Budget committee approves over $700 million in bonding for clean water programs

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Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) and Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) said at a press conference ahead of the meeting that they were looking forward to getting to work on the budget despite negotiations stalling and were optimistic that they could still get the budget done on time. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Thursday took its first actions on the budget since the breakdown in negotiations between Republican lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers by approving over $700 million in bonding authority for clean water and safe drinking water projects and taking action on several other agencies.
Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) and Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) said at a press conference ahead of the meeting that they were looking forward to getting to work on the budget despite negotiations stalling and were optimistic that they could still get the budget done on time.
'We've had some good conversations in the last few weeks between the governor and the legislative leaders, and unfortunately, those, you know, conversations have stopped,' Born said.
Lawmakers and Evers announced Wednesday evening that their months-long negotiations had reached an impasse for the time being.
Republicans said they would move forward writing the budget on their own, saying the state couldn't afford what Evers wanted, and Evers said Republicans were walking away because they refused to compromise. Evers had said he was willing to support Republican tax cut proposals that even as they were similar to proposals he previously vetoed.
'The spending really that the governor needs is just more than they can afford,' Born said Thursday, 'and it's getting to the point where it's about 3 to 1 compared to the tax cuts that we were looking at.'
He declined to share specifics about the amounts that were being discussed.
'I don't think we're going to relive the conversations of the last few weeks in any details, but certainly, you know, we've been focused on tax cuts for retirees and the middle class,' Born said.
Evers' spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in an email that Republicans' 'math is not remotely accurate.'
Despite the breakdown in discussions, the GOP lawmakers said they were optimistic about the potential for Evers to sign the budget they write, noting that he has signed budget bills passed by Republicans three times in his tenure as governor.
'I'm very hopeful that we will do a responsible budget that we can afford that addresses the major priorities and a lot of the priorities that I think the governor's office has,' Marklein said. 'I'm very hopeful that the governor will sign the budget.'
Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee were less optimistic about the prospect for the budget to receive support from across the aisle, saying that it likely wouldn't adequately address the issues at the top of mind for Wisconsinites, including public K-12 education, public universities and child care.
'We're going to see a budget that prioritizes more tax breaks for the wealthiest among us at the expense of all of the rest of us and a budget from finance that will get no Democratic votes and that will likely be vetoed by the governor,' Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said.
Roys said they didn't know about the specifics of what Evers had agreed to.
'We can't really speculate on that, but I can say that we absolutely support the process and the idea of collaborative, shared government,' Roys said. 'We are committed to that. We have been ready from Day One to sit down with our Republic colleagues to negotiate.'
She said for now JFC Democrats will focus on providing alternatives to Republicans' plans.
'We're going to do our best to advocate for what Wisconsinites have said they want to need,' Roys said. 'We want a lower cost for families. We want to make sure that our kids are the first priority in the budget, and we're going to be offering the Republicans the opportunity to vote in favor of those things.'
There is less than a month until the June 30 deadline for the Legislature to pass and Evers to sign the state budget. If the budget isn't passed on time, then state agencies continue to operate under the current funding levels.
While negotiations have hit a wall, some committee's actions on Thursday received bipartisan support.
The committee unanimously approved an additional $732 million in bonding authority for the Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF). The program uses a combination of federal grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's clean water and drinking water state revolving funds and matching state funds to provide subsidized loans to municipalities for drinking water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure projects.
'This is going to be very good for a lot of our local communities when it comes to clean water,' Marklein said ahead of the meeting. He noted that many communities were on a waiting list for their projects.
The Department of Administration and the Department of Natural Resources told lawmakers in late 2024 that that year was the first time the fund had not had enough resources to meet demand.
Demand for aid from the program increased dramatically starting in 2023, with a 154% increase in the clean water fund loan demand in 2023-24 and a 325% increase in demand for the safe drinking water loan program that year. Insufficient funding for the clean water program led to constraints in 2024-25 and left needs unmet for at least 24 projects costing around $73.9 million.
Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay) said she was thrilled that lawmakers were approving money for infrastructure in the state.
'The state has over $4 billion here,' Andraca said. 'A lot of that is one-time money and one-time money should be used for infrastructure — making sure that our communities are in a great position moving forward should the economy turn down.'
The action is meant to cover the next four years of state contributions to the fund.
Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) said in a statement the loans will help Wisconsin communities address aging infrastructure and water contaminants.
'With these additional funds, municipalities will be able to access low-interest loans to modernize their water systems, saving local taxpayers millions of dollars and keeping their water clean for years to come at the same time,' Wimberger said.
Peter Burress, government affairs manager for environmental nonprofit Wisconsin Conservation Voters, said including the additional revenue bonding authority in the budget is a 'smart, substantive way' to make progress towards ensuring Wisconsinites have 'equitable access to safe, affordable drinking water.'
'We urge every legislator to support this same investment and send it to Gov. Evers for his signature,' Burress said.
Republicans on the committee approved an additional $500,000 for the Medical College of Wisconsin's North Side Milwaukee Health Centers Family Medicine Residency Program, which focuses on training family physicians with expertise and skills to provide individualized, evidence-based, culturally competent care to patients and families.
The measure also included $250,000 annually starting in 2026-27 for the Northwest Wisconsin Residency Rotation for family medicine residents. According to budget papers, starting the funding in the second year of the budget would allow time to find a hospital partner to support residents.
Democrats voted against the measure after their proposal for higher funding was shot down by Republicans. The Democrats proposal also called for funding a Comprehensive Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Fellowship Program focusing on treating substance use disorders and anAdvancing Innovation in Residency Education project to improve the behavioral health expertise of family medicine residents.
'I hope that my colleagues are reading national news because we're seeing lots and lots of research funding being cut,' Andraca said. 'The Medical College has lost about $5 million in research grants recently, and in addition to other research programs being canceled, I don't know who has tried to make an appointment with the primary care physician, but there's really long wait times right now, and this program is literally designed to bring doctors into the state.'
Democrats proposed transitioning the Educational Communications Board's Emergency Weather Warning System from relying on fees for funding to being covered by state general purpose revenue.
Andraca, in explaining the proposal, said state funding for a system like that is more important now than ever.
'We're talking weather alerts. We're talking about making sure that people know when there's something heading their way. We are in a time where we need these alerts more than ever. In fact, yesterday was an unhealthy air day, and… we're looking at drastic federal cuts,' Andraca said.
Republicans rejected the measure and instead approved a 5% increase that will be used on general program operations, transmitter operations and emergency weather warning system operations. Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) joined Republicans in favor of the motion.
The committee also took action on several other agencies with support splitting along party lines
Republicans approved a modification to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's budget, lowering it by $3.8 million, due to projections that surcharge collections appropriated to WEDC will be lower than estimated. They also rejected Democrats' proposal to provide an additional $5 million in the opportunity attraction and promotion fund, which makes grants to attract events that will draw national exposure and drive economic development.
The committee was scheduled to take action on the Wisconsin Elections Commission budget, but delayed that after the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to the state agency accusing it of violating the Help America Vote Act. The letter threatened to withhold funding and criticized the absence of an administrative complaint process or hearings to address complaints against the Commission itself. Ann Jacobs, the commission chair, has disputed the accusations and said there is no funding for the federal government to cut.
Marklein said the state lawmakers want more information before acting on the agency's budget.
'Out of caution, we think we're just going to wait and see,' Marklein said. 'We need to analyze this and see what implications there may be for the entire Elections Commission and what impact that may have on the budget.'
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