Lawmakers approve $1 billion in building projects for UW campuses, reject funding to replace youth prison

Patrick Marley Molly Beck
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

MADISON - Republican lawmakers Tuesday approved $1.9 billion in construction projects and building improvements across the state — with more than half being spent on University of Wisconsin System campuses, approving the vast majority of what Gov. Tony Evers wanted for colleges and universities.

But Republicans on the Legislature's finance committee also rejected much of the Democratic governor's plans to replace the state's troubled youth prison north of Wausau. The move revoked spending they authorized last year, leaving no money to establish new, state-run facilities to replace Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls.

Democrats warned the move would delay the closure of the youth prison and keep young offenders in a dangerous environment, but Republicans said they could authorize borrowing for the replacement facilities later.

"This continues to move forward," Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said. 

Lawmakers' action Tuesday comes as the June 30 deadline to get a new state budget to Evers' desk looms. 

Though Republicans agreed with much of Evers' proposals Tuesday, the overall spending plan is hundreds of millions less than what the new Democratic governor wanted — raising the question of whether Evers will veto the entire package and ask lawmakers to try again. 

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the budget package may not be set until at least October if Evers ends up rejecting the entire plan.

Evers hasn't ruled out vetoing the state budget but has said he won't decide until he sees the whole plan. The governor also has the option of accepting much of what Republicans pass while using his partial veto powers to strike out some provisions.

If Evers vetoes the whole budget, Vos said Republicans would spend the summer and early fall selling their plan, putting pressure on Democrats and Evers to negotiate on the budget's terms. 

"There are other things we're going to work on first," Vos said at a luncheon event hosted by Wisconsin Health News. 

Building projects

Republican lawmakers on the finance committee voted Tuesday to spend $1.9 billion on new building projects — $600 million less than what Evers recommended over the next two years, with much of the money going to University of Wisconsin campuses.

The level of borrowing approved drew objection from at least one Republican in the state Senate.

"Excessive spending and bonding is now the rage in the State Capitol as Republicans try to buy Governor Evers’ support for our version of the budget," Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said in a statement.

Included in the plan is spending $5 million to make way for a new maximum security prison in the Green Bay area, to replace the facility in Allouez that has areas that are more than 100 years old. 

The plan would require lawmakers to spend the money on acquiring land and extending utilities to the new facility. Construction costs would be spent in future years. 

The Department of Corrections has previously estimated building a new 1,300-bed prison would cost $309 million.

The move comes after a years-long push by Republican Rep. Dave Steffen of Green Bay to replace the aging facility. 

Under his proposal, Steffen would have the state sell Green Bay Correctional Institution and have a private developer build a new prison in the area. Lawmakers are opting to build a new facility instead, but Legislative Fiscal Bureau staff said Tuesday whether the facility will be public or private "hasn't been distinguished yet."

Green Bay Correctional Institution was designed to hold 750, but like most Wisconsin prisons holds far more than that — about 1,100. 

Republican lawmakers on the state Building Commission earlier this year blocked all of Evers' building plans from advancing, saying the price tag was unrealistic. Evers said the investment was needed especially for the UW System because of the condition of many campuses' facilities. 

But Republicans approved some of Evers' proposals, including borrowing $129.5 million for a UW-Milwaukee chemistry building; $93.25 million for a UW-Eau Claire science building; and $90 million for an addition and renovation of UW-Madison’s veterinary medicine building. A measure that would provide $83 million in borrowing for a UW-La Crosse science center was not included by lawmakers, however.

RELATED:'The writing is on the wall': UWM officials cautiously optimistic for new chemistry building

Republicans also approved Evers' proposal to spend $40.7 million to renovate UW-Milwaukee's student union and $7 million for an addition to the Klotsche Center. Those projects would be paid using university revenue.

The committee also approved Evers' plans to spend $126.4 million at UW-Madison for a new gymnasium and recreational facility, $74 million for a renovation of Camp Randall Stadium and $38 million for an addition and renovation of the Kohl Center.

"This will help us modernize laboratories and classrooms, repair aging and unsafe facilities, and replace obsolete structures," UW System President Ray Cross said in a statement. "This long-term investment will help attract and retain more students and faculty.”

In the Milwaukee area, Republican lawmakers rejected spending $98.5 million for a new state office building and $3 million for improvements at State Fair Park. The committee did, however, approve spending $1.1 million on a ramp to connect the Hank Aaron State Trail to a bicycle and pedestrian path on Highway 100. 

In addition, lawmakers approved borrowing $70 million to tear down and replace the Wisconsin Historical Museum across the street from the state Capitol. Work on the new 100,000-square-foot project couldn't start until the museum's supporters secured another $30 million in private donations. 

Evers wanted state taxpayers to borrow $50 million to help fund projects for local governments and private entities. Lawmakers rejected one proposal to spend $30 million to expand the Alliant Energy Center in Dane County.

Lawmakers approved borrowing $10 million for a Medical College of Wisconsin cancer research facility

Lawmakers voted to reject borrowing $15 million to build barracks on the grounds of Jackson and Taycheedah correctional institutions to house 432 additional inmates at those prisons.

Juvenile corrections

Last year, lawmakers approved borrowing $80 million to replace Lincoln Hills. Under that measure, $15 million was to go to expanding the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center, $25 million was to go to new state-run facilities and $40 million was to go to new county-run facilities.

The committee on Tuesday doubled the amount the counties would get to $80 million, provided additional funding for Mendota but eliminated the funding for the new state-run facilities. It was unclear where GOP lawmakers wanted to house juvenile inmates without the new lockups, given that Lincoln Hills is to close in 2021.

"What do you want — another study?" said Democratic Rep. Evan Goyke of Milwaukee, one of the authors of the 2018 bill to close the youth prison by 2021. "What are you waiting for? You think we won't need a facility for juveniles at all?"

The facilities north of Wausau have been the subject of multiple lawsuits over their conditions. A four-year-long criminal investigation ended in April without charges.

RELATED:Feds end investigation into Wisconsin's troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison without filing criminal charges

In all, Evers wants to put $194 million more toward the replacement facilities, raising the total cost of them to $274 million. Instead, Republican legislators put an additional $44 million toward the effort, with the new spending going to counties and Mendota. 

The state-run facilities would be in Milwaukee and Hortonia, northwest of Appleton, but those projects no longer would have funding under the Republican plan. 

State officials have not decided which counties will run the other facilities. Milwaukee County has sought $41 million, Racine County $38 million and Dane County up to $4.5 million.

In a related move, Evers is seeking to delay the closure of Lincoln Hills — now scheduled for Jan. 1, 2021 — until space is available for all juvenile offenders held there. Republicans have said they may delay Lincoln HIlls' closure but won’t give Evers an open-ended time frame for shuttering it.

The population at Lincoln Hills has dropped in recent years — from 302 on average in 2014 to 160 as of the end of last year.

The per-offender costs at the facility are going up because Lincoln Hills has so many fixed expenses. Those costs are paid by the state in some cases and counties in others.

Now, it costs $397 per day to house one offender at Lincoln Hills. By one estimate, that cost could go up to $629 per day by 2021 — 58% more than the current rate — but it’s impossible to pin down the future costs because state officials are still developing their plans for juvenile corrections, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau noted in a memo.

Once Lincoln Hills closes, it could be converted to an adult prison that could hold 575 inmates.

Running it as an adult institution is expected to cost more than $24 million a year. Housing inmates there would allow the state to reduce the amount of space in rents in county jails, saving the state nearly $11 million. 

Stewardship

Lawmakers also approved Evers' proposal to extend the state’s land purchasing program, known as the Knowles-Nelson stewardship program, for two more years. Under the plan, the state would borrow $42.6 million to make land purchases during that period.

Evers proposed forming a committee to make recommendations on the future of the program, which has helped build Milwaukee's Hank Aaron Trail, as well as the Ice Age Trail that spans the state. 

Democrats on the committee, sporting groups and environmentalists wanted Evers and the finance committee to support a 10-year extension of the program. They say the effort has already been hit hard by cuts — falling from $86 million annually before the GOP took power in 2011 to $33.25 million this year. 

Some Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about the cost of stewardship. The money spent since 1989 has meant acquisitions or easements of nearly 691,000 acres but is accruing interest payments of more than $500,000 a week.

In a new report, the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum said the DNR spent its lowest amount ever last year on land acquisitions.

Also on Tuesday, lawmakers approved including in the next state budget $100,000 in one-time funding to pay for research on genetic resistance to chronic wasting disease in farmed deer.

CAFO fees

Evers' plans for higher fees for the state's largest farms were rejected by Tuesday's action. 

Evers sought to increase the annual fee from $345 for concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFOs, to $660. He also wanted to charge the farms $3,270 for each new five-year permit.

Instead, the committee agreed with Assembly and Senate bills that called for using all proceeds from CAFOs for the DNR. Currently, $250 of that goes to the state's general fund. 

Democrats opposed the move, saying it doesn't require farms owners to pay for measures to remedy pollution they cause.

"What you're essentially doing in this motion is, once again, requiring other people for the most part to pay the cost of regulating an industry that has been woefully unregulated," Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, said.

The budget-writing committee also voted to make available $8.8 million in state funds the University of Wisconsin System could tap into to create a research program for dairy producers if lawmakers on the finance committee approved. 

The budget measure comes after a bill was introduced by Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Travis Tranel, R-Cuba City, that would add funds for a dairy management program at UW-Madison and research programs at UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls.  

Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

You can find out who your legislators are and how to contact them here: https://maps.legis.wisconsin.gov/