WiscNet Issues Message on Governor's Partial Veto: Moving Forward

WiscNet sends the following message about the Governor's partial veto of the compromise on WiscNet and the UW's broadband grant that was reached in the legislature:

Over the past 22 years WiscNet has grown and evolved in response to our members’ needs. We (both the members and the folks that report to work here every day) have come to expect great, innovative advancements from our cooperative on a regular basis. The 2011 Wisconsin Act 32 that was signed into law by Governor Walker on Sunday will not change this. While it does present new challenges (and opportunities) we are committed to moving forward.

The law, though not ideal, does not prevent us from operating and despite some inaccurate reports; WiscNet will be around well into the future. As we naviage this new terrain, we will continue to focus on promoting changes that are necessary to make research, education and public service stronger for Wisconsin. We are working closely with the UW System to articulate the magnitude of the legislation on the community's behalf. We are continuing conversations with legislators and we are beginning conversations with many of the telcos. The good news is the meetings are happening two to three times a day. The bad news is the meetings are happening two to three times a day.

Your resilience and commitment to WiscNet and Wisconsin is what made a difference over the past month. As our plans firm up over the next few months the success of our organization will, once again, require your support. In the meantime, we will keep you up-to-date on our findings, interpretations and strategies and we will continue to work with great effort on the community's behalf to preserve the need to advance research, education and public service in Wisconsin. Stay tuned!

Governor Walker's Partial Veto of WiscNet Language: Analysis of Impact Not Completed

The Office of Governor Scott Walker released the governor's remarks on the state budget and the governor's partial veto of some measures, including the compromise language on WiscNet. It's possible that the partial veto requires the entire legislature to act, rather than just allowing Joint Finance to postpone the effective date of prohibitions on the UW's telecommunications involvement. It's unclear at this point, but UW officials are analyzing the language. Stay tuned for more information as we learn it.

Copied directly from the memo:
19.
Joint Committee on Finance Authority to Postpone Telecommunications Services Prohibition
Section 1015x
This section defines telecommunications services and third-party entity and, beginning July 1, 2013, prohibits the University of Wisconsin System from becoming a member, shareholder or partner in any third-party entity or other person that offers, resells, or provides telecommunications services to the general public or to any public or private entity unless the third-party entity or other person does not offer, resell or provide telecommunication services that it did not offer, resell, or provide on June 15, 2011, and the third-party entity or other person does not offer, resell, or provide telecommunications services to a private entity, to the general public, or to a public entity other than a university or a university-affiliated research facility or a facility approved by the Joint Committee on Finance that it is not already serving on June 15, 2011. The section allows the Joint Committee on Finance to postpone the July 1, 2013, effective date for these prohibitions through majority vote.

I am partially vetoing this section to remove the authority of the Joint Committee on Finance to postpone these prohibitions because the University of Wisconsin System should not compete with private sector businesses in providing telecommunications services. The bill does not prohibit the University of Wisconsin System from participating in a third-party comprised entirely of universities and university-affiliated research facilities. There is no need to delay the prohibitions included in the bill beyond July 1, 2013.

Your Mom Would Remind You to Say Thank You

One of the most important advocacy tasks now before us is to thank members of the legislature for their support of library-related items in the state budget. Even though not everything we wanted is in the budget, libraries are in a better position now than when the governor's budget was introduced earlier this year. There are a number of things to be grateful for:

• $512,000 in biennial funding was restored for BadgerLink and Newsline for the Blind
• $183,400 in biennial funding was restored for the Talking Book and Braille Library
• WiscNet will continue for another 2 years, and the UW's federal broadband grant also continues, under a compromise hammered out by UW officials and legislative leadership

Please thank your legislators today. The Legislative Alert we've created gives you an easy way to do that.

When you thank them, make sure to remind legislators that we are pleased with the compromise on WiscNet and we ask that Republican legislators communicate that to Governor Walker.

Of course, we would be remiss not to thank you for responding to the many legislative alerts and updates that were sent out about budget matters. Working together, we can make a difference!

Senate Approves Budget 19-14, No Changes to Assembly Version

According to the Wispolitics Budget Blog, the State Senate approved the 2011-13 biennial budget on a 19-14 party line vote at about 10 p.m. last night. There were no successful attempts to amend the budget; therefore, the Assembly version stands.

WiscNet, Broadband Grant Restored by Assembly

According to a report by the WisPolitics Budget Blog, the Assembly passed the 2011-13 budget bill on a straight party line vote, modifying Joint Finance provisions that would have eliminated the UW's broadband grant and crippled WiscNet.

A memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau describes the motion containing these and many other provisions amending the budget bill. Items #11 through 13 on pages 28-30 of the memo describe the changes related to WiscNet and the UW's involvement in telecommunications issues.

First, item #11 deletes the Joint Finance amendment that would have prohibited the UW from accepting the federal broadband grant altogether. The memo says, "Instead, specify that UW-Extension could not commit any funds to facilities under this project to which such funds were not committed prior to June 15, 2011, unless approved by the Joint Committee on Finance."

Item #12 essentially restores WiscNet operations but requires the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a financial and performance evaluation audit of the Board of Regents' use of broadband and telecommunications services by January 1, 2013. Joint Finance language limiting the UW's involvement in the provision of telecommunications services would not take effect until July 1, 2013, and Joint Finance would be authorized to further delay the effective date of those changes. The Assembly language also created an exemption that would allow the UW to remain involved in certain activities that existed on or prior to June 15, 2011.

In addition, the UW-Extension would be prohibited from committing any additional funds to facilities under their federal broadband grant that were not committed prior to June 15, 2011, unless approved by Joint Finance.

Finally, there were some changes in language defining telecommunications services (#13 on page 30) that will limit the UW's involvement in telecommunications issues but appear to soften the language approved earlier by Joint Finance. Expect to hear more about the ramifications of the amendments from the UW.

Please contact your State Representatives to thank them for this action. And make contacts with your State Senators to make sure this compromise is approved in that house when they take up the budget this week.

WLA Letter to Legislators About WiscNet

Your response to WLA's legislative alert has been tremendous. In addition to getting the word out to library supporters, WLA has also sent this letter to all legislators and Governor Walker, outlining our support for WiscNet and broadband expansion. A similar letter has been sent to several newspapers; we encourage you to add your own story (e.g., how much would Internet cost for your organization if WiscNet goes away?) and contact your local paper with this information.

On Friday, June 3, the state legislature's Joint Committee on Finance passed Motion 489 that would eliminate WiscNet as a department or office within the UW-Madison Department of Information Technology and eliminate $1.4 million in funding for WiscNet for 2012-13. The motion would also require the UW to return federal grant money that has already been awarded for a broadband expansion project, apparently because of concerns that that this project competes with BadgerNet.

We respectfully ask that you save taxpayers millions of dollars and move to delete sections 23-26 of Motion 489 on the floor of the legislature before the budget bill is approved and sent to Governor Walker for his signature.

It seems helpful first to define WiscNet and BadgerNet, since confusion exists about the difference between the two and how they would be affected by the UW-Extension’s federal broadband grant project. The Department of Administration (DOA) website describes BadgerNet Converged Network (BCN, or BadgerNet) as the “state-wide network serving all 72 counties by providing wide area network, Internet transport and video applications to state government and educational entities in Wisconsin. The BCN also provides network services to municipalities and other governmental entities such as Tribal nations, technical colleges and public and private K-12 schools in various locations in the state.”

WiscNet is one of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) listed by DOA for non-state agency BadgerNet customers. WiscNet was created in 1990 by the UW, long before most telephone companies could even be called ISPs.  Information from WiscNet indicates that the $1.4 million cut by Joint Finance is not a subsidy to WiscNet from the UW, but payment for technical support services provided by WiscNet.

WiscNet has become the ISP of choice for 450 educational and community institutions: all public institutions of higher education, 95% of public libraries and 80% of schools currently use WiscNet. If WiscNet operations are changed as proposed by Joint Finance, these institutions would pay two to three times MORE for Internet service from for-profit vendors. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that taxpayers would foot the increased bill, or library patrons and students in your district would no longer have the access they need and want. But the cost is much greater than just dollars. The successful cooperative and collaborative network that WiscNet has fostered between higher education, K-12 education and libraries for the past 16 years could disappear.

For-profit telecommunications companies, some represented by AccessWisconsin, seem most concerned about the UW-Extension’s federal broadband grant project, already underway. AccessWisconsin members, who are valued partners in BadgerNet, say that they should not have to compete with a taxpayer-funded agency. The irony is that telecommunications companies, including AccessWisconsin members, currently benefit from about $90 million annually in taxpayer funding through the Universal Service Fund to enhance their ability to provide cost-effective service in rural areas.  We would say that is a wise investment.
AccessWisconsin also argues that the federal broadband grant to UW-Extension is a duplication of BadgerNet that would weaken that network. While BadgerNet provides great benefit to many institutions (with a taxpayer subsidy of $16.8 million annually, by the way), pricing is still too high for many institutions.  BadgerNet provides 100Mbps service at $6,000 per month and a 1,000Mbps service at $49,500 – or almost $600,000 per year! If the UW grant project is completed, an institution will be able to get 1,000Mbps for only $10,000 annually.  While BadgerNet prices are currently under negotiation and may be decreased somewhat, the return on the investment of the UW project is clear.

Finally, we find it difficult to understand why AccessWisconsin is so opposed to a federal broadband grant when its members in fact sought a similar grant for themselves. DOA and the BadgerNet Access Alliance (BNAA), which includes AccessWisconsin and larger telecommunications companies, received $23 million in federal funding to enhance BadgerNet via expansion of broadband fiber throughout the state.  WLA met with BadgerNet vendors several times during the grant process and supported the DOA/BNAA federal grant proposal. Imagine our frustration when the needs of 467 schools and libraries were dashed because BNAA and DOA could not successfully negotiate the contract, and the money was returned to the federal government.

We also understand that the UW used an open bid process to seek a partnership with for-profit phone companies on their broadband project, but none agreed to participate.

Please move to delete sections 23-26 of Motion 489 on the floor of the legislature before the budget bill is sent to Governor Walker for his signature. Please keep WiscNet as it currently operates and also allow the UW broadband project to move forward.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Rhonda Puntney, President
Wisconsin Library Association

End of WiscNet? Joint Finance Eliminates UW-Madison WiscNet Office in DoIT

TAKE ACTION: WLA's Legislative Alert
In addition to requiring the return of federal broadband funds, the Omnibus University of Wisconsin System motion passed Friday (Motion 489) by the state legislature's Joint Committee on Finance included the following provision:
"Specify that WiscNet could no longer be a department or office within the UW-Madison Division of Information Technology beginning on July 1, 2012, and delete $1,400,000 PR from the UW System related to WiscNet in 2012-13. Require the Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a program audit and a financial audit of the Board of Regents' use of telecommunication services and relationship with WiscNet."

The note in the motion indicates under current law, the Board of Regents is prohibited from providing telecommunication services that are available from a private telecommunications carrier to the general public or any other public or private entity. Currently, WiscNet services more than 450 public and private research, education and government organizations. According to Bob Bocher, Division for Libraries consultant and a WiscNet board member, WiscNet provides about 95% of libraries and about 80% of school districts with Internet access. The cost of receiving this service through private vendor is estimated to be two to three times higher than through WiscNet. See the WiscNet website for more information.

WLA will be developing a legislative alert to be issued later today or early tomorrow. Please stay tuned.

Joint Finance Passes Omnibus UW System Motion: No to Separate UW-Madison, Broadband Funds

The Joint Finance Committee tonight passed an Omnibus Motion on the University of Wisconsin System that includes, among other items, the decision to not spin UW-Madison off as a separate public entity and prohibits the system from providing telecommunications services and accepting federal broadband funds. The latter would stop a project underway to expand broadband through Community Area Networks (CANs) to about 80 libraries and schools, among other entities, and return millions to the federal government.

WLA pushed for acceptance of an earlier broadband grant of more than $23 million that would have expanded BadgerNet for more than 450 schools and libraries. The state returned that grant earlier this year after the Department of Administration was unable to negotiate an agreement between telecommunications providers and the National Telecommunication and Information Administration. The UW System grant had remained as an opportunity to add capacity for a smaller number of schools and libraries.

It is possible that further amendments to the budget bill will occur on the floor of the legislature after Joint Finance completes its work. Stay tuned!

You can read more about Joint Finance activities on the WisPolitics Budget Blog or view proceedings live (or archived) at WisconsinEye.

Joint Finance Reduces Cuts to Municipalities; Eliminates Emergency Services MOE

On June 2, the state legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted to eliminate the emergency services maintenance of effort funding requirement and restored some of the shared revenue cuts for counties and municipalities.

Omnibus Motion 450, passed on vote of 11-4, provided a net reduction in shared revenue payments of $76,750,000, rather than the reduction of $96,000,000 proposed by Governor Walker. The committee also eliminated the requirement that counties and municipalities maintain their level of spending for emergency services at the 2009 level. This emergency services maintenance of effort law was passed in the prior biennium.

Note that the governor had eliminated maintenance of effort funding for public libraries in his budget proposal. Efforts to restore MOE for public libraries have not been successful to date.

Joint Finance Restores Funding to Talking Book & Braille Library, State Law Library

The state legislature's Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) is scheduled to meet again today and tomorrow to complete its work on the 2011-13 state budget.

On May 26, JFC approved one-time funding of $41,000 to the State Law Library for the purchase of West's National Law Reporter System on CD-ROM. On May 27, the committee also voted 16-0 to restore $183,400 for the Talking Book and Braille Library for the biennium. In action in May 3, the committee voted 16-0 to restore $512,000 to BadgerLink.(Restoration of funding refers to changes to the governor's budget proposal, which proposed 10% cuts to all library-related programs in the first year of the biennium.)

Although the State Law Library allocation was provided from general purpose revenue (GPR), other library-related funding is provided via the Universal Service Funds, or SEG funding. Thus far, funding has not been restored for public library systems or the remaining statewide resource contracts (Cooperative Children's Book Center, Milwaukee Public Library or WiLS). In addition, maintenance of effort funding for public libraries is still slated for elimination. WLA seeks restoration of maintenance of effort and library-related funding not yet restored and has issued several legislative alerts to members on these matters.

You can hear or watch JFC proceedings live and archived on WisconsinEye.

Action Alert: Please Contact Republican Lawmakers About State Budget

Thanks to previous efforts of library supporters like you, Joint Finance Committee recently restored funding for BadgerLink, but pending cuts to public library system aids, statewide resource contracts and maintenance of effort funding for public libraries will be destructive to library service in Wisconsin.

Please click here to take action to urge Republican legislators to restore library funding in the 2011-13 state biennial budget! Note that we are targeting ONLY Republican members of the state legislature. If your legislator is not a member of the majority party, they will not need a contact at this time. Therefore, once you type in your zip code and click to send your message, it will select only targeted legislators.

You'll also be able to search for phone numbers of your legislators. Click on "Elected Officials" to get more detailed information about each. We encourage you to follow up your email with a personal phone call. Tips on effective calls are available here: http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/legis/advocacy/legisphone.htm

Thank you for taking a moment to help! You can make the difference.

The State Budget and Wisconsin Libraries - Presentations by Ron McCabe Available

To promote understanding and advocacy, Ron McCabe is now available for public presentations on "The State Budget and Wisconsin Libraries."   Presentations are free to libraries and other sponsoring groups in Wisconsin.  No honorarium or travel reimbursement is requested.

Ron's nonpartisan presentation will describe the role that libraries play in expanding educational opportunities and the impact of the proposed 2011-2013 Wisconsin State Budget on this important work.

Ron McCabe is Director of McMillan Memorial Library in Wisconsin Rapids, President-elect of the Wisconsin Library Association, and author of /Civic Librarianship: Renewing the Social Mission of the Public Library/.  He has lectured on public library development throughout the nation and has served as a consultant to American Library Association presidents Sarah Long and Nancy Kranich.

To schedule a public presentation, see the presentation flyer at http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/library/budget_libraries.pdf

Details on Joint Finance Actions on May 3

On Tuesday, May 3, the Joint Finance Committee held an executive session on, among other issues, library-related budget matters. Here's more detail on the motions and votes affecting libraries; options voted on refer to Paper #562 from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. They are presented in the order in which they were acted upon by the committee.

Motions on Maintenance of Effort:
-        Option A. 3 to delete the provision in the budget bill that would eliminate MOE; failed on a split vote of 8-8.
-        In favor: Sen. Olsen, Sen. Harsdorf, Sen. Taylor, Sen. Jauch, Rep. Meyer, Rep. Nygren, Rep. Grigsby and Rep. Shilling
-        Opposed: Sen. Darling, Sen. Leibham, Sen. Grothman, Sen. Hopper, Rep. Vos, Rep. LeMahieu, Rep. Strachota and Rep. Kleefisch

-        Motion #91 (MOE compromise) failed on a split vote of 8-8.
-        In favor: Sen. Olsen, Sen. Harsdorf, Sen. Taylor, Sen. Jauch, Rep. Meyer, Rep. Nygren, Rep. Grigsby and Rep. Shilling
-        Opposed: Sen. Darling, Sen. Leibham, Sen. Grothman, Sen. Hopper, Rep. Vos, Rep. LeMahieu, Rep. Strachota and Rep. Kleefisch

Motions to Restore Funding:
-        Motion #80 (to restore 2a, 2b and 2c and "require that the governor request federal funding for broadband technology, if available") failed on a vote of 5-11.
-        In favor: Sen. Olsen, Sen. Taylor, Sen. Jauch, Rep. Grigsby and Rep. Shilling
-        Opposed: Sen. Darling, Sen. Harsdorf, Sen. Leibham, Sen. Grothman, Sen. Hopper, Rep. Vos, Rep. Meyer, Rep. Nygren, Rep. LeMahieu, Rep. Strachota and Rep. Kleefisch-    

Option B 2a, 2b and 2c failed on a vote of 6-10.
-        In favor: Sen. Olsen, Sen. Harsdorf, Sen. Taylor, Sen. Jauch, Rep. Grigsby and Rep. Shilling
-        Opposed: Sen. Darling, Sen. Leibham, Sen. Grothman, Sen. Hopper, Rep. Vos, Rep. Meyer, Rep. Nygren, Rep. LeMahieu, Rep. Strachota and Rep. Kleefisch

-        Motion Harsdorf/Olsen to restore 2c (funding for BadgerLink) passed unanimously.

What's the end result?

• BadgerLink funding of $512,000 is restored.
• Systems aids are cut 10% unless the legislature acts to restore these funds.
• MOE is eliminated unless the legislature acts to restore this provision of the statutes.
• Resource contracts are cut 10% unless the legislature acts to restore these funds.

WLA will be working on these issues. Stay tuned.

Joint Finance Committee Restores BadgerLink Funding

Members of the state legislature's Joint Committee on Finance today voted 16-0 to restore $512,000 in funding to BadgerLink that had been cut in Governor Walker's budget proposal. Motions to retain public library maintenance of effort (MOE) funding requirements or to allow MOE reductions of up to 10 percent (for this biennium only) failed on an 8-8 vote. Motions to restore all library-related funding failed on votes of 5-10 and 6-11.

Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls), Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), Sen. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar), Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), Rep. Dan Meyer (R-Eagle River) and Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) where among those who spoke in favor of libraries. If you live in the district of a finance committee member, please take a moment to send your thanks for the restoration of BadgerLink funding.

And, a big thank you to all the library supporters who sent emails to Governor Walker or legislators about library funding needs in the 2011-13 state budget. Though your contacts in recent days could not rebuff the lobbying efforts of municipalities to end MOE, or restore all library-related funding, those communications did make a difference.