MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican legislative leaders say there will be no substantive changes to the state budget, meaning that a cut in funding to the University of Wisconsin that puts the entire spending plan in jeopardy of being vetoed will remain. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told The Associated Press in separate interviews Tuesday that no changes are planned. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has threatened to veto the two-year spending plan if UW funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programming is cut. The plan passed by a Republican-controlled budget committee reduces UW funding by $32 million, but the university could get the money later. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, along with school and law enforcement leaders, have been pushing Republicans to increase funding for the state’s school safety office. That office, created by Republicans in 2018, was designed to prevent violence in schools after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The office provides safety grants to Wisconsin schools, maintains a 24/7 tip hotline, offers training and maintains blueprints of school layouts to assist law enforcement when reacting to emergencies. The Legislature’s budget committee voted to cut funding for the office this month, a move that Kaul said would essentially gut it and not allow it to provide all the services it currently does. The office would have more than half a million dollars in funding to pay for nearly four full-time positions. It currently employs 16 people, with 12 of them paid for by time-limited federal funding that came during the pandemic. Vos defended the cut, saying the Legislature won’t replace pandemic-era federal funding and that the core functions of the office can continue with the money provided.
