Press Release: Gov. Evers Announces Building Commission Approves More Than $81 Million in Projects Across Wisconsin, Republican Members Delay Approval of Funding for Critical UW System Building Projects
State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 12/18/2024 07:11 PM CSTFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 2024 |
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov |
Gov. Evers Announces Building Commission Approves More Than $81 Million in Projects Across Wisconsin, Republican Members Delay Approval of Funding for Critical UW System Building Projects |
Republican legislators delay the reallocation more than $70 million in building projects for UW System, continuing obstruction of critically needed projects |
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today announced the Wisconsin State Building Commission approved a total of $81.5 million in key projects across the state, while Republican legislators delayed the reallocation of more than $70 million in funding for critical UW System building projects statewide, including UW-Madison's engineering building, Winther and Heide Halls at UW-Whitewater, and Heritage Hall at UW-Stout. “Whether preserving our state’s historic sites or investing in the latest equipment for our emergency responders, it is crucial that we invest in projects across our state that will not only modernize facilities to meet the needs of the 21st century but advance our state agencies, universities, and technical colleges and grow both our local and state economies,” said Gov. Evers. “Every project approved today is critical to our communities. But our UW System is one of our state's greatest assets in competing for, retaining, and retaining talented workers to build a workforce for the future, and it’s a shame that support for UW continues to face partisan obstruction. “I am deeply disappointed that Republican lawmakers are once again pulling the rug out from under UW in the eleventh hour and putting politics ahead of doing what's best for our kids, our workforce and economy, and our state. We have to make sure our UW System remains the gem of our state and has the means and resources they need to compete—our students, workforce and employers, and the future of our communities and state depend upon it. We will, again, bring these projects to the State Building Commission in the New Year, and I urge Republican lawmakers to approve them.” Today, Republican legislators denied the reallocation of more than $70 million made available by the Science/Health Science Building and lower campus chiller and cooling tower replacement projects at UW-Eau Claire, which are well underway and under budget. The more than $70 million available would have been reallocated to projects already approved by the Commission, including $10.5 million for the Winther and Heide Hall projects at UW-Whitewater, $5.4 million for Heritage Hall at UW-Stout, and $29 million for the new engineering building at UW-Madison, which already faced months of partisan delays. Finally, $25 million of the $70 million would have been reallocated for several other small projects across the system to address the repair and maintenance of university facilities. The Commission is slated to vote on the reallocation again in January. Highlights of the Commission’s approved projects include:
The Building Commission is chaired by Gov. Evers and made up of the following members:
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An online version of this release is available here. |
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