Wisconsin's legislature passed the 2019-21 budget at the end of June, with Governor Evers signing it into law in early July. The version of the budget that was signed does not protect our air, water or health with the vigor we were hoping for – but there are some bright spots. For the first time in a long time, Wisconsinites received a budget that makes some progress on some environmental issues, unlike the massive rollbacks that have occurred the past two budget cycles.
We took action.
Thanks to the hard work of our members and supporters, the environment and climate were central to the debate. Activists did an immense amount of work! Throughout the budget process, we engaged at every angle we were able: public events, direct lobbying, grassroots lobbying from our members, leveraging our digital tools, providing fact sheets and background on the policies our members were testifying about, and more!
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Before the budget process kicked off, members hosted 15 in-district meetings with legislators across the state to proactively advocate for public lands, public transportation, clean water and clean air through clean energy.
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In one week alone, 30 Sierra Club members met with legislators in the Capitol by attending our partners’ lobby days.
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Our Parks team hosted a statewide event called Wisconsin Loves Parks, during which we built on Sierra Club’s already successful outings program and Sierra Club’s local groups around the state, to draw attention to state parks and why they should be funded. Events were held in sev parks.
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Sierra Club had a presence at all four of the budget hearings. We know the legislators noticed us and heard our message because several of them tweeted about our testimony.
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667 members contacted legislators through email and more than 100 people made calls about the budget.
The Sierra Club was primarily concerned with four areas in the budget: transportation, clean energy, water, and public lands. Under a new administration, we saw our Governor propose a budget with strong environmental commitments. Most notably, Governor Evers proposed a 100% carbon-free goal and wanted to develop an Office of Clean Energy and Climate Change, significant investments in public transportation, and several water programs. The Joint Finance Committee’s (JFC) budget came up short in each of these areas, leaving the Governor with limited options when it came to his desk. While many of those did not make it into the final budget that was passed into law, the conversation about environmental issues has gained traction and this budget included some steps forward – opposed to the steps back in the last two budgets.
We saw our biggest wins in Transportation. Public Lands projects have a long way to go, but the elimination of all Clean Energy projects, along with key Water Quality projects, raise the biggest concerns for the health and safety of our state. And despite that – the state budget would have been so much worse if not for the work of all of our members and supporters.
The Good: Transportation Investment for Local Communities
Our primary victories came in the transportation sector. The budget contains fewer new highway projects than we expected to see (albeit more than we asked for), and more money for specialized transportation and paratransit than we asked for. There is also money set aside for railway improvements between Milwaukee and Chicago on the Hiawatha line, which may keep hundreds of thousands of cars off the road each year.
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The budget includes $3 million to fund specialized public transportation systems, $550k for paratransit, $78k for tribal-elderly transit, and $500k for the Wisconsin Employment Transportation Assistance Program (WETAP). This investment goes toward Wisconsinites who are aging or have a disability and rely upon specialized, paratransit or tribal-elderly transportation to get to healthcare and other needs. The WETAP program is a workforce transportation aide that helps people get to work. This investment is a strong first step toward building a transportation system that meets various needs across the state.
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The budget includes $35 million in general obligation bonding authority for improvements to the Amtrak Hiawatha line running between Chicago and Milwaukee. Though this is lower than the $45 million Governor Evers recommended, it is still a significant amount. The Hiawatha line is Amtrak's busiest route in the Midwest, carrying 844k passengers in 2018.
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In addition, Governor Evers used his veto power in a creative way. He vetoed a portion of the $90 million local road funding so $75 million will go toward local roads and the $15 million could be used for any local transportation priorities, including public transportation projects. This would not have happened without advocacy by Sierra Club and our partners.
Our work prevented some bad proposals and resulted in some small steps forward.
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State Parks received just over $1 million for improvements. Sierra Club had asked for $5 million, but it looked unlikely that increased investment would occur this year. State Parks are an important resource for Wisconsinites, providing valuable opportunities to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and generating millions in tourism revenue each year. However, we must be willing to pay for maintenance and improvements to ensure our parks continue providing these benefits.
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The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program was renewed for two years in this budget. Our Stewardship program is vital for allowing the DNR to acquire and protect sensitive wilderness areas, as well as providing grants to nonprofits to buy and preserve land. The program needs to be renewed for 10 years and at its prior rate of funding.
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There are only two new highway expansion enumerations in this budget, instead of the several we expected to see. Thank you for the letters you wrote, the calls you made, and the testimony you delivered!
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JFC's budget allots an increase of $2.7 million for non-specialized mass transit systems. While this is a paltry sum compared to the $32 million recommended by Governor Evers and the $36 million requested by the Sierra Club, this is the first time in more than a decade that public transportation saw any funding increase at all, but that funding is still not enough to even match inflation.
The Bad
The 2019-21 budget also has its share of disappointments for the Sierra Club. JFC has been particularly stingy in budget areas related to water quality, and remains unwilling to increase regulation on major polluters. Despite the creation of a Water Quality Task Force, the legislature’s worst offenses were on water protections.
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Water quality programs took a huge hit this budget cycle. Sierra Club is working hard to assure that the Water Quality Task Force prioritizes these programs during the legislative session.
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The legislature and Joint Finance Committee eliminated Governor Evers' proposed permit fee increases for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and reduced the number of new oversight staff to four. Governor Evers recommended that the DNR hire five more staff for CAFO oversight. These staff would have been funded by establishing an application/renewal fee on CAFO operators, and increasing their annual operating fee from $345 to $660 per year. These measures could have slowed the propagation of CAFOs, and created a stronger system of oversight for those that already exist. Instead, Wisconsin will remain the cheapest state in the Upper Midwest to establish and run a CAFO.
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Joint Finance Committee reduced funding to $4 million to help remove toxic sediment from the Great Lakes and tributary rivers, about 16% of the $25 million Governor Evers requested. Toxic sediment from farm runoff is a threat to the quality of our Great Lakes and rivers, which many Wisconsinites depend on for their drinking water.
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Nonpoint source pollution grants were slashed. There was just a one-time $100k increase for nonpoint source pollution grants. This is just 1/8 of the amount recommended by Governor Evers, who requested annual increases of $400k to address nonpoint source pollution in his budget ($800k total).
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All funding for programs to assist in replacing lead pipes was removed! Governor Evers had proposed $40 million in grants to help remove and replace dangerous lead pipes in water systems around the state. Prolonged exposure to even small amounts of lead is known to cause serious symptoms in children and adults, including developmental delays, learning disabilities, seizures, miscarriages, hearing loss, memory loss, and a host of others. It is inexcusable that members of our legislature refuse to allocate any funding to try and protect Wisconsin's residents who are most at risk. The removal of this funding on such a serious issue is outrageous.
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While Sierra Club and our partners were able to fight off some highway expansion enumerations, highways still received the vast majority of our transportation dollars. We are especially concerned that the I-94 E/W expansion through Milwaukee is back (again!). We have fought this proposal and won several times now and are gearing up to fight this project again. Milwaukee doesn’t want it, Wisconsin doesn’t need it, and we have better transportation solutions!
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Eminent domain still cannot be used to build bike trails through private property. Governor Evers had proposed restoring the State's ability to use eminent domain to acquire property for bike trails in certain cases. The Sierra Club does not condone the use of eminent domain for private gain (like building oil pipelines). However, bike trails are an important public good, and a crucial piece of transportation infrastructure. Our transportation team has joined a coalition of bike advocates working to change this during the legislative session.
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Clean energy proposals were stripped from the budget! The Governor had recommended that the State adopt a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, create an Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, including a $4 million grant for renewable energy research, and allow the Public Services Commission to increase the amount of their revenues that utilities in the state must feed into Focus on Energy. Given the dire threat of climate change, and with only 12 years to get our act together and stop dumping carbon into the atmosphere, these are all perfectly reasonable and important steps toward ending our reliance on fossil fuels for energy. While the legislature is not committed to these goals, many local communities are, and Sierra Club will continue to work to assure that we see a 100% clean energy future sooner rather than later.
Our work continues, and there are signs of hope.
Our teams have remained busy and will continue to be until all Wisconsinites have accessible transportation options, clean water, protected lands, and clean energy.
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The week after the budget passed, our transportation team held a statewide Transit Week of Action, with nine events across the state that engaged 150 people.
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Our water team has been busy at the Water Quality Task Force hearings, assuring that the elected officials who stripped clean water protections from the budget are held accountable and advocating for these programs to be passed through legislation.
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Our land and wildlife team will continue to advocate for State Parks and the Stewardship Fund.
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Our clean energy teams have been busy! Since the budget passed, the City of La Crosse and both the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County passed 100% clean energy resolutions! This means that 1 in 4 Wisconsinites live in communities committed to 100% clean energy.
We still have a lot of work to do, but Sierra Club will be there all across the state using every avenue available to us to protect our environment, climate and the natural places that we cherish.