The regular session of the Legislature officially ended on Thursday, March 26, 2020. All legislation which did not pass both houses fails pursuant to SJR-1. However, bills that did not pass through both houses can be revived in an extraordinary session to be acted upon. The Senate was scheduled to come in one more time under their regular session, but they did not end up convening due to the pandemic. We will continue to monitor and provide updates if the Legislature chooses to convene in extraordinary session.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statutory, regulatory, and policy landscape is rapidly changing. To ensure the health and safety of students, employees, and visitors to UW institutions, UW System has created a COVID-19 Interim Policy Resources website for staff to use as resource on already granted regulatory flexibilities and other regulatory relief and flexibility from state or federal law, Board of Regents policies, and other deadlines and operational issues.

As your institutions identify needs for regulatory flexibility, such as extensions to deadlines or waivers of requirements, whether from federal or state law, Board of Regent policy or System policy, please submit requests to President Ray Cross at rcross@uwsa.edu, and copy David Volz. These requests should be submitted by Chancellors or their designee and should identify the type of relief requested with a detailed justification and point of contact at the institution. All requests will be monitored by a team at UW System and will be routed accordingly for evaluation. Determinations will be posted to the web site, along with flexibilities or waivers that have already been granted by state or federal agencies.

In addition to making more updates to the COVID-19 web site, a new tool has also been created for UW System and UWSA employees to ask questions about coronavirus-specific topics. You can access the link on the COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpage.  This will require you to log in with your campus credentials.

Finally, given that information around this issue is changing on a daily basis, the State Relations newsletter will be updated with important information as it comes in rather than doing the weekly e-mail on Mondays. Please continue to reach out to Jeff Buhrandt, Deej Lundgren, or David Specht-Boardman with any questions or concerns.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced today, March 17, 2020, that the Senate’s March floor session will be postponed.  Fitzgerald said he and Assembly Speaker Vos will call the Legislature into an extraordinary session this spring so the Senate can complete legislative business.

The State Relations team will continue to monitor this and other legislation impacting UW System and will share any updates through the newsletter.

Please contact Jeff Buhrandt, Deej Lundgren, or David Specht-Boardman with any questions.

The 17th annual Research in the Rotunda event was held on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda. Undergraduate student researchers from across the University of Wisconsin System, together with their faculty advisers, presented their research findings on a variety of important topics to legislators, state leaders, UW alumni, and other supporters. See the event program for a list of the 2020 research topics.

We will share footage and images from the event as they become available. Previous year highlights can be found on the Research in the Rotunda website.

As the expanding COVID-19 issue continues to present challenges for us all, we want to assure you that the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and communities is the UW System’s top priority.

Given the rapidly changing landscape of the coronavirus situation, it is important that we have a clear understanding of our policies and anticipated actions. The UW System’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC), which includes a team of health, risk, international security, emergency management, legal counsel and communication experts, has launched a website to provide information on the latest coronavirus developments, particularly as they relate to the UW System. The site will provide regular updates and/or new information, as needed. You can find the website at www.wisconsin.edu/coronavirus. We encourage you to share this website as a resource.

On Monday, March 2, 2020, Governor Tony Evers signed a series of bills into law. Among the bills was AB 531: ID Card Info, now Wisconsin Act 116.

Act 116 will require all newly issued student identification cards to include contact information for local and national suicide prevention hotlines.

On Tuesday, March 3, 2020 the Governor also signed several other bills into law which affect the UW System, which include:

• SB 537/AB 684 Private School Veterans Grant, now Wisconsin Act 149
• SB 117/AB 82 Athlete Agent Regulation, now Wisconsin Act 180
• SB 205/AB 230 Veterans Credit Transfer, now Wisconsin Act 147

The Board of Regents held a public hearing on Thursday, March 5, on proposed amendments to Chapter UWS 17, Wis. Admin. Code and Chapter UWS 18, Wis. Admin. Code. 

 Written comments for each rule will be accepted until March 12, 2020. Comments may be submitted:

1. on the web (Chapter 17; Chapter 18)
2. by email to board@uwsa.edu;
3. at the public hearing; or
4. by mail to Office of the Board of Regents, 1860 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706.

The State Assembly’s final meeting of the legislative session was on Thursday, February 20, however there are a number of active bills that could still become law. This includes bills that have been passed by the State Assembly and are awaiting State Senate action and bills that have been passed by both houses and have been sent to the Governor for his consideration. It is possible the Assembly could come back in, but it would be for a very narrow purpose, such as to vote on a veto override or a specific issue.

Bills that have been passed by the State Assembly and could still be considered when the State Senate meets at the end of March are:

• SB 403/AB 444 (Kapenga/Horlacher): Freedom of Expression
• AB 874 (Loudenbeck): UW System Ag Study
• AB 876 (Loudenbeck): UW Madison Ag Study
• SB 718/AB 796 (Cowles/Kitchens): Nitrate Reduction Pilot
• SB 709/AB 799 (Jacque/Kurtz): Water Policy Office
• SB 722/AB 800 (Testin/Shankland): Well Testing Grants & UWSP Watershed funding
• SB 712/AB 801 (Darling/Novak): Freshwater Collaborative
• SB 563/AB 627 (VanderMeer/Marklein): Extension Funding
• SB 497/AB 556 (Loudenbeck/Marklein): Teaching Hours
• SB 446/AB 452 (Roth/Skrowonski): MIA Bill
• SB 559/AB 600 (Nass/Horlacher) PFA’s language was added on Assembly Floor

Bills that have been passed by both houses and now await action from the Governor are:

• SB 537/AB 684 Private School Veterans Grant
• SB 496/AB 531 Suicide Hotline numbers on ID Cards
• SB 117/AB 82 Athlete Agent Regulation
• SB 205/AB 230 Veterans Credit Transfer

We will continue to update the State Relations newsletter with changes on these bills.

The Wisconsin State Building Commission met on Thursday, February 27, to vote on state and UW System building and improvement proposals. The Commission considered and approved the following items on behalf of the University of Wisconsin:

• UW-La Crosse: Authority to Construct the Fieldhouse and Soccer Support Facility – $49,035,000 ($24,517,500 PRSB and $24,517,000 PR-Cash)
• UW-Madison: Increase for the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant and Center for Dairy Research Addition $25,689,100 – $72,609,100 ($26,210,000 GFSB, $23,960,000 Gifts and $22,439,100 PR-Cash)
• UW-Madison: Increase for the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory $7,000,000 – $57,077,000 ($27,177,000 GFSB, $25,400,000 Gifts and $4,500 PR-Cash)
• UW-Madison: Authority to Construct the Sellery Hall Addition and Renovation – $78,811,000 ($59,108,000 PRSB and $19,703,000 PR-Cash)
• UW-Milwaukee: Increase, Authority to Demolish Building A, Authority to Construct NWQ and Student Health Projects – $3,100,000 – $59,780,000($49,100,000 GFSB, $7,000,000 PRSB, $1,500,000 PR-Cash and $2,180,000 Gifts)
• UW Eau Claire: Increase, Heating Plant Fuel Reliability – $1,057,400 -$3,857,200 ($2,709,300 GFSB and $1,147,900 PRSB)
• UW-Parkside: Increase, Authority to Construct Classroom Renovation/Instructional Technology $450,000 PR-Cash – $2,501,300 ($2,051,300 GFSB and $450,000 PR-Cash)
• UW-Milwaukee: EMS Laboratory Renovation – $2,990,000 GFSB
• UW-Milwaukee: Purin Hall Infrastructure Repairs – $325,000 PRSB
• UW-Milwaukee: Zelazo Center Roof Repairs – $930,000 GFSB
• UW-Milwaukee: Campus IT Infrastructure Renovation – $4,805,100 ($3,748,000 GFSB and $1,057,100 PRSB)
• UW-Milwaukee: Heating Plant Stack Replacements – $526,000 ($410,000 GFSB and $115,700)
• UW-Parkside: Sports & Activity Center Pool Basin Infill – $1,764,600 GFSB
• UW-Parkside: Campus Underground Utility Distribution Renovation – $4,847,400 ($4,023,300 GFSB and $824,100 PR-Cash)
• UW-Platteville: Art Building Exterior Envelope Repairs – $2,424,400 GFSB
• UW-Platteville: Williams Fieldhouse Addition Roof Replacement – $1,378,300 GFSB
• UW-River Falls: Increase, Heating Plant Fuel Reliability Upgrade – $473,000 – $3,288,700 ($1,331,400 GFSB and $1,956,800 PR-Cash)
• UW-Stout: Multi-Bldg Fire Alarm System Replacement – $2,045,000 GFSB
• UW-Whitewater: Esker Hall Roof Replacement – $1,195,000 PRSB
• UW-Whitewater: Heating Plant Boiler No. 6 Upgrade – $400,000 ($228,000 GFSB and $172,000 PRSB)

Meeting minutes will be posted on the DFDM website once they are available.