SB355: Bill Text

2019 Senate BILL 355

August 22, 2019 - Introduced by Senators Hansen, Smith, Larson, Schachtner and L. Taylor, cosponsored by Representatives Shankland, Skowronski, Anderson, Billings, Bowen, Cabrera, Emerson, Fields, Gruszynski, Hesselbein, Kolste, Neubauer, Sargent, Sinicki, Stubbs, Spreitzer, Subeck, C. Taylor, Vruwink, Zamarripa and Brostoff. Referred to Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families.

SB355,1,3 An Act to amend 15.01 (2); and to create 15.06 (1) (f), 15.06 (3) (a) 7., 15.915 (4) and 36.67 of the statutes; relating to: creating a Blue Ribbon Commission in the University of Wisconsin System.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill creates a 19-member Blue Ribbon Commission in the University of Wisconsin System. Members of the commission include the president of the UW System, four faculty and four academic staff members of UW System schools that the UW System has identified as underserved or undergoing significant programmatic changes, four UW System students, one higher education expert, one workforce development expert, and four legislators. The commission must study, and facilitate discussion of, a public agenda for higher education; a set of long-term goals and priorities for higher education; and accessibility and affordability of higher education. In addition, the commission must do all of the following: 1) define the goals of higher education for this state; 2) identify strengths to continue and expand, and weaknesses that need to improve, in this state's institutions of higher education; 3) identify demographic trends that will affect all institutions of higher education in this state; 4) identify a new funding structure or new revenue streams for the UW System; 5) identify new ways to administer financial aid; 6) offer recommendations to encourage and develop innovations among institutions of higher education; 7) offer recommendations to encourage and develop partnerships between institutions of higher education; 8) offer recommendations to encourage more students to seek higher education; 9) study the success rate of programs designed to increase retention in this state's work force of this state's graduates; 10) study the success rate of programs designed to increase accessibility of higher education; and 11) study the feasibility of establishing a state program to provide debt-free college education to all Wisconsin residents. The commission must submit a report to the legislature that includes all of this information by December 31, 2022. Upon submission of the report, the commission terminates, unless the governor renews the commission for an additional two-year period. The governor may continue to renew the commission for successive two-year periods.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB355,1 Section 1 . 15.01 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB355,2,13 15.01 (2) “Commission" means a 3-member governing body in charge of a department or independent agency or of a division or other subunit within a department, except for the employment relations commission which shall consist of one chairperson, the Wisconsin waterways commission which shall consist of 5 members, the blue ribbon commission which shall consist of 19 members, the elections commission which shall consist of at least 6 members, the ethics commission which shall consist of at least 6 members, and the parole commission which shall consist of 4 members. A Wisconsin group created for participation in a continuing interstate body, or the interstate body itself, shall be known as a “commission", but is not a commission for purposes of s. 15.06. The parole commission created under s. 15.145 (1) shall be known as a “commission", but is not a commission for purposes of s. 15.06.

SB355,2 Section 2. 15.06 (1) (f) of the statutes is created to read:

SB355,2,16 15.06 (1) (f) Members of the blue ribbon commission shall be appointed and serve terms as provided under s. 15.915 (4).

SB355,3 Section 3. 15.06 (3) (a) 7. of the statutes is created to read:

SB355,3,1 15.06 (3) (a) 7. The members of the blue ribbon commission.

SB355,4 Section 4. 15.915 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

SB355,3,3 15.915 (4) Blue ribbon commission. (a) In this subsection:

SB355,3,4 1. “Academic staff” has the meaning given in s. 36.05 (1).

SB355,3,5 2. “Board” has the meaning given in s. 36.05 (2).

SB355,3,6 3. “College campus” has the meaning given in s. 36.05 (6m).

SB355,3,7 4. “Faculty” has the meaning given in s. 36.05 (8).

SB355,3,8 5. “Institution” has the meaning given in s. 36.05 (9).

SB355,3,9 6. “System” has the meaning given in s. 36.05 (12).

SB355,3,10 (b) Subject to par. (f), there is created in the system a blue ribbon commission.

SB355,3,11 (c) The blue ribbon commission shall consist of the following members:

SB355,3,12 1. The president of the system or his or her designee.

SB355,3,16 2. Four members who are faculty of institutions or college campuses that are underserved or undergoing significant programmatic changes as identified by the system under s. 36.67 (5), appointed by the shared governance body representing faculty of the institution or college campus.

SB355,3,20 3. Four members who are academic staff of institutions or college campuses that are underserved or undergoing significant programmatic changes as identified by the system under s. 36.67 (5), appointed by the shared governance body representing academic staff of the institution or college campus.

SB355,3,22 4. Four members who are students enrolled in the system, appointed by the system student representatives.

SB355,3,23 5. One member who is a higher education expert, appointed by the board.

SB355,3,25 6. One member who is a workforce development expert, appointed by the governor.

SB355,4,3 7. One majority and one minority party senator and one majority and one minority party representative to the assembly, appointed as are the members of standing committees in their respective houses.

SB355,4,7 (d) Members of the commission shall serve for a term expiring on December 31, 2022, or when the report under s. 36.67 (4) is submitted, whichever occurs first, except that if the commission is renewed under par. (f), each term shall continue during any period of renewal.

SB355,4,10 (e) No member of the commission may receive any salary for services performed as a commission member. Each commission member shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred while performing official duties.

SB355,4,15 (f) The commission shall terminate upon the commission's submission of the report under s. 36.67 (4), unless the governor renews the commission for an additional period of 2 years. The governor may thereafter continue to renew the commission for additional 2-year periods or allow the commission to terminate upon the expiration of any renewal period.

SB355,5 Section 5. 36.67 of the statutes is created to read:

SB355,4,18 36.67 Blue ribbon commission. (1) In this section, “commission" means the blue ribbon commission created under s. 15.915 (4).

SB355,4,19 (2) The commission shall study, and facilitate discussion of, all of the following:

SB355,4,20 (a) A public agenda for higher education.

SB355,4,21 (b) A set of long-term goals and priorities for higher education.

SB355,4,22 (c) Accessibility and affordability of higher education.

SB355,4,23 (3) The commission shall do all of the following:

SB355,4,24 (a) Define the goals of higher education for this state.

SB355,5,2 (b) Identify strengths to continue and expand, and weaknesses that need to improve, in this state's institutions of higher education.

SB355,5,4 (c) Identify demographic trends that will affect all institutions of higher education in this state.

SB355,5,6 (d) Identify a new funding structure or new revenue streams for the University of Wisconsin System.

SB355,5,8 (e) Identify new ways to administer financial aid for institutions of higher education.

SB355,5,10 (f) Offer recommendations to encourage and develop innovations among institutions of higher education, whether public or private.

SB355,5,12 (g) Offer recommendations to encourage and develop partnerships between institutions of higher education, both public and private.

SB355,5,15 (h) Offer recommendations to encourage more students to seek higher education, including identifying how student debt and the cost of tuition play a part in student decisions.

SB355,5,18 (i) Study the success rate of programs designed to increase retention in this state's work force of individuals receiving degrees from institutions of higher education in this state.

SB355,5,20 (j) Study the success rate of programs designed to increase accessibility of higher education in this state.

SB355,5,22 (k) Study the feasibility of establishing a state program to provide debt-free college education to all Wisconsin residents.

SB355,5,25 (4) Not later than December 31, 2022, the commission shall submit a report to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2) that includes the information described in sub. (3).

SB355,6,3 (5) Under direction of the president, the system shall identify all institutions and college campuses that are underserved or undergoing significant programmatic changes.

SB355,6,4 (End)