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A provision in the spending package

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would have given $50 million in

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state aid to Wisconsin technical

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colleges, the aim being to

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reduce the burden on local property

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taxes.

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Technical colleges across the state

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serve 300,000 students on

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16 campuses.

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Leaders of the system report being

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underfunded by the state and didn't

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like the provision as it would

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replace locally controlled funding

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with state controlled aid.

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Wisconsin Technical College System

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President, Layla Merrifield,

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joins us with more.

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Thanks for being here.

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Thank you.

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So describe to us how

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getting $50 million from the

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state is not a good thing in

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your mind.

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Technical colleges are local

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units of government and we have

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always been a state and local

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partnership.

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So we think both local

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funding and state funding are both

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important.

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However, we would like to hang on to

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the remaining property tax levy that

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we have access to.

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It has been capped by the

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legislature so it's not rising.

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We are not the cause of rising

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property taxes here in Wisconsin.

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We think that aid efforts to

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relieve property taxes should

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probably go where the issues

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are. That being...

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That being other local units of

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government and certainly we know

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that we have k-12 funding issues

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in in Wisconsin that probably need

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to be

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So in the last budget you sought

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additional state funding, but it

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came in $36 million,

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I think, less than you requested.

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Is that an example of the

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uncertainty kind of of state aid?

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But that's exactly it.

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We have not competed very well

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in recent state budgets for

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lawmakers' attention and their

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priorities.

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And because of that, we have come to

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really think about property taxes as

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ballast in our

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budget. It's a relatively small

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portion, maybe about 28 percent of

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our overall budget, but it's an

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important portion that stabilizes

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our budgets and keeps things

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reliable, flexible, and

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allows us to really be responsive

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when local communities come to us

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for help.

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When you looked at the numbers,

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where would it have left the system

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if the 50 million in state aid

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offset would have passed?

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It would have been about 10% of our

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overall levy that went away,

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but bear in mind that

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our property taxes in

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the technical college system are

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only around 3.5%

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of the total property tax burden

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here in Wisconsin.

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So it's just not very much money,

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but it's a big deal to us to have

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flexible dollars that we can

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direct where communities are

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asking for help.

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Were you surprised about this

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provision?

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Surprised, no.

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This has been an ongoing

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conversation in Wisconsin.

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It's certainly something that we

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talk with our policy makers often

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about and try to make the

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case that local funding is

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important for our system and that

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community and technical colleges

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continue to

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make decisions in

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the towns and counties where they

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are most affected and

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that we're able to respond when,

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again, there's maybe

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a factory that closes and

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a lot of Wisconsinites are laid off.

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Or even when we have shortages of

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firefighters and EMTs, things like

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that, which we're experiencing right

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now in our rural areas.

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Did it hurt you to think that

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potentially state lawmakers and

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the governor didn't appreciate

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what you're talking about there?

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Well, I think it's an ongoing

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conversation.

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They are certainly familiar with my

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side of things, and they have

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their own points of view.

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But we'll get to a compromise

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position eventually, I'm sure.

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What challenges do state colleges

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have right now?

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Waiting lists and a lack of

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resources are the main things that

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are on my mind and that keep me up

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at night.

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We have thousands of students who

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are waiting to get into high demand,

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high paying fields.

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And on the other side of that

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equation, we have employers who are

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looking for our graduates.

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So, we would like to put those two

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people together and make sure

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that we can move more

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Wisconsin students toward those

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careers and pathways that

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are so important to maintaining,

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for example, our manufacturing

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industry in this state, our

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healthcare industry in the state,

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and really maintaining Wisconsin's

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quality of life.

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What are those high-demand fields?

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There are many right now.

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Dental hygiene is one.

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We have long waiting lists, and we

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are hoping to continue to grow

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cohorts there. We recently saw.

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A one-time funding infusion for that

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particular field, but we need

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ongoing revenue to make that happen.

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We are also seeing ongoing demand

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from manufacturers, again,

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CNC machinists, tool and die,

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all sorts of advanced manufacturing

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fields that continue

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to be in demand. We are now seeing

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more demand from manufactures to

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integrate AI into their automated

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processes.

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So we know that we need to invest

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there, and we are seeking the

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resources to do that.

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All right, very quickly.

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In the next state budget cycle,

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do you have concerns that they'll

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try to move more funding for

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tech colleges over to state?

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Well, again, every state budget is

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different and in some ways,

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some of those conversations continue

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to rise up, so we will

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continue to engage with our policy

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makers and make sure that we do

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what's best for Wisconsin.

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Alright, Leila Merrifield, thanks

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very much.

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Room with, we're off, but with

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Governor Evers saying, you

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can't do this.