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RISING
Bioscience: Two Republican state lawmakers propose legislation that would raise up to $500 million over the next 15 years to stimulate the state’s growing bioscience industry. Sen. Van Wanggaard of Racine told the 2011 Bioscience Vision Summit that the “Next Generation Jobs Bill” would raise a minimum of $50 million per year by segregating the growth in payroll tax receipts from bioscience companies and placing those dollars in a fund. The fund would be managed by an independent volunteer board of bioscience business leaders, who would work in coordination with the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, and would be invested in the bioscience industry through loans, grants and direct investments. As the industry grows and the fund receives returns on investment, Wanggaard predicted the fund would grow and be reinvested in more Wisconsin companies — specifying that the money would go toward proven companies that are growing rather than start-ups. Wanggaard said he expects the proposal to attract bipartisan support, noting that Gov. Scott Walker has already indicated his backing of the proposal.
MIXED
UW System: Spurred by a reduction in state aid and this year’s bitter debate over more autonomy for the Madison campus, UW System Regents approve a pair of proposals that will give chancellors a more direct role in running the system and reduce oversight of administrators at the flagship campus. After a proposal from UW-Madison to separate the flagship campus into a new public authority floundered during budget negotiations, two newly passed proposals would eliminate 51 positions — all but eight of which are already vacant. A number of lawmakers had also hoped to give several UW campuses the authority to implement differential tuition rates despite a current tuition cap in the state budget. But the chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities cancels a public hearing on the measure after a word that a UW-Green Bay administrator was rehired following his March retirement — allowing him to collect both a university salary and a state pension. Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, says the move violates the spirit — if not the letter — of the law, and says it casts doubt on UWGB’s ability to appropriately spend public dollars. The campus’ chancellor, however, says he made the decision in the best interests of students and that he has no say over the payouts of the state’s retirement system. Campus officials, furthermore, argue that campuses must be able to hire retirees, particularly those who teach high-level courses that students need to graduate on time.
FALLING
NewPage: The Ohio-based paper company — which employs some 1,700 people at paper mills in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron and Stevens Point — files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of an effort to reorganize company finances, where assets were heavily outweighed by debts. The company said its operations would continue normally in the United States, where it also operates mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan and Minnesota. Lawmakers caution that the sky isn’t falling after the announcement, and Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Paul Jadin says the state will work with NewPage during the bankruptcy process. In addition to concerns for the workforce in the Wisconsin River Valley, five Wisconsin companies are among NewPage’s 25 creditors — amassing a total debt of at least $1 billion.
