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Jul 12, 2007 8:12 pm US/Central
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Sick Of Lawyers, Rep. Wants To Cut Law School Fund
Madison, Wis. (AP) ―
A lawmaker who persuaded the Assembly to eliminate all state funding for the University of Wisconsin law school says his reasoning is simple: There's too many lawyers in Wisconsin.
"We don't need more ambulance chasers. We don't need frivolous lawsuits. And we don't need attorneys making people's lives miserable when they go to family court for divorces," said Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Green Bay. "And I think that having too many attorneys leads to all those bad results."
Objection! Law School Dean Kenneth Davis said Thursday. Davis said the plan would either force the school to jack up its tuition by $5,000 per year or cut essential programs.
Overruled! Lasee's colleagues in the Republican-controlled Assembly included his plan Tuesday in their version of the two-year, $56 billion state budget, which they approved on a 51-44 vote.
The plan appears to have little chance at surviving negotiations between the Assembly and Democratic-controlled Senate and being included in the Legislature's final budget.
Even if it did, Gov. Jim Doyle would likely veto it. Doyle, whose late mother was a beloved administrator at the law school, said Thursday that the plan was "a really bizarre thing that came out of nowhere."
Lasee said the proposal would gradually reduce a $7 million annual state subsidy for the law school, starting with a $1 million cut this year. Funding would be cut by $2 million more each year and eliminated in 2010.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)