Vote delayed on plan to cut UW System budget by $32 million over DEI programming

After hours of negotiations behind closed doors, Republicans on the Legislature`s budget committee put off any vote Tuesday on whether to slash the University of Wisconsin System`s budget by $32 million in an attempt to gut funding for diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.

The cuts, proposed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, had been expected to be taken up by the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee as part of its deliberations over the 2023-25 state budget. But by the time committee convened late Tuesday night, it had taken System funding off the agenda.

If ultimately approved, the cuts would come as 10 of the System`s universities are projected to fall a combined $60 million short of the money they say they need to continue current spending. They wouldn`t force the System to specifically eliminate DEI, but would largely erase any benefit the System might see from increased in-state undergraduate tuition, which is expected to bring in an additional $38 million...

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