New Year’s Resolution

A New Year’s Resolution 

Science Based Environmental Policy

Governor-elect Tony Evers’ cabinet is beginning to take shape with important agency appointments that will set the direction for their respective departments. His choices reflect Democratic values and positions Evers promoted during his campaign and echo many he held as Superintendent of Public Instruction. Among Evers’ top choices is Preston Cole as the new Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources.

Cole comes to the position with impeccable professional and educational credentials. He has a degree in forestry, experience working in natural resource management and as the forester then deputy director of the Public Works Department for the City of Milwaukee. He was originally appointed to the DNR Board by then Governor James Doyle and later re-appointed by Governor Walker. He grew up in rural Michigan, the son of farmers and a proud member of the Future Farmers of America. He understands the concerns of the DNR rank and file staff who chaffed under the pro-business and anti-environment policies of former DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. GOP Senators should be encouraged that Stepp, now the regional head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, feels comfortable being able to work with Cole. 

By all measures of competence and experience, Cole should have no problem being confirmed by the GOP members of the Wisconsin Senate. Unfortunately, some of the early GOP Senate criticisms have already cast a partisan shadow over Cole’s upcoming confirmation hearing and vote. Some GOP Senators fear that policy position appointments that do not require Senate approval will end up in the hands of representatives of “radical” environmental groups with designs on protecting air and water at the expense of property owners and business interests. We are already hearing echoes of the refrains that gained prominence during the “Mining Wars” in Northern Wisconsin that promoted use of the resources for profit instead of people.

The DNR’s mission is to manage Wisconsin’s abundant natural resources, striking a balance between the several competing interests with conflicting goals. Tourism is the life blood of the North Woods and will only thrive if there are forests, lakes and streams to support wildlife and fisheries. People are attracted to clean air and water and repulsed when those are polluted, the birds are gone and the fish die. 

Property rights are important and so are the rights conveyed to Native Tribes by treaties entered into by their leaders and the government of the United States in the late 1800s. The DNR is charged with navigating the continuing conflicting interests of the new settlers and Wisconsin’s first inhabitants with the goal of protecting both. The DNR partnership with Native tribal resource management efforts has worked well, but needs constant attention to avoid resurgence of the “Walleye Wars” that erupted when native spearing spread to more Northern lakes during spawning season.

Resurgent mining exploration, proposed power transmission lines and fossil fuel pipeline developments need evaluation and permitting to avoid contamination of precious air and water resources. Commercial developments statewide must continue to obtain regulatory approval to commence to ensure similar protections for those of us downstate. Businesses and municipalities cannot be allowed to spew pollutants into our shared environment unchecked. 

Protection of the water resources on our eastern and northern borders, requires cooperation and consultation with the Native Bands on their shores as well as the other members of the Great Lakes Compact. The fisheries and fresh water found in Lakes Michigan and Superior are unparalleled and need vigilant oversight against those who would endanger them for short-term gain. 

Municipalities charged with managing drinking water and sewerage systems must be held to strict uniform standards to protect ground water aquifers, rivers, streams and lakes. Garbage collection and disposal needs regulation to limit landfills. Recycling and reuse programs need to be encouraged to reduce what we throw away.

The DNR under GOP leadership has leaned too heavily in favor of business and property owner interests and cuts to staff positions have reduced its ability to enforce regulations necessary to protect the environment. Preston Cole has vowed to lean on his staff science teams when crafting policy and deciding on enforcement priorities. One can only hope his turn back to science-based decision making will not derail his confirmation by the Wisconsin Senate when the new administration takes office in January.

Waring Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled for a Sheboygan County non-profit agency.

The People’s Budget

The Birth of a Peoples’ Government

It is About Time

In stark contrast to previous state budgets that were crafted behind closed doors to favor the interests of wealthy business owners and corporations, Governor-elect Tony Evers has begun to prepare a “Peoples Budget” for the upcoming two-year cycle by holding listening sessions around Wisconsin to hear from people from all walks of life on how the state should spend their money.

Evers has made it clear that the sessions are not going to be used to tell the citizenry what his administration will include in the next budget, but to solicit what the people believe are the important priorities for state spending. 

The first session was held in Green Bay earlier this week. It was followed by a session in Wausau with another planned for Superior early next week. Subsequent sessions will be held in Milwaukee and Madison with others still being planned. All the ideas mentioned will be considered as the Evers administration puts together a spending plan to submit to the legislature.

For those who cannot make any of the sessions, the Governor-elect has provided an on-line form anyone can fill out to submit ideas for budget consideration. You can find it at 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHfkoflPcl76h5m8KKaIJ7oxYjdYpne2Dpt2YUikwfp21S2g/viewform

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has already labeled the Evers’ budget proposals “the most liberal budget you have ever seen” before the first item is put on the list. This is not unexpected from the GOP legislature, given its recent moves to sharply curtail the authority of the new governor and attorney general before they take their oaths of office. 

If we are to have a functional government that addresses Wisconsin citizens’ needs and problems over the next four years, the GOP is going to have to stop the barrage of attacks and demonization of the new administration. We want the GOP controlled legislature to find common ground with the new administration in order to keep Wisconsin moving forward 

We do not want a gridlocked government that does nothing. Wisconsin highways and local roads need money and a plan to make the necessary improvements we all want. Wisconsin public schools and universities need adequate funding to prepare our children for what lies ahead. We need strong environmental protections to ensure clean air and water, especially in light of the Trump administration roll backs of Federal environmental protections. We need accountability for the state tax dollars spent with Foxconn to build its plant and for the incentive package Governor Walker just proposed for Kimberly-Clark. We need criminal justice reform that minimizes mass incarceration and provides mental health and addiction treatment services to truly make our communities safer. We need a renewable energy policy that helps move us away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and climate change.

To help move Wisconsin in this new direction, Governor-elect Evers is also bringing back the “Wisconsin Idea” of blue-ribbon advisory panels made up of experts in their fields whose purpose will be to examine the problems in their areas of expertise and propose bi-partisan ideas to solve them. 

Panels have been named to study prisons and the justice system, science, energy and agriculture, health policy and economic development just for starters. The people named to these panels are charged with identifying policy changes that need to be made and funding priorities that will help in the budget writing process. All are open for public input and none are beholden to special interest groups who stand to profit from the suggestions the panels produce. 

All of these efforts to bring a diverse population of ideas into governmental planning and policy development are a far cry from the closed-door actions of the current Wisconsin government that appeared to act solely for the benefit of the wealthy donors who funded GOP campaigns. The bills recently passed in the early morning hours of the lame-duck legislative session are hopefully the last example of their kind now that the new administration is set to take over. 

All these changes should bring a new openness to our government. We will need to be vigilant and hold them to their promises through continued advocacy and participation. They cannot do it without our input and support. Keep the emails, calls and letters coming so we truly have a “Peoples’ Government” in 2019. This is what Democracy looks like.

Compromise or Confrontation?

Compromise or Confrontation?

It’s Up to the GOP

In the November election, Wisconsin Democrats took all of the state-wide seats and over 54 percent of the votes cast for Assembly seats. One might think the Republican legislative leadership would recognize this as a mandate to find common ground with the new Governor-elect and his administration. No such luck.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and State Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald have rebuffed Governor-elect Evers’ offer to work on a people’s agenda to improve our roads, enact comprehensive healthcare reform and fully fund public education. Instead, they have called for a special session of the legislature to start next week. With outgoing Governor Walker’s blessing, they will try to enact a series of laws to limit Evers’ power and ability to govern while consolidating more power in GOP hands.

While the list of bills to be considered will not be released until after my deadline for this article, it is widely thought to include:

1. Taking the power to approve administrative regulations away from Governor Evers, even though they willingly gave such power to Walker.
2. Limiting Evers’ ability to appoint members to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors in order to continue GOP control of its agenda.
3. Moving the Spring 2020 election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat currently held by a conservative Justice to a date different than the Spring Presidential Primary where Democratic turnout is predicted to be higher thus hurting Justice Kelly’s chances to hold the seat. Never mind that the municipal clerks responsible for running these elections are mostly opposed to the move because of the time needed for potential for recounts, added costs and voter confusion.
4. Passing package of economic incentives to keep Kimberly-Clark in the Fox Valley. The paper maker has threatened to leave Wisconsin without more state help. 
5. Putting some GOP favorite rules, such as the requirement for a photo ID for voting and work requirements for Medicaid eligibility into state statutes.
6. Enacting state law requiring health insurance companies to provide coverage for pre-existing conditions.
7. Limiting Evers’ ability to change the Attorney General’s Solicitor Generals office in order to try and preserve some of the lawsuits brought by outgoing Attorney General and soon to be Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schmiel.

Never fear though because the Assembly and Senate leaders have yet to agree on how these or other measures might be considered. Speaker Vos apparently wants one omnibus bill that includes all of the issues. Majority Leader Fitzgerald favors individual bills that would be taken up separately, probably because he does not have the votes in his chamber to pass the Kimberly-Clark package after being burned by the Foxconn deal. Evidently, neither wants to address redistricting and the creation of fair maps or any of the other pressing problems Wisconsin voters want them to solve

Both leaders want to get the job done by mid-week so they can all go home for the holidays.

This effort, whatever its final form, does not bode well for cooperation on issues that voters cared about in November. Governor-elect Evers plans to work on the people’s agenda that includes fixing our roads, bridges and other parts of Wisconsin’s infrastructure too long neglected by the GOP. He wants a public education budget that fully funds our public schools and returns power to locally elected school boards to control their own district finances. He wants to expand Medicaid by accepting federal support that Walker rejected so more people have healthcare coverage.

Evers has called the proposed power grab unnecessary and potentially violative of the constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. He will have the support of his new AG, Josh Kaul, who will have no problem defending Evers’ positions.

Hopefully, some of the few moderate remaining Republican legislators can stand up and put a stop to the special session. They are the only ones who have the ability to slow the train or put it on a siding. They do so at the peril of losing financial support from GOP committees controlled by the leadership if they do not toe the line. They are the last hope for cooperation and a search for common ground in the coming legislative session.