Evers Effect Pushes Assembly Passage of Water Quality Bills
Republicans follow Governor Evers’ lead on water quality issues
MADISON – Today, the State Assembly unanimously passed 10 bipartisan bills related to water quality. Last year, Governor Evers declared 2019 as the “Year of Clean Drinking Water” which was the catalyst for these efforts. After the governor introduced significant initiatives in his budget proposal, the Water Quality Task Force task force held a total of 14 public hearings across Wisconsin which led to the bills passed today. The “Evers Effect” has led to Republicans following the governor’s lead on issues that they previous ignored or failed to act upon. Assembly Democratic Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) released the following statement on these bills and the governor’s commitment to water quality initiatives:
“The clean water bills passed today are a long-overdue step in the right direction. After eight years of inaction on key issues facing Wisconsin including water quality, Republicans are following the lead of Governor Evers who declared 2019 as “The Year of Clean Drinking Water.” Thanks to the Evers Effect, communities across Wisconsin will see a meaningful, positive difference in their water quality.”
Some highlights included in the legislative package:
- AB 789: This proposal supports low-income families by helping them remediate or treat the cause of their well contamination.
- AB 790: This bill funds county land and water conservation staff by an additional $3 million, the recommended amount from conservation groups.
- AB 797: This proposal prohibits the sale of coal tar-based sealant products and high PAH sealant products, it also prohibits their use unless given an exemption by the DNR.
- AB 801: This proposal invests in the UW System Freshwater Collaborative. The bill requires the UW Board of Regents to fund a freshwater collaborative and appropriates $2 million in FY2020-21.
“None of this would have been possible without Governor Evers’ leadership. Wisconsin has witnessed the erosion of water quality standards across the state under Republican control. Thanks to Governor Evers, we are finally turning the page and moving our state in the right direction. This $10 million investment is a down payment for our future. We expect this conversation to continue into the next budget so we can fund the resources, staff, and programs needed to prevent contamination from happening altogether.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by State Rep. Gordon Hintz
Inaccurate, cheap political boasting by Mr. Hintz in comments on Assembly passage of water quality bills.The “Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality” was requested by Senator Novak (R) and Representative Tranel (R) and created by Assembly Speaker Voss before Governor Evers had unpacked. It was the truly the nonpartisan work of the Task Force that developed AB 789 to expand the existing well compensation program, AB 790 to provide additional funding for existing county conservation agents and AB 801 to fund UW System coordination of a freshwater collaborative among UW campuses. AB 797 was an outgrowth of the multi-year effort by Clean Wisconsin, UWM, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, USGS and numerous local government leaders.
I applaud the Governor and members of both parties in both the Assembly and Senate for recognizing problems, identifying possible solutions and agreeing on how to collectively act. That did not happen because of political grandstanding like performed by My. Hintz. It happened because people chose to work together in a more nonpartisan way than has typically been possible.
Neil Palmer, Village President, Village of Elm Grove