Gov. Evers vetoes GOP plan to merge West Bend college campuses
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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican plan Wednesday that would have merged the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County with Moraine Park Technical College.
Evers opposed the Legislature inserting itself into a matter he said falls under the responsibility of the UW System, state Technical College System and Moraine Park Technical College. He also disagreed with the focus on one campus, which happens to be located in one of Wisconsin's most Republican counties.
"I object to the Legislature singling out only one of our state's branch campuses when many campuses are facing challenges, in part due to the Legislature's repeated failure to provide an adequate level of funding for the University of Wisconsin System," Evers wrote in his veto message.
Lawmakers didn't offer extra money to help UW-Platteville Richland, which essentially closed at the end of the school year due to low enrollment. Most of the other branch campuses are also struggling to fill seats.
The GOP plan would have provided up to $3.35 million to help transition UWM at Washington County to a "joint Moraine Park Technical College/Washington County operation." It's unclear what UW System's involvement, if any, would have been post-merger under the proposal.
Evers vetoed the proposed merger and the money associated with it. That leaves Washington County, UWM and Moraine Park Technical College on their own to partner in a way they see fit.
“I am deeply disappointed that Governor Evers vetoed such a commonsense solution without more than a courtesy call from his staff a few minutes before it was announced, but I greatly appreciate the opportunity we had to work with our partners at UW System, UW-Milwaukee, Moraine Park Technical College, and the Wisconsin Technical College System to try and propose a solution that avoids another UW-Richland," Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann said in a statement.
Moraine Park Technical College welcomes continued collaboration with UW partners, President Bonnie Baerwald said in a statement.
UW-Milwaukee formed a work group this spring to study the future of its Washington County campus. Recommendations are due by Sept. 1. For the foreseeable future, UWM at Washington County remains open.
"We are grateful that Governor Evers recognized the need for UW System and UWM to lead any plans for the future of our campus," UW-Milwaukee spokesperson Olivia Hwang said. "We recognize enrollment declines on our Washington County campus pose challenges to how we serve students, but we are committed to working with, not apart from, our campus community.”
Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KellyMeyerhofer.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Milwaukee at Washington County merger with Moraine Park Tech axed