The Weekly Update

Research in the Rotunda

On April 2, the Universities of Wisconsin will hold the 21^st annual Research in the Rotunda event. The event will run from 10:30AM to 2:30PM in Wisconsin’s Capitol Rotunda. The event gathers student researchers – and their faculty advisers – from each of our 13 universities, who will showcase their research and detail the importance of undergraduate research opportunities. Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman will deliver remarks at 12PM.

For more information, including a program agenda, you can view the Research in the Rotunda website.

State Building Commission: Higher Education Subcommittee

The Higher Education Subcommittee of the State Building Commission met on Monday, March 24, to make recommendations on the UW portion of the Governor’s 2025-27 Capital Budget Proposal. All items resulted in a tied 2-2 vote, resulting in no projects being recommended to the full commission.

State Building Commission

The State Building Commission met on Tuesday, March 25 to make recommendations related to the Governor’s 2025-27 Capital Budget proposal. All items resulted in a tied 4-4 vote, sending the proposed projects to the Joint Committee on Finance with no recommendation.

Governor Bill Signings

Last Friday, March 28, the two collective bargaining agreements for both the Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Madison’s trades employees were signed into law by Governor Evers as 2025 Wisconsin Act 3 and 2025 Wisconsin Act 2.

Joint Committee on Finance Budget Briefing

On Tuesday, April 1 at 12pm, the Joint Committee on Finance will hold a budget briefing for the Universities of Wisconsin and the Department of Corrections regarding the Governor’s 2025-27 budget recommendations. President Rothman has been invited to present testimony to the committee and to answer any questions that the committee may have.  You will be able to view the official notice on the JFC site once available.

You will be able to view the briefing live on WisconsinEye.

Joint Committee on Finance Listening Sessions

Two out of the four Joint Committee on Finance listening sessions are happening this week. The first will take place this Wednesday, April 2, from 10am – 5pm at Kaukauna High School. The second will take place this Friday, April 4, from 10am – 5pm at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis. 

You will be able to view all four listening sessions on WisconsinEye.

Assembly Bill 39 Public Hearing

The Assembly Committee on State Affairs will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, April 2, at 10am on Assembly Bill 39 relating to: requiring state employees to perform their work at the offices of their employer. Its companion bill, Senate Bill 27, already passed out of the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs on a 3-2 vote on March 13, 2025.

You will be able to view the hearing on WisconsinEye.

DETERRENT Act

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1048 - the DETERRENT Act via a bipartisan vote of 241-169.

House Education and the Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg  released a statement following the passage of the legislation, which includes the following resources:

Click here for a video explainer.
Click here for a fact sheet.
Click here for a myth vs. fact.
Click here to see what they are saying.”

The bill now advances to the Senate for further consideration.

House and Senate Committee Investigations

Last week, the House Education and Workforce Committee sent letters to five universities -Barnard College, Bowdoin College, Northwestern University, Pomona College, and Sarah Lawrence College - regarding responses to antisemitism on their respective campuses. You can read the letters and the press release here. 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee also launched an investigation into American Muslims for Palestine. As noted in the linked release, Chairman Cassidy “also requested information from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as UCLA, Barnard College, The George Washington University, and Columbia University.”

NIH Director Confirmation

Last week, the Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya to be Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). You can read the statement from Senate HELP Committee Chairman Cassidy on the vote here.

House and Senate Hearing Schedule

If interested, you can see a full list of upcoming hearings on the Senate Hearings & Meetings Page. A review of the this week’s committee hearings in the House of Representatives is available via Leader Scalise’s Committee Cliff Notes page. 

House and Senate Floor Schedules

The House of Representatives and Senate are both scheduled to be in session and voting this week. A full list of votes can be found on the respective websites for the House of Representatives and the Senate as they are released.