Building Commission Approves Capital Budget

Madison – The State of Wisconsin Building Commission today approved Governor Walker’s Capital Budget recommendations. Governor Walker’s Capital Budget recommended $803 million in total projects with under $450 million in new bonding. Highlights of the Capital Budget include:

• $5 million in funding for a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Innovation Center in Green Bay;
• A $75 million replacement for the Department of Justice Milwaukee crime lab;
• Over $33 million to renovate and repair the north, south, and west resident towers in Sandburg Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee;
• $5 million in funding for St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care for the Bucyrus Campus project
• $5 million to remodel and expand the La Crosse Center; and
• An additional $11 million to remove and replace the Little Falls Dam at Willow River State Park.

“The Building Commission approved a Capital Budget with sound fiscal priorities, which will maintain our current infrastructure and assets,” Governor Walker said. “The Operating and Capital Budgets propose the lowest combined new bond authorizations in 20 years. I would like to thank the members of the Building Commission for taking action on these projects, which will improve facilities throughout Wisconsin.”

Governor Walker’s Capital Budget prioritizes investing in the maintenance and repairs of current facilities to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollars. This Capital Budget funds over $360 million in the all agency program, which includes funding for the University of Wisconsin System’s number one enumeration request for facility maintenance and repair.

All of Governor Walker’s recommendations were approved by unanimous consent, with the exception of the following projects:

• UW-Milwaukee Chemistry Building Renovations
• UW-Milwaukee Engineering and Mathematical Science Laboratory Renovations
• UW-Eau Claire Haas Fine Arts Addition
• UW-Platteville New Sesquicentennial Hall
• UW-Madison Walnut Street Greenhouses Replacement
• UW-La Crosse New Residence Hall, and
• UW-Eau Claire Governor’s Hall Addition and Renovation.

Approval of these projects would require an additional $205 million in bonding. The panel voted against the projects and additional bonding on a vote of 6-2, with Senator Ringhand and Representative Wachs dissenting and voting for the additional $205 million in bonding.

The Building Commission is chaired by Governor Walker and made up of the following members:

• State Senator Terry Moulton;
• State Senator Jerry Petrowski;
• State Senator Janis Ringhand;
• State Representative Rob Swearingen;
• State Representative Terry Katsma;
• State Representative Dana Wachs; and
• Citizen member Bob Brandherm.

The 2017-19 Governor’s Capital Budget recommendations can be found here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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