New Milwaukee crime lab part of Walker proposal

MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker unveiled an $803 million capital budget Tuesday, laying out a series of building projects ranging from a veterans home in King to a crime lab in Milwaukee.

Walker is proposing authorizing $450 million in new borrowing over the next two years, with an emphasis on working on existing state buildings over doing new projects. That amount is separate from the $500 million in borrowing that Walker wants for road projects.

In all, the roughly $1 billion in borrowing for state projects would be the lowest in 20 years, though it is still likely to draw scrutiny from lawmakers. Walker has said his past overhauls to state operations are making it easier to spend more now.

The capital budget would be down somewhat from the previous budget of $849 million and would mark at least a 10-year low for spending on those projects.

Here are some examples of projects being funded by the budget bill:

The state would provide $75 million to replace the Department of Justice crime lab in Milwaukee.

The state would pay $33.5 million to renovate and repair the north, south and west resident towers in Sandburg Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and $52.2 million to help renovate the former Columbia Hospital complex.

The state would sell the 54-year-old, 172,000square-foot Milwaukee State Office Building and parking structure on N. 6th St. and build a similar-sized structure to replace it.

The Wisconsin Veterans Home at King would receive $12.4 million for improvements to its water supply, electrical system, cooking and meal delivery equipment, and veterans cemeteries at King and Union Grove would receive $5.5 million in repairs and improvements.

The Old World Wisconsin Museum near Eagle would use $1.7 million in donations to build a 19th-century style brewery and beer garden that would teach visitors about the state’s brewing heritage and let them taste it for themselves.

$5 million in state funding would go to build a 55,000-squarefoot “incubator” on Green Bay’s east side. The space could help get local grade school students interested in science careers, house a mechanical-engineering program and provide space for UW-Green Bay professors to research ideas that might eventually fuel high-tech businesses.

The state would provide another $11 million to replace the Little Falls Dam in western Wisconsin for a total of $19 million for the project. After inspections found weaknesses within the dam, the state Department of Natural Resources decided in spring 2015 that the lake had to be drained until the dam could be rebuilt.

UW System President Ray Cross in a statement Tuesday said the UW System appreciates the funding the governor provided in his budget to make general repairs across the system and update technology used in classrooms.

“We carefully developed a reasonable capital budget plan to perform a limited amount of work each year at a steady pace,” Cross said.

UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone said the state’s flagship campus appreciates the funding for maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure.

“But we will want to have a conversation with legislators about whether to defer for two more years projects that are supported by program revenue (such as dorm fees) and that we can afford to do now, as delaying will only increase the cost,” she said.

McGlone was referring to a $15.2 million request to build an addition and renovate Slichter Hall, which is part of the lakeshore residence halls. UW-Madison also requested $23.6 million for a parking lot ramp replacement.

Those two projects are not in the capital budget.