Tommy Thompson Still a Spend-and-Bond Guy

Good ol' "Stick-It-To-'Em" Tommy Thompson hasn't forgotten how to spend-and-bond big dollars.

The head of the University of Wisconsin System will propose its Board of Regents support a 3.5% increase to its 2021-23 state budget in the hope of funding several new initiatives, including a statewide free tuition scholarship program for some Wisconsin students.

The budget request, announced by UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson Tuesday, would increase the system's upcoming biennial budget by $95.7 million.

Separately, the system's capital budget request would seek $1.2 billion to renovate 4% of its building space....

Tommy is also aware that there will be a lot less students over the next 10 years.  But instead of closing three or four UW campuses, Tommy's going to lower the price of tuition with the idea that UW will attract enough students to keep all those professors, assistant professors, visiting professors, and other (largely-Lefty) apparatchiks drawing nice, fat, salaries.

See how Tommy works?  Keep the education establishment very well-fed AND "give away" UW services--at taxpayer expense.  That's the "Spend It" half.

Then there's the "Bond It" half!!

...The budget request does, however, reiterate a system request to be allowed to borrow between $500 million and $1 billion in 2020-21...

That's 'to make up for losses due to Covid'.  No doubt.  Remember all those food-service workers at all those campuses?  They were dumped into the wonderful Wisconsin unemployment system.

Remember all those professors, assistant professors, and visiting professors?

Full salary, full benefits, for what are now "no-show" jobs.  That's 'taking care of the little people,' eh?