GOP lawmaker calls for revisions in UW budget plan

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A Republican lawmaker is calling for dramatic changes in Gov. Scott Walker's budget plan for the University of Wisconsin System.

Walker has proposed slashing the system's budget by $300 million, freezing tuition for two years and decoupling the system from state oversight.

Sen. Steve Nass of Whitewater, one of the system's toughest critics and vice-chair of the Senate's universities committee, has warned the plan would allow regents to raise tuition at will starting in 2017.

Nass issued a news release Thursday calling for shortening regent appointments from seven years to three, saying that would improve accountability. He also called for capping tuition increases at the rate of inflation.

Walker's plan is far from final. The Legislature will spend months revising it before the Senate and Assembly vote on it.