Governor Jim Doyle says even Brett and Bo get a furlough. Doyle says there are plenty of questions regarding furloughs he's ordered for state employees, in an effort to deal with the state's enormous budget deficit.
"What we're really looking to do is . . . in the next week to ten days to have a real question and answer kind of sheet" to explain the furloughs, Doyle says. "We're getting a lot of questions."
Questions like whether or not the furloughs will apply to high profile UW employees – specifically coaches Brett Bielema and Bo Ryan. "The fact that somebody's salary is paid for by the University of Wisconsin, by the athletic department, doesn't mean that comes from private sources of money," says Doyle. "That's a public entity, and members of the university are going to be subject to the furloughs."
With the state facing a shortfall through mid-2011 is now at $6.65 billion, Doyle has ordered all nonunion state employees to take eight unpaid days in each of the next two fiscal years.