The fall 2024 primary in Wisconsin saw voters reject two Republican-promoted ballot measures that in tandem would give the Legislature authority over spending emergency federal funding instead of the governor — UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky described the results as a win for Democrats. The Universities of Wisconsin have continued cost-cutting measures that includes lay-offs and the closure of two-year campuses, and former UW Regent Bob Atwell said the system should stop closures without a clear plan.
 

Anthony Chergosky
Professor, UW-La Crosse Department of Political Science and Public Administration

• The results of the 2024 partisan primary election on Aug. 13 showed two ballot measures that would amend the state constitution failed by a very wide for Wisconsin margin of 57.5% to 42.5%. If they had passed, the amendments would have cemented the Legislature’s authority to spend emergency federal funds coming into Wisconsin, rather than that power continuing to be held by the governor. Chergosky considered who won in partisan terms with that result.
• Chergosky: “Gov. Evers and the Democratic Party — because the vote against the constitutional amendments was the decisive winner in that election. When we look at that election, the ballot measures were worded in a very odd, confusing, lawyerly way. And so voters, when they looked at the text on the ballot for the amendments, they didn’t have much to work with. That meant that Evers and the Democrats could make a big influence on voters through their campaign messaging. And Evers and the Democrats did indeed make a strong push against those amendments. They were able to engage and mobilize their base. And that led to the amendments getting defeated.”

Bob Atwell
Former UW System Regent

• In the latest round of cuts within the Universities of Wisconsin, 35 tenured faculty from the two-year Waukesha and Washington County campuses are expecting layoff notices. Job loss and campus closures across the state are a result of structural deficits and long-standing enrollment declines. Atwell is a member of a legislative study committee on the future of the UW System. A former member of the Board of Regents, Atwell said he wants a clear plan for the system’s universities across the state that doesn’t start with closing campuses.
• Atwell: “I don’t think you’re getting to the heart of our cost structure by just closing Fond du Lac or Richland Center. I mean, enrollment is what the enrollment is, but I would prefer frankly —I live in rural areas, I have most of my time in the state — I think we need to preserve access to locations to the maximum extent possible. But more importantly, we got to have the real data and the real discussion about what’s happening.”

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