State Rep. Warren Petryk

It has been my focus to make sure that western Wisconsin continues to be a leader in educating the next generation of medical professionals. That is why I collaborated with my local Republican colleagues to help our area become home to the new UW-Eau Claire Phillips Hall. As the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce noted “There is no other current project that is more important to the future of our regional economy and workforce than this urgently needed replacement for the aging and outdated Phillips Hall.”

In contrast to my local Democratic colleagues, who twice voted against funding this project (2019 Act 9 & 2023 Act 19), I proudly advocated to ensure that the necessary funding was added to both of those bills and Gov. Evers signed them into law to bring this game-changing facility to our community. This funding, along with almost $14 million in private contributions from businesses like Hewlett Packard, Xcel, Mayo, and ProHealth Care, enabled this project to be completed. The facility is set to open in the fall of 2026.

Anyone who has visited the campus understands the urgency of this new structure. As a UW-Eau Claire alumni, Phillips Hall was in need of replacement when I was going to school in the 1970’s. Despite being just one of nine buildings on campus, Science Hall is responsible for almost one-third of all maintenance work orders. Furthermore, our students struggle to study because of physical limitations of the current building. For instance, the majority of heavy equipment has to be located on the ground floor, and because of the antiquated electrical system, malfunctions put delicate scientific equipment in danger. In certain experiments, research machines are being maintained using 100-foot extension cords.

With the new facility moving forward and funding approved in our state budgets, I am confident that this project will serve as a catalyst for western Wisconsin's “Knowledge Boom,” enabling our outstanding and talented students to work in state-of-the-art labs and helping the university maintain its position as a national leader in undergraduate research.  In this new era of advanced technology and the need for highly-skilled STEM personnel (science, technology, engineering, and math), we cannot properly train our current workforce in the current building.

Apart from voting for the new UW-Eau Claire building, I took pride in being a co-author of Assembly Bill 140, which will bring even more funding to our campus. Students from Minnesota who attend university in Wisconsin pay the same amount of tuition as they would if they attended those schools in Minnesota under reciprocity. There is an excess of tuition because Minnesota students pay a higher tuition rate. Under this bill, this surplus would be returned to the campuses that generated it. With this small adjustment, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout will each receive an annual boost of $2.5 million a year to support their efforts to train the next generation of leaders.

It's an exciting opportunity to advocate for our UW-Eau Claire campus as the legislature works to advance our region and establish Western Wisconsin as a leader in science and healthcare workforce development.