Republicans stall UW-Madison engineering building again, citing transparency concerns

The new University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering building is again in peril.

Republican lawmakers rejected the UW System's request to increase the project's $347 million budget by $73 million during a State Building Commission meeting Wednesday. The ask to bump up the budget was based on increased costs and design changes, including an additional floor for business partnership opportunities.

UW officials weren't asking for more money at the meeting, but seeking approval to reallocate funding from a UW-Eau Claire building project that came in $70 million under bid to increase the budget on the UW-Madison project, as well as several projects at other UW campuses that needed more money than expected.

The vote failed 4-4 along party lines, essentially stalling the projects until the commission signs off.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, blasted the UW System for a lack of accountability and transparency, saying critical questions from lawmakers remain unanswered.

Sen. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, said he was "floored" by the UW-Eau Claire science building project coming 20% under bid and lawmakers "didn't hear a peep about it" until this week.

UW-Eau Claire's new science building was initially estimated to be $344 million. The price tag is now projected to be $274 million. UW officials blamed unprecedented inflationary trends, and supply chain and labor market problems for why the bid was so off. The UW Board of Regents discussed uncertainty around building project estimates in a 2022 meeting.

Jacque said approving the reallocation of money could establish a precedent and incentive for UW and other agencies to submit higher pre-bid estimates that could then be used as "cash pi?atas" for other projects.

UW-Madison proposed funding the $73 million budget increase by using $29 million of unspent taxpayer money from the UW-Eau Claire project and raising $43 million in gifts and grants. That's in addition to the $150 million UW-Madison already agreed to raise for the project.

UW-Madison responded to the latest project snag by noting any prolonged delay would drive up the building's cost more.

"Time is certainly of the essence," said Craig Thompson, who leads the university's relationships with government and other stakeholders. "We stand ready to sit down with members of the legislature and State Building Commission to continue conversations, answer questions, provide additional information and resolve any remaining issues as quickly as possible."

A UW System spokesperson offered a similar statement about working with the Legislature to address lawmakers' concerns.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who serves on the State Building Commission and voted in support of the project, said it's important UW campuses have the resources they need.

“I am deeply disappointed that Republican lawmakers are once again pulling the rug out from under UW in the eleventh hour and putting politics ahead of doing what's best for our kids, our workforce and economy, and our state," he said in a statement.

The widely supported engineering project was ensnared for months last year in a broader political negotiation over campus diversity programs. In the previous budget, Republicans left the project out entirely.

The UW-Madison College of Engineering receives some 8,000 applicants annually but only has the space and teaching resources to accept about 1,200. The new building will allow the state flagship to graduate at least 1,000 more undergraduate engineers annually, as well as hire more faculty and expand research.

Construction was anticipated to begin in 2025, with an opening date targeted for 2028.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at [email protected] or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New UW-Madison engineering building is again in peril