The Legislature's Republican-controlled budget committee has ditched Gov. Scott Walker's call to cut University of Wisconsin tuition by 5 percent.
The Joint Finance Committee instead voted 12-4 Thursday to continue a tuition freeze for two more years. It's been in place for four years.
Walker said earlier Thursday that continuing the freeze would be a ``huge victory'' for students and parents. His budget called for extending the freeze for one year and cutting tuition by 5 percent the second year of the budget, which would have saved students as much as $460 next year depending on the school they attend.
The Joint Finance Committee also reduced the funding increase Walker proposed for UW by about $6 million.
The committee's changes to the budget are expected to be passed by the full Legislature largely unchanged, making its votes significant in the ongoing process of passing a two-year spending plan.