Gov. Tony Evers to sign into law new engineering building for UW-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is getting a new engineering building, a widely supported project ensnared for months in a broader political negotiation over campus diversity programs.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday will sign into law nearly $700 million for UW System building projects, including $200 million in state money for a $347 million engineering building.

He also approved $154 million for dorm renovations at UW-Madison and UW-Whitewater, and nearly $200 million for utility and demolition projects across the UW System. The state's budget surplus is being tapped to fund most of the projects, though $110 million will come from taxpayer-supported borrowing.

Evers also will sign into law two bills changing the way the Minnesota-Wisconsin tuition reciprocity agreement is managed, which will send more money to UW campuses.

The bills were the final pieces in a sweeping agreement struck between the UW System and the Republican-controlled Legislature, which held up the engineering building, employee pay raises and other UW priorities.

"I thought it was a bad negotiation session, but I'm not going to hold anybody accountable for it," Evers told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when asked if the UW Board of Regents should have agreed to the deal or waited on the results of a lawsuit he had filed. "It's done. They got the raises, they got the building."

Evers said the UW Board of Regents were put into a difficult position, not wanting to lose any of the donations UW-Madison had secured to fund its $150 million portion of the project. The building was the highest-ranked capital priority across the UW System this budget session.

Both UW System President Jay Rothman and UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin have defended the agreement, saying it doesn't bend their commitment to diversity.

Others, including some regents, opposed the compromise. They feared it may set a dangerous precedent for future budgets. They also said it sends the wrong message to students of color and others who may struggle to find a sense of belonging on campus.

The UW Regents initially rejected the deal in a surprise 9-8 vote. The board reversed course a few days later.

"It was a mess," Evers said of the negotiation. "It didn't have to be a mess, but we got through it."

Republicans refused to fund the building in the state budget despite broad support from the business community. Lawmakers initially cited cost, not diversity programs, for their denial even though they approved lower-ranked priority projects.

The UW-Madison College of Engineering receives some 8,000 applicants annually but only has the space and teaching resources to accept about 1,200. The new building will allow the state flagship to graduate at least 1,000 more undergraduate engineers annually, as well as hire more faculty and expand research.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gov. Evers to sign into law new engineering building for UW-Madison