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"University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is defending the system's estimated $1 billion in cash reserves, which grew even as UW raised tuition 5.5 percent annually in recent years.Republican lawmakers have been furious since news of the huge reserve broke last week. Some have referred to it as a \"slush fund.\" Gov. Scott Walker and legislative leaders are now calling for a two-year tuition freeze at UW.Reilly pushed back on the \"slush fund\" phrase in an interview Friday with \"UpFront\" host Mike Gousha.\"That amount is 90 days of operating expenses for the university, three months,\" Reilly said, adding the reserves are needed to compensate for unplanned drops in revenue.Reilly said other major universities hold similar, or even larger, reserve funds.Gousha asked Reilly why university leaders did not tell lawmakers about the size of the reserve fund.\"It's in the annual financial report, it's there, we didn't highlight it and say look at this, it's there every year,\" Reilly said. \"The Legislative Fiscal Bureau, we talk with them about it every year, so in that sense, it has been known.\"Reilly is a guest Sunday on \"UpFront with Mike Gousha,\" which airs at 9 a.m. on WISN 12."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wisn.com/article/reilly-defends-huge-uw-reserve-fund/6315094>