dorms that Walker’s Department of Administration continues to hold up from construction. So much of the alleged “slush fund” has a lot of its potential spending frozen in place, and is the result of Walker Administration actions, in addition to the explicit intentions of UW donors and federal agencies.

And good business practice would tell you that reserves can be A CUSHION IN CASE SOMEONE CUTS ONE OF YOUR REVENUE STREAMS. You know, like Walker is trying to do to the UW as a political pose (with the tuition freeze) as well as to fill the deficit caused by his unfunded property tax cuts and his giveaways to the rich and corporate?

By the way, if the GOPs are so concerned about the UW System holding money back in their coffers, why aren’t they following their own advice, and tapping the $280 million that’s in our rainy day fund? This would cover almost all of the proposed UW cuts for the next two years, or take care of nearly all of the current-year $283 million deficit. What’s the problem, Republicans? Shouldn’t all reserves be utilized in case of a shortfall to stem off cuts? Or does it just apply to dem ejukated libr’ul types at the UW?

Yes, I’m biased when it comes to talking about funding the UW System. I’m a proud two-time Badger grad that credits the offerings of the UW System with changing my life, and allowing me to gain skills and a perspective on the world that I never would have had without it. I am furious at the lies and smears that the anti-thought crowd is trying to pull over in their desire to get even and grab power over anything perceived as left wing. I am also furious at a Wisconsin media system that is more than willing to give access to that crew, but won’t give equal time to those members of society that are teaching, discovering, creating and learning while the pissed-off mediocre white guys are whining over the AM airwaves.

We have to stand up to this bullshit loudly and forcefully (you too, DPW), and not expect that bystanders and a new group of voters will automatically understand the true value of an educated workforce and a top-notch university system. Because if those of us do not defend this System and the added value of educated thinkers to a society, then the Dark Age types can slip their agenda of “cut, privatize, and downgrade” in, and the damage to one of Wisconsin’s best resources and economic advantages will be near impossible to undo.

EDIT: Let me add in the spreadsheet on UW funding that frequent commentator lufthase made. It's a good resource to show the history of state funding cuts and reliance on outside funding that has been going on for the better part of the last 20 years.