Wisconsin DNR shouldn’t have to beg lawmakers to clean environment

It sounds good, on paper. Wisconsin legislators set aside $125 million in the new state budget to address PFAS contamination. After years of failing to address the issue, our lawmakers agreed to spend more money to fight the pollution problem than Governor Evers requested. That must show they are serious about cleaning up the pollution and keeping people healthy. But the money, while approved by lawmakers, hasn’t been allocated. There are no plans for spending it. Even as they approved the money, they punted on how to spend it. Then how do they know $125 million is the right amount?  Essentially, that $125 million is sitting in a trust fund. And not a penny of it will be spent unless the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee agrees. How does that help people on French Island and elsewhere in the state who have been drinking only bottled water for two years because of contamination in their wells? Lawmakers say the issue is complicated, but they will work to outline specifically how the money can be spent. But that will take time, and they admit it could be fall or later before those decisions are made. The people on French Island need help now, and the DNR shouldn’t have to beg state lawmakers for the right to spend it in the way that would provide the most immediate and effective help.