A lobbying group has been created to advocate for Chancellor Biddy Martin's New Badger Partnership, which includes the university's proposed split from the UW-System, in the state legislature.
The group, Badger Advocates, consists of 11 lobbyists who will push for the New Badger Partnership component of Gov. Scott Walker's budget.
Badger Advocates will support ""the proposal in the budget that would give the University of Wisconsin-Madison more flexibility, more authority, more autonomy in moving forward with the university,"" Brandon Scholz, former state GOP executive and Badger Advocates lobbyist, said.
The Badger Advocates will be privately funded, meaning no tax dollars or UW-Madison money will support the group. Most funds will come from alumni and independent organizations.
The group will work to educate UW-Madison community members, ""anybody that lives, breathes red,"" on how the proposal would affect them, Scholz said.
""This is really such a new and innovative idea. It's a huge challenge for us,"" Scholz said. ""How to answer all [the] questions when you have something so new on the table. People have a hard time getting their arms around it.""
Scholz said the group, a non-profit 501 (c) (4) organization, will work to respond to rumors surrounding the New Badger Partnership.
""There is a component that you have to dispel a lot of misinformation and nonsense that people put out there about what this means and there's going to be a lot of that,"" Scholz said.
