Retiring Guy's Digest: Wisconsin GOP leadership continues to bash UW and drag their heels on funding new engineering building

Photos: Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin Assembly

Headline: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/14/2023

Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, said demand already far exceeds the number of spots UW-Madison has available so he doesn't want to spend more money getting more students interested in engineering. He also said the small number of additional students who could enroll with the expanded capacity was a "terrible return on investment" for taxpayers — more than $100,000 for each new student over the next few decades.

"My recommendation is to just purchase, rent or repurpose existing space for a very small fraction of the cost with the same benefit," Kapenga wrote in a text message.

Lucas, the UW-Madison spokesperson, said the project isn't about attracting more interest from students but about trying to address a workforce need by accepting more students who already want to attend UW-Madison.

He said Kapenga's $100,000 per-student calculation ignored layers of potential economic impact, including the tax revenue generated by additional engineering graduates and more business activity. Enrolling more graduate students would lead to more research and federal funding. This, in turn, would likely lead to new startup companies, which would also generate more tax revenue, he said.

As for Kapenga's proposal to look at existing spaces, Lucas said, "There are not buildings with state-of-the-art classrooms and research labs just sitting around waiting for us to lease them." [emphasis added]

Next thing you know, we'll be hearing from the GOP about 'woke' engineering.

The Democratic leadership supports funding public education at all levels.