Budget update

I've been just dying since Friday night/Saturday morning to write something about the new Wisconsin state budget, but I'm still waiting for information that's clear enough, if not for the budget to actually pass the scheduled vote.

My take at this point is that we've gotten 21 million less than 'cost to continue' for the whole University of Wisconsin System. That is, while the press is talking about significant increases in UW funding, they have given us absolute increases in dollars, but not enough to keep up with the increased costs of doing the same amount of work we're now doing. I assume, despite this, that the guv, both parties and UW officials will all try to make it sound like things are fine. Things are, just for the record, anything but fine. Cost to continue would be at the level of a starvation diet and we're below it.

There is actual new money for the UW System in the budget — the so-called Growth Agenda — said to be funded at $159 million. Catastrophically for Madison, though, our campus leaders apparently simply did not submit anything under this. As I understand things, we are the only campus in the System that did not.

I can't swear in a court of law that this is so, but if it is, why? Hell if I know.