Legislative Update for Wisconsin Technical Colleges

March 5, 2019

 

WTCS Issues in the 2019-21 State Budget

Welcome to a new budget season, Wisconsin technical college supporters!

Governor Evers announced his 2019-21 Biennial State Budget proposal at the Capitol on February 28. As always, the arrival of the bill with the Legislature is only the beginning of our budget process, and we will spend a great deal of time advocating on behalf of the colleges over the next several months. I encourage each of you to contact your Assembly Representative and State Senator encourage them to support technical colleges during the budget process.

In the Governor’s 2019-21 Biennial Budget:

• Increases of $6 million in 2019-20 and $12 million in 2020-21 for technical college general aid, equal to 6.8% in 2019-20 and 13.6% in 2020-21. Aid is distributed 70% by formula and 30% using outcomes based funding.
• Increases of $1.1 million in 2019-20 and $2.4 million in 2020-21 for technical college need-based student financial aid. The increase would bring technical college Wisconsin Grants funding to $24.1 million in 2019-20 and $25.3 million in 2020-21. While this would be a record investment in technical college students, to put it in perspective funding in 2020-21 would lag state financial aid to private colleges by $6 million. Further, UW financial aid is slated to top $68 million in 2020-21—nearly $43 million more than what is provided to technical college students.
• Increased flexibility under the revenue limit on WTCS property taxes. The proposed limit for technical colleges would be equal to the change in the district’s value attributable to net new construction, or 2%, whichever is greater.

The District Boards Association thanks Governor Evers for investing with confidence in the 16 colleges of the Wisconsin Technical College System.

We also look forward to serious policy discussions with legislators in the coming months on the merits of other proposals, including a number of changes to how technical colleges are permitted to provide dual enrollment opportunities. We are just beginning to analyze the 1,000-page budget bill, and will share additional details of provisions impacting technical colleges as they become clear.

Please note that, in addition to the massive budget legislation, a number of stand-alone bills of interest to technical colleges are also being considered by the Legislature. On Wednesday, March 6, the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development will hold a public hearing on several bills, including:

• AB-57 - Youth apprenticeships;
• AB-36 - Grants to technical college apprenticeship students;
• AB-13 - Workforce training grants for seminars in high-demand fields and providing micro-credentials; and
• AB-23 - Career and technical education incentive grants.

Click the links provided to read more about each bill. The District Boards Association will testify in favor of AB-36, which would provide grants to assist technical college apprenticeship students with purchase of the clothing, equipment, and tools necessary to complete their apprenticeships. We thank the co-authors of the bill for their continued support. WTCS currently serves nearly 7,000 apprentices each year through classroom instruction and support, and WTCS apprentices report average starting wages of $77,000 upon completion of their programs.

Please contact the District Boards Association if you need more information or have questions regarding the content provided here.