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>> The following program is
a PBS Wisconsin Original

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production.
>> A settlement over

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polluted water still leaves
many left in the wake, and

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a wave of tax credits looks
to alleviate a strained

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rental housing market as
inflation costs surge.

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[MUSIC]
I'm Frederica Freyberg.

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Tonight on "Here& Now", the
real cost of cleaning up

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toxic forever chemicals.
Then the leader of the

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state's housing authority
on helping fund affordable

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rental units. We hear about
the state of the state's

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health and the cost of
state university tuition

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going up. It's "Here& Now"
for June 12th.

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>> Funding for "Here& Now"
is provided by the Focus

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Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

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>> After trading new
airstrikes with Iran this

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week, President Trump
suddenly announced a deal

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was imminent and could be
signed this weekend. This

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comes after inflation
reached a new high since

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the conflict began.
Wisconsin's U.S. senator

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spoke with WPR this week,
responding to questions

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about high fuel costs and
fertilizer prices for

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farmers.
>> A lot of them don't have

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the money right now to fill
their tanks for planting

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season and then fertilizer.
Many of our farmers are

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having to do without the
full complement of

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fertilizer that they need
for their fields. This is

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going to have ramifications
for months and months to

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come. And our farmers work
harder than anyone I know.

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So, you know, there may be
a glitzy rally that the

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president holds in
Wisconsin, but that does

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nothing to deal with the
real harm our farmers and

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ultimately the American
consumers of their products

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will have to deal with.
>> In June of 2022, because

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of President Biden and the
Democrats policy, they're

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waging the war on fossil
fuels. Average gasoline

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prices were $5 a gallon.
Yeah. I don't like the high

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fuel prices, the high
fertilizer prices. Nor does

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President Trump know, nor
do any of us. But I also

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recognize that what would
be far worse is if Iran

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became a nuclear power and
they wiped out our grid.

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That would be orders and
orders of magnitude worse

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as well. So hopefully this
is just short term pain. It

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is painful, I recognize
that, but that's why the

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sooner this war, the sooner
we win this war, the better

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for everybody.
>> Tyco Fire Products

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reached a settlement this
month with the state of

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Wisconsin to clean up PFAs
contamination in Marinette

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County. Tyco manufactured
firefighting foam that

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spread the forever
chemicals in soil and water.

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The settlement requires
Tyco to put $10 million

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into Wisconsin's PFAs Trust
Fund for future cleanup.

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Provide clean water in the
Marinette area, including

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deep drinking water wells
in a prescribed area for 20

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years. Monitor and report
water quality within the

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35mi'!S that includes parts
of the city of Marinette

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and the town of Peshtigo,
and requires Tyco to

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remediate and restore the
environment in soil,

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groundwater and surface
water. Another lawsuit

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against the company and
others is ongoing for

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reaction to the PFAs
settlement. We turn to Jeff

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Lamont, a resident in
Marinette and a retired

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hydrologist. And Jeff,
here.

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you for having me.
>> So how long in coming

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was this settlement?
>> They found PFAs on their

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fire training facility
three and a half to four

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years before they reported
it to DNR, which violated

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the spills law. And they
let the community drink

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this contaminated water for
four years before reporting

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it. So, yeah, we're seven
years in. We were first

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informed of the
contamination in November

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of 2017. So it's almost
been ten years.

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>> But in your mind, this
settlement barely touches

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the problem.
>> Yes. So the settlements

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were not happy at all about
because what it did,

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essentially it said there
was the initial

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investigation area and then
there was an expanded

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investigation area. And for
ten years the DNR had

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fought with Tyco about the
responsibility beyond this

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essential first area that
was investigated. The

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contamination was the same.
I mean, we're talking in

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places where it's neighbors
right across the street.

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Well, we're going to take
care of you on this side of

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the street. But the other
side of the street, that's

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not our contamination. And
this lawsuit limited their

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liability to just the
initial investigation area

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and not the expanded
investigation area or the

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3000 acres of of
contaminated biosolids that

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was spread in Marinette
County.

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>> But isn't the settlement
a $125 million in state

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funding and potential of an
ongoing lawsuit? Starting

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point better than nothing.
>> It is better than

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nothing. But if you want to
put that in into

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perspective, Tyco has set
aside $180 million just for

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this site. So, I mean,
we're just one of many, you

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know, dozens, if not
hundreds in the state that

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are impacted. So it really
does not go very far. And

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the deep wells Tyco has
been putting in

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approximately $100,000 a
piece. So if you look at

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another $10 million, that
might address another 100

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wells in the community
beyond the initial

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investigation area that are
still contaminated with

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their PFAs.
>> So you have experience

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in large scale cleanups
with the EPA. What, in your

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experience should be
happening?

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>> Well, you know, I try to
let the citizens of our

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community know that these
are very, very long, drawn

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out processes. I mean, a
lot of the Superfund sites

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that I worked on had been
in the gears for ten, 15,

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20, sometimes 30 years
before the remediation

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actually went into place or
started. And often these

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remedial efforts can take
multiple years. The, the

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Waukegan Harbor cleanup I
did, we were there for 7 or

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8 years from once we
started the the project.

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>> So can PFAs, these
forever chemicals, can they

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be removed, remediated,
make people safe.

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>> They can be. There's.
There's a number of

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technologies and as. And as
PFAs has become such a huge

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problem countrywide, a lot
of companies have started

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to invest a lot of money in
different techniques to

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clean up. You know, Tyco
chose, in my opinion, a

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very ineffective solution.
They did a pump and treat

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system to to remove shallow
groundwater and treat it

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with granular activated
carbon. And, and, and

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resins. And it can remove
that. But there are more

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practical ways. They're
more expensive. They're

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reactive barrier walls are
one that is being used a

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lot these days on Air Force
bases and, and in different

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communities across the
country. But Tyco chose, in

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my opinion, a very
ineffective method to

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address this.
>> Do you hold out hope

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that that this will be
adequately remediated in

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Wisconsin?
>> Not a lot with with

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without significant, you
know, outpour and outcry

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from the public. It's just
it's such a costly endeavor

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that unless there's a
responsible party like we

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have Tyco Johnson controls,
this is going to fall on

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the taxpayer. And, you know,
there's only so much

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resources in the state
budgets for this kind of

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thing. And like we talked
about earlier, $135 million

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is kind of a drop in the
bucket, really, but it is a

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starting point. So I should
be more optimistic, I guess,

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for that.
>> All right. Well, we will

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leave it on that note. Jeff
Lamont, thanks so much.

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>> Thank you so much.
>> Affordable rental

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housing across the state is
getting a boost with the

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Wisconsin Housing and
Economic Development

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Authority announcing nearly
$50 million in housing tax

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credits to developers that
are expected to create

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rentals for up to 5000
people from working

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families. For more on this,
we are joined by WHEDA CEO

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Elmer Moore RFK, Jr. Thanks
very much for being here.

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>> I am delighted to be
here and share with you

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some of the good news of
the work we've been doing.

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>> Where is the need most
acute for affordable

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rentals, and will these
developments be located in

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those areas?
>> You know, an interesting

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thing about housing in
today's environment is that

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it's acute everywhere. The
need for affordable housing

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is experienced in rural and
small, urban and in the in

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the city centers. And so
wherever we can make

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strategic investments in in
the form of housing tax

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credits across the state,
they're going to be

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desperately appreciated.
>> And these developments

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and developers will be
working across the state.

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>> Absolutely. It's 35
developments. You know, one

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of the realities is that we
have not seen a tax credit

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development in all 72
Wisconsin counties, but in

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in this instance, we're
going to be looking at 26

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communities across the
state, which is actually

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pretty, pretty successful.
>> What is the definition

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of affordable?
>> I'm so glad you asked

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that. And I'm going to give
you two definitions. When

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we talk about affordable
housing, usually what we're

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referring to is what I
refer to as capital A

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affordable, which means a
subsidized housing

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development that is rent
restricted to people with

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incomes 80% or below of the
area median income. These

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are often financed with tax
credits or other public

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sources. The other side of
affordability is really

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just housing that occupies
no more than 30% of a

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family's income. So we have
started a conversation

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about affordable housing
with that capital A also

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housing that people can
afford, which might be

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unrestricted. But it's it's
not necessarily as

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expensive as what we have
historically called market

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rate.
>> I was just going to ask

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if this is a model that has
worked historically.

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>> The the light tech
program, the low income

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housing tax credit program
was a bipartisan effort

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from 1986. This was Ronald
Reagan's administration's

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work. It is well understood
as the most successful

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private public, private
public partnership in in

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our country's history. It
has generated hundreds of

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thousands of rental housing
units and homeownership

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units across the country.
For WHEDA alone, we're

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talking 61,000 units have
been created using the the

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housing tax credit program.
You know, we have deployed.

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Are you ready for this
number, $644 million in

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just tax credits? That has
really moved the needle,

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and it has incentivized the
investment of communities

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and developers in the form
of housing across the state.

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>> How does a lack of such
kind of affordable rental

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units affect the economic
health of the state, not to

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mention the needs of lower
income renters?

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>> That is playing out in
the form of diminished

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health outcomes. There's an
aspect to educational

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outcomes. Everything that
we care about in our

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society is impacted by
whether or not people have

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safe, stable housing. If
they can't afford the

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housing that they are
occupying. And very many

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people, something like 60%
of renters are in housing

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that actually is considered
unaffordable. They are rent

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burdened. The economic
outcomes is they're not

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able to make very key
investments in things that

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will support them thriving,
whether that's childcare,

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investing in their own
education, access to health

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care, whether it's the
choice between paying rent

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or putting gas in your car
so you can get to work on

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time. Housing is at the
very core of how we

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experience life.
>> Is it the expectation,

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though, that because of
declining working age

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population, the need for
new housing units like this

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will also decline?
>> Unfortunately, that

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There's multitudes of
housing, whether it's

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senior housing, family
housing, housing for people

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with special physical or
cognitive needs. In

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Wisconsin, 60% of the
housing is more than 40

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years old. You know, I live
in a house that's 120. And

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I can guarantee you, when
those craftsmen were

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building that structure,
they didn't necessarily

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plan for me to be living in
it. 120 years later, that's

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how housing has always been.
We are in a crisis because

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00:14:18,091 --> 00:14:20,761
housing is unaffordable. We
aren't producing enough of

234
00:14:20,827 --> 00:14:24,398
it, and what we have is
often aging out.

235
00:14:24,865 --> 00:14:26,967
>> Well, Elmer Moore, we
leave it there. Thank you

236
00:14:27,034 --> 00:14:29,703
so much for joining us.
>> I'm so grateful. Thank

237
00:14:29,770 --> 00:14:33,473
you for your time.
>> Turning to health news,

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00:14:33,540 --> 00:14:37,711
20% of Wisconsinites are
self-reporting poor or fair

239
00:14:37,778 --> 00:14:41,281
physical health, and 1 in 7
say the same of their

240
00:14:41,348 --> 00:14:44,284
mental health. This is
according to the new state

241
00:14:44,351 --> 00:14:47,087
health assessment, which
comes out every five years.

242
00:14:47,154 --> 00:14:50,023
The Department of Health
Services is looking for

243
00:14:50,090 --> 00:14:53,427
ways to fill in the gaps.
Steven Potter spoke with

244
00:14:53,493 --> 00:14:56,697
the state health officer,
Paula Tran for Moore,

245
00:14:56,763 --> 00:15:00,334
beginning with what the
report is measuring.

246
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,637
>> Overall, we are
measuring the things that

247
00:15:03,704 --> 00:15:06,273
shape Wisconsinites health
as well as the health

248
00:15:06,340 --> 00:15:08,709
outcomes. So we're looking
at things like demographic

249
00:15:08,775 --> 00:15:11,645
factors who lives in
Wisconsin, where they live.

250
00:15:11,712 --> 00:15:15,983
We're also measuring the
main causes of death, and

251
00:15:16,049 --> 00:15:18,485
we're also looking at all
of the factors that really

252
00:15:18,552 --> 00:15:21,054
shape an individual's
ability to be healthy and

253
00:15:21,121 --> 00:15:24,925
well, like economic factors,
looking at housing, looking

254
00:15:24,992 --> 00:15:29,429
at affordable access to
resources that people need,

255
00:15:29,496 --> 00:15:31,198
like food and
transportation, as well as

256
00:15:31,265 --> 00:15:33,534
their access to health care
directly.

257
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:37,104
>> What are the most
significant health concerns

258
00:15:37,171 --> 00:15:40,807
facing Wisconsinites?
>> Yeah. Well, we know that

259
00:15:40,874 --> 00:15:43,010
Wisconsinites are dying
younger than before the

260
00:15:43,076 --> 00:15:45,045
pandemic, and we know that
there's a lot of challenges

261
00:15:45,112 --> 00:15:47,981
for Wisconsinites in
accessing both the daily

262
00:15:48,048 --> 00:15:50,350
resources that they need to
be healthy and well. So

263
00:15:50,417 --> 00:15:53,720
healthy food, having safe,
secure housing, having

264
00:15:53,787 --> 00:15:57,257
transportation to get them
to where they need, as well

265
00:15:57,324 --> 00:16:01,895
as having good access to
affordable care where they

266
00:16:01,962 --> 00:16:05,232
need it, when they need it.
>> One of the key points in

267
00:16:05,299 --> 00:16:07,401
your new report is that
Wisconsinites feel that

268
00:16:07,467 --> 00:16:10,204
there are major obstacles
to them receiving health

269
00:16:10,270 --> 00:16:12,039
care. They need to be
healthy. What are those

270
00:16:12,105 --> 00:16:13,674
barriers?
>> Yeah, some of the

271
00:16:13,740 --> 00:16:17,411
barriers are costs, and
access to insurance

272
00:16:17,477 --> 00:16:20,047
actually covers all the
kinds of care that they

273
00:16:20,113 --> 00:16:22,149
need, and cost and
insurance kind of go

274
00:16:22,216 --> 00:16:25,018
together. And we know that
most people access

275
00:16:25,085 --> 00:16:27,821
insurance through their
employer. So if they are

276
00:16:27,888 --> 00:16:31,525
experiencing gaps in
employment, that might

277
00:16:31,592 --> 00:16:34,161
insurance and their for
their access to care. When

278
00:16:34,228 --> 00:16:36,864
we look at care directly,
we know that in parts of

279
00:16:36,930 --> 00:16:41,068
our state, there are gaps
in kinds of care. So

280
00:16:41,702 --> 00:16:43,704
hospitals have closed over
the last several years and

281
00:16:43,770 --> 00:16:46,940
more rural areas. And even
in urban areas, we're

282
00:16:47,007 --> 00:16:50,878
seeing clinics and other
health care providers

283
00:16:50,944 --> 00:16:55,716
closed down or just just
based on, you know, the

284
00:16:55,782 --> 00:16:59,353
challenges it takes to run
a health care organization.

285
00:16:59,419 --> 00:17:04,324
So both getting to care in
a way that's accessible and

286
00:17:05,192 --> 00:17:08,328
access can be defined again,
by cost, by being able to

287
00:17:08,395 --> 00:17:10,998
drive to the care or and
also having the right kind

288
00:17:11,064 --> 00:17:13,200
of provider for the care
you need.

289
00:17:13,267 --> 00:17:15,402
>> A large number of
residents rated their own

290
00:17:15,469 --> 00:17:18,772
health as poor or fair.
About 20% of residents said

291
00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:21,842
that. Why are they feeling
this way?

292
00:17:21,909 --> 00:17:25,045
>> Yeah, it again, when we
look at all of the

293
00:17:25,112 --> 00:17:27,047
challenges that
Wisconsinites are facing,

294
00:17:27,114 --> 00:17:31,752
we know that overall costs
are rising across not just

295
00:17:31,818 --> 00:17:36,623
health care, but all daily
living needs. So that is

296
00:17:36,690 --> 00:17:40,928
putting a stress on
families. And because our

297
00:17:42,496 --> 00:17:45,799
incomes are also being
impacted and not rising as

298
00:17:45,866 --> 00:17:49,603
quickly for some, with the
inflation of other costs,

299
00:17:49,670 --> 00:17:51,405
Wisconsinites are being
forced to choose between

300
00:17:51,471 --> 00:17:54,274
these really important
things that they need,

301
00:17:54,341 --> 00:17:56,810
whether it's putting food
on the table with

302
00:17:56,877 --> 00:17:59,079
medications or accessing
care because there's a

303
00:17:59,146 --> 00:18:01,915
co-payment that they cannot
afford. So all of those

304
00:18:01,982 --> 00:18:05,285
things are contributing to
how Wisconsinites are

305
00:18:05,352 --> 00:18:08,155
feeling and to their health
outcomes, that we continue

306
00:18:08,222 --> 00:18:12,226
to be challenged around
obesity, obesity,

307
00:18:12,993 --> 00:18:16,396
hypertension that causes a
whole host of chronic

308
00:18:16,463 --> 00:18:19,266
diseases. So there are both
the drivers of health that

309
00:18:19,333 --> 00:18:23,704
are causing more stress for
Wisconsinites and accessing

310
00:18:23,770 --> 00:18:26,406
the things that they need
to be healthy and well are

311
00:18:26,473 --> 00:18:30,711
also exacerbating and
allowing other health

312
00:18:31,378 --> 00:18:34,882
outcomes to persist.
>> Along the lines of with

313
00:18:34,948 --> 00:18:37,017
mental health. What did
your report find?

314
00:18:37,084 --> 00:18:39,586
>> Yeah, we know that
Wisconsinites are

315
00:18:39,653 --> 00:18:42,623
struggling, they're
experiencing stress, and

316
00:18:42,689 --> 00:18:47,694
they're also reporting that
their mental health is is

317
00:18:48,662 --> 00:18:51,498
poor. And when they need
supports around mental

318
00:18:51,565 --> 00:18:54,067
health, it's very difficult
to access the kind of

319
00:18:54,134 --> 00:18:57,137
mental health care that
they need. And we know our

320
00:18:57,204 --> 00:18:59,706
mental health care
environment has a lot of

321
00:18:59,773 --> 00:19:02,609
room to improve around
coordinating around

322
00:19:02,676 --> 00:19:06,713
different kinds of care,
receiving the right

323
00:19:06,780 --> 00:19:10,417
referrals for the care you
need, and all across the

324
00:19:10,484 --> 00:19:14,388
care continuum, making sure
we are coordinated so that

325
00:19:14,454 --> 00:19:18,825
at any part of the entry of
that continuum, folks are

326
00:19:18,892 --> 00:19:21,228
accessing early and not
allowing some of those

327
00:19:21,295 --> 00:19:24,097
challenges to persist, to
become worse and

328
00:19:24,164 --> 00:19:26,800
potentially be in crisis
situations.

329
00:19:26,867 --> 00:19:30,771
>> Your report also
measures some good things.

330
00:19:30,838 --> 00:19:34,174
Residents who vote,
volunteer, or do favors for

331
00:19:34,241 --> 00:19:37,544
others. Why is it important
to measure these things and

332
00:19:37,611 --> 00:19:40,113
what did you find?
>> Yeah. What the current

333
00:19:40,180 --> 00:19:43,317
evidence tells us is
communities that are more

334
00:19:43,383 --> 00:19:46,553
engaged and active and
connected to each other,

335
00:19:46,620 --> 00:19:49,857
the healthier those
communities are. It both

336
00:19:49,923 --> 00:19:53,861
helps from a mental health
perspective. But when in a

337
00:19:53,927 --> 00:19:55,996
community, a neighbor is in
need of something, they're

338
00:19:56,063 --> 00:19:59,333
much more likely to be able
to have community support

339
00:19:59,399 --> 00:20:02,202
be responsive to those
needs. So there's a lot of

340
00:20:02,269 --> 00:20:04,972
different reasons why
community connectedness and

341
00:20:05,038 --> 00:20:08,175
community engagement and
being civically involved

342
00:20:08,242 --> 00:20:12,145
helps a community stay
healthier and access the

343
00:20:12,212 --> 00:20:15,582
resources it needs. So
that's an absolutely great

344
00:20:15,649 --> 00:20:18,652
finding for us that more
Wisconsinites are feeling

345
00:20:18,719 --> 00:20:20,687
like they help others and
others help them when

346
00:20:20,754 --> 00:20:24,558
they're in need.
>> The cost of attending

347
00:20:25,158 --> 00:20:27,761
University of Wisconsin
schools is going up in the

348
00:20:27,828 --> 00:20:31,465
fall. This month, the UW
Board of Regents approved a

349
00:20:31,532 --> 00:20:34,935
2% tuition hike for
in-state undergraduate

350
00:20:35,002 --> 00:20:37,738
students, plus roughly
commensurate increases in

351
00:20:37,804 --> 00:20:42,476
fees and room and board
that will put UW-Madison at

352
00:20:44,678 --> 00:20:49,383
$12,416 on the high end,
and UW Parkside at 8851 at

353
00:20:49,449 --> 00:20:52,586
the lowest price point.
It's the fourth tuition

354
00:20:52,653 --> 00:20:55,822
increase in a row after a
ten year freeze. In the

355
00:20:55,889 --> 00:20:59,359
midst of increasing cost
pressures on families, how

356
00:20:59,426 --> 00:21:02,596
reasonable is the tuition
hike? We're joined by

357
00:21:02,663 --> 00:21:06,133
professor in the UW-Madison
Department of Education

358
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,435
Policy, Taylor Odle, and
thanks for being here.

359
00:21:08,502 --> 00:21:11,672
>> Thanks for having me.
>> So a 2% tuition hike on

360
00:21:11,738 --> 00:21:15,008
paper seems really modest,
but at a time, as we said,

361
00:21:15,075 --> 00:21:18,078
when people questioned the
value of a college degree,

362
00:21:18,145 --> 00:21:21,148
does it turn some people
away?

363
00:21:21,215 --> 00:21:23,750
>> I think it's very
important to acknowledge

364
00:21:23,817 --> 00:21:27,087
that a 2% increase is very
real money for students and

365
00:21:27,154 --> 00:21:29,289
families. I think at the
same time, we also have to

366
00:21:29,356 --> 00:21:32,092
acknowledge that costs are
going up for all of us,

367
00:21:32,159 --> 00:21:34,728
including organizations and
businesses like the

368
00:21:34,795 --> 00:21:39,466
Universities of Wisconsin.
2% is relatively modest and

369
00:21:39,533 --> 00:21:42,503
predictable, and below the
rate of inflation right now

370
00:21:42,569 --> 00:21:44,805
doesn't mean it doesn't,
you know, have important

371
00:21:44,872 --> 00:21:47,541
conversations about dollars
and cents at the end of the

372
00:21:47,608 --> 00:21:49,610
day. But what students and
families should really care

373
00:21:49,676 --> 00:21:52,513
about is the net price of
college. So when you quote

374
00:21:52,579 --> 00:21:54,681
that $12,000 or that $8,000,
that's what we call the

375
00:21:54,748 --> 00:21:57,451
sticker price, what you see
on the website. But from

376
00:21:57,518 --> 00:21:59,553
that, we know people get
grants and scholarships,

377
00:21:59,620 --> 00:22:02,556
and that pulls it down to
what we call the net price,

378
00:22:02,623 --> 00:22:05,559
the check that you have to
write at the end of the day

379
00:22:05,626 --> 00:22:07,761
to be able to enroll. And
that number has actually

380
00:22:07,828 --> 00:22:09,696
been relatively flat over
the last several years

381
00:22:09,763 --> 00:22:12,733
because UW is taking money
from these tuition

382
00:22:12,799 --> 00:22:16,570
back into financial aid.
>> With a 30% decline in

383
00:22:16,637 --> 00:22:20,207
highest paying
international students and

384
00:22:20,274 --> 00:22:23,977
volatile federal research
funding. What is a

385
00:22:24,044 --> 00:22:27,915
university to do except use
that tuition lever?

386
00:22:27,981 --> 00:22:31,718
>> That's a great question.
UW the universities of

387
00:22:31,785 --> 00:22:33,954
Wisconsin have three
primary revenue sources,

388
00:22:34,021 --> 00:22:36,390
right? Federal grants,
which we are among the top

389
00:22:36,456 --> 00:22:39,760
in the nation at securing.
We enroll students who pay

390
00:22:39,826 --> 00:22:42,396
tuition and fees, and we
receive funding from the

391
00:22:42,462 --> 00:22:45,933
state. State support has
long stagnated, with the

392
00:22:45,999 --> 00:22:48,802
exception of a recent
increase. And so tuition

393
00:22:48,869 --> 00:22:53,106
dollars are a primary way
of raising funds. With a

394
00:22:53,173 --> 00:22:55,509
tuition freeze for many,
many years, our ability to

395
00:22:55,576 --> 00:22:58,111
do that was hamstrung. And
so it quite literally

396
00:22:58,178 --> 00:23:00,581
strangled some of the
campuses. We benefit from

397
00:23:00,647 --> 00:23:02,549
having international
students and even students

398
00:23:02,616 --> 00:23:05,052
from out of state who pay
higher tuition rates

399
00:23:05,118 --> 00:23:07,721
because they can afford it.
They are mobile geographic

400
00:23:07,788 --> 00:23:10,757
for colleges with a decline
in international student

401
00:23:10,824 --> 00:23:12,693
enrollment. There aren't
many other students that we

402
00:23:12,759 --> 00:23:14,962
can look to except for our
in-state students,

403
00:23:15,028 --> 00:23:17,130
especially now because the
state has begun to

404
00:23:17,197 --> 00:23:19,499
increasingly regulate our
ability to even draw

405
00:23:19,566 --> 00:23:22,269
students from Minnesota and
Iowa and other out-of-state

406
00:23:22,336 --> 00:23:25,072
partners.
>> So how kind of in

407
00:23:25,138 --> 00:23:28,208
jeopardy are the finances
of the Universities of

408
00:23:28,275 --> 00:23:30,410
Wisconsin given all of
these factors?

409
00:23:30,477 --> 00:23:32,646
>> It's a very serious
position, right? We've

410
00:23:32,713 --> 00:23:35,649
already seen campus
closures of many regional

411
00:23:35,716 --> 00:23:37,818
campuses. We've seen cuts
to academic programs. We've

412
00:23:37,885 --> 00:23:41,755
seen staff and faculty
restructurings. And so no

413
00:23:41,822 --> 00:23:44,758
one wants to raise prices.
If you're a business owner,

414
00:23:44,825 --> 00:23:47,394
you don't want to walk out
and show your customers

415
00:23:47,461 --> 00:23:48,862
raising prices. The
university doesn't want to

416
00:23:48,929 --> 00:23:51,765
do that either. We want
more people to access and

417
00:23:51,832 --> 00:23:53,867
have access to a college
education. Like you said,

418
00:23:53,934 --> 00:23:56,870
for upper social and
economic mobility. But when

419
00:23:56,937 --> 00:24:00,374
the state is no longer a
primary funding partner,

420
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:02,876
federal research and grants
landscape is certainly

421
00:24:02,943 --> 00:24:06,580
uncertain. Tuition is one
of the only lovers left.

422
00:24:06,647 --> 00:24:09,816
>> So some Republican state
policymakers are super

423
00:24:09,883 --> 00:24:12,085
angry about this tuition
increase, saying it's, you

424
00:24:12,152 --> 00:24:15,622
know, the fourth in a row
after a state budget gave

425
00:24:15,689 --> 00:24:20,227
the system $256 million.
What about that persuasion?

426
00:24:20,294 --> 00:24:23,630
>> Yeah, I think the
average Wisconsinite should

427
00:24:23,697 --> 00:24:27,935
also be super angry about
that characterization. So

428
00:24:28,001 --> 00:24:31,205
256 million is a big number
and it's a very important

429
00:24:31,271 --> 00:24:33,173
investment. It's however, a
biennial increase. So we

430
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,442
have to divide that by two
because it's going to be

431
00:24:35,509 --> 00:24:38,145
the 120 something million
every year. And just to put

432
00:24:38,212 --> 00:24:41,215
that in context, the
university leverages its

433
00:24:41,281 --> 00:24:43,650
the state's largest public
employer, and its operating

434
00:24:43,717 --> 00:24:47,888
budget is around $7 billion.
And so that increase is

435
00:24:47,955 --> 00:24:52,659
less than almost 1.5%, so
substantially below

436
00:24:52,726 --> 00:24:55,362
inflation. And more
importantly, that $256

437
00:24:55,429 --> 00:24:59,199
million came with a lot of
important caveats. Most

438
00:24:59,266 --> 00:25:03,036
importantly, an unfunded
tuition or salary raise for

439
00:25:03,103 --> 00:25:06,206
faculty and staff across
the institution. So no

440
00:25:06,273 --> 00:25:09,977
other piece of state
government has unfunded

441
00:25:10,043 --> 00:25:13,113
mandates in that same way.
So we're required to raise

442
00:25:13,180 --> 00:25:15,816
salaries by 2% for all
faculty and staff. But the

443
00:25:15,883 --> 00:25:18,185
state didn't put in the
money to fully fund that

444
00:25:18,252 --> 00:25:20,854
raise. And so the Regents
have said that the tuition

445
00:25:20,921 --> 00:25:23,590
increase will predominantly
fund faculty and staff

446
00:25:23,657 --> 00:25:26,293
salary increases mandated.
>> Well, that's another

447
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,863
piece that some
policymakers are unhappy

448
00:25:29,930 --> 00:25:33,967
about, because they say the
number of staff has gone up,

449
00:25:34,034 --> 00:25:37,504
whereas the number of
students has not.

450
00:25:37,571 --> 00:25:40,240
>> So many people, when
they think about staff

451
00:25:40,307 --> 00:25:42,843
increases on cross campus.
We use this federal survey

452
00:25:42,910 --> 00:25:45,846
where we report people in
these huge buckets. Do they

453
00:25:45,913 --> 00:25:48,582
teach? Do they work? Are
they administrative in

454
00:25:48,649 --> 00:25:50,584
different ways? It doesn't
capture the granularity of

455
00:25:50,651 --> 00:25:53,353
what those staff are
actually doing. So if we

456
00:25:53,420 --> 00:25:56,456
hire more students to
provide career exploration

457
00:25:56,523 --> 00:25:59,293
or oversee internships for
students or help them get

458
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:01,795
placements with employers,
those are staff members and

459
00:26:01,862 --> 00:26:04,031
those are very valuable
staff members. I'd be happy

460
00:26:04,097 --> 00:26:06,366
to double or triple those
numbers. And so it's a

461
00:26:06,433 --> 00:26:09,002
really nuanced conversation,
right? Are there

462
00:26:09,069 --> 00:26:11,772
efficiencies to be had? Of
course, but we need to have

463
00:26:11,839 --> 00:26:14,174
better data and a more
frank conversation around

464
00:26:14,241 --> 00:26:16,210
what staff are actually
increasing.

465
00:26:16,276 --> 00:26:18,111
>> All right. Well, we
leave it there. Taylor Odle,

466
00:26:18,178 --> 00:26:20,113
thanks very much.
>> Thanks.

467
00:26:20,180 --> 00:26:22,349
>> For more on this and
other issues facing

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00:26:22,416 --> 00:26:25,018
Wisconsin, visit our
website at PBS

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wisconsin.org and then
click on the news tab.

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That's our program for
tonight. I'm Frederica

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Freyberg. Have a good
weekend.

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[MUSIC]
>> Funding for "Here& Now"

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00:26:45,372 --> 00:26:47,708
is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and

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00:26:47,774 --> 00:26:50,244
friends of PBS Wisconsin.