Dear John ,
On Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers presented his second biennial budget in an online address. You can watch it here. [[link removed]]

The proposed budget is cause to celebrate. It includes a wide variety of initiatives and items that directly address some of our most pressing statewide environmental, health, and democracy issues. And, they do so with a deep emphasis on equity.

That is a major breakthrough. The lack of explicit demands for equity and racial justice as part of defending our environment has long been ignored. While the work ahead is considerable, this budget helps establish an equity orientation that we both support and strive to bring to all environmental work. We congratulate the Evers Administration for helping bring these connections into clearer focus and are excited to work shoulder-to-shoulder to make real progress.

Clean water, clean energy, and a healthy democracy are the keys to a brighter, more equitable, and more successful future here in Wisconsin. This budget continues and builds Gov. Evers’ record of delivering on his promises for Wisconsin’s natural resources. His budget proposals work in concert with the excellent work of the governor’s Climate Change Task Force and build on the administration’s commitment to honoring the values and goals of conservation voters across the state.

It’s very simple. You deserve clean water, clean energy, and a healthy democracy, and so does every person living in Wisconsin. This budget proposal aligns with those values and those goals, and we’re forging ahead. In the coming days and weeks we’ll be diving into the specifics of the proposed budget, and with your help we’ll begin to take action to give this budget its best shot at coming through what can be a long and fraught process as intact as possible.

For now, here are some highlights included in the governor’s budget summary:
• Expediting efforts to set PFAS standards for drinking water and surface waters, similar to the Clear Act;
• Providing $20 million to local governments to begin testing and remediating for PFAS;
• Adding eleven additional fulltime staff dedicated to understanding the threats from emerging contaminants like PFAS;
• Making it easier for more households to replace their contaminated wells by increasing the amount of annual family income that qualifies under the state’s well compensation grant program; and
• Authorizing $40 million in bonding for the replacement of up to 50 percent of the cost to replace lead services lines through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program.

Clean energy and climate change
• Establishing an Office of Environmental Justice, including a Chief Resiliency Office and additional staff;
• Supporting local governments who are leading the charge in moving Wisconsin towards 100 percent clean energy; and
• Increasing the Focus on Energy program from 1.2 to 2.4 percent of operating revenues.

Public lands
• Reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program for ten years at $70 million in bonding levels, a move that will help achieve worldwide goals to protect 30 percent of lands and oceans by 2030.
Healthy democracy
• Creating automatic voter registration.

Stay tuned for next steps and thank you for being a conservation voter,
Kerry Schumann
Executive Director
Wisconsin Conservation Voters

P.S. Chip in a gift of $10, $25, $50 or whatever you can afford today to help us give Gov. Evers' budget the boost it needs to make it through the legislature with your conservation priorities – like clean energy, racial justice, and healthy drinking water – intact.
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Wisconsin Conservation Voters
133 S. Butler Street Suite 320
Madison, WI 53703
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