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Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is calling on the UW System to invite more conservative guest speakers to its campuses.

Vos' remarks come as another contentious state budget debate looms in 2017, which again could put UW System funding on the chopping block.

In an op-ed for the website Right Wisconsin titled "A Free Speech Challenge to the UW System," Vos praises the UW Board of Regents for passing a resolution affirming "its commitment to the principle of freedom of expression." The resolution, approved by regents in December, followed intense public debates on other campuses about how to handle discussion of sensitive topics.

But a look at who is invited speak on UW campuses contradicts the system's call for protecting diverse viewpoints, Vos said. He said data obtained by his office from the UW System shows conservatives are "noticeably absent" from a list of top-paid recent guest speakers at UW campuses.