UW System president testifies before Budget Committee - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

MADISON(WKOW) -- The head of the University of Wisconsin System says Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget could help lead to the lowest tuition increases in a decade.

The budget proposal calls for more than $181 million in new funding for the university system. Speaking to the Legislature's budget committee Thursday, UW System President Kevin Reilly said that proposed level of funding would help keep tuition increases down.

Reilly says $153 million of the funding is already committed to things like leases, utilities and costs associated with previously approved construction and renovation projects.

Walker's budget would lift a tuition cap that currently limits tuition hikes to 5.5 percent, and students have called on legislators to renew the cap. A small group at Thursday's budget committee meeting wore red T-shirts that read, "Cap Tuition at UW."