The Governor signed the budget bill, AB75, today after releasing his veto message which detailed the final changes he made.

Of particular interest to UW System:

• Partial veto related to student veterans’ tuition remission reimbursement timelines in order to retain flexibilities and maximize benefits for veterans.
• Veto of requirements for hiring and reporting of private contractors during a state furlough. Instead, the Governor will create a new centralized review process to ensure state agencies are using private contractors to achieve additional savings while maintaining appropriate services.
• Veto of a $50,000 annual grant to WiSys Technology Foundation, Inc., for intellectual property management services to all comprehensive institutions excluding UW- Madison and UW-Milwaukee.
• Partial veto of a provision that required Research Assistants who form into collective bargaining units to be initially represented by the Teaching Assistant Association (TAA) and also vetoed provision that allowed the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) to assign faculty and staff to bargaining units.

A more comprehensive analysis of the final budget for the UW System is forthcoming.