(AP) - The Legislature’s budget committee has voted to cut $120 million from the University of Wisconsin System’s budget over the next two years.

The committee, however, also approved spending $15 million for a retention fund for high-demand faculty members and to pay for UW research initiatives in bioenergy, DNA and biotechnology.

The UW System says the $120 million cut amounts to the state’s share of educating 14,000 students every year and will be painful to absorb.

Gov. Jim Doyle proposed the cut in February. But the governor exempted the system’s budget from additional cuts announced this week, saying it has already taken a big hit.

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin’s statement on the news, from University Communications:

“Against the headwind of terrible economic challenges, today’s action by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee helps the University of Wisconsin-Madison sustain its pre-eminence and its service to the state.

“While the committee’s action includes funding reductions that are necessary to help address the state’s fiscal condition, the committee also protected important priorities: the recruitment and retention of faculty and staff, interdisciplinary research, bioenergy and domestic-partner health insurance for state employees.

“The budget provisions recommended by the panel allow for important strategic investments in faculty and research - investments that will be crucial to the state’s economy as we emerge from this recession.

“The faculty recruitment and retention funding included in the budget will preserve excellence in the classroom and allow us to compete in an increasingly challenging marketplace for top researchers. Top faculty continue to receive outside offers, even in this recessionary economy. Domestic-partner health insurance benefits will also help us retain and attract faculty and staff.

“The committee’s recommendations also provide important startup funding for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, a public-private partnership with the Morgridge Institute for Research; this partnership and the Wisconsin Genomics Initiative will help to keep UW-Madison on the forefront of interdisciplinary research in the biomedical sciences. The recommendations also provide funding for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, which also promises to contribute to the health of the state’s economy.”