Wisconsin Republicans ignore governor's call to spend $125M to combat so-called forever chemicals

FILE - Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wis., speaks, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Superior, Wis. Wisconsin Republicans plan to ignore the latest call from Evers to spend $125 million to combat so-called forever chemicals. Evers invoked a rarely used power and called a meeting of the Legislature’s budget committee, urging it to release the funding that was previously approved in the state budget. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press

MADISON, Wis . (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans on Tuesday ignored the latest call from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to spend $125 million to combat so-called forever chemicals, leading Evers to say he may sue over the issue.

Evers invoked a rarely used power and called a meeting of the Republican-led Legislature’s budget committee, urging it to release the funding that was previously approved in the state budget. But Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee did not show up, with the GOP co-chairs calling Evers’ move “blatant political game-playing.”

Although no Republicans came, Evers made a previously unannounced appearance in the Capitol hearing room and joined three Democratic lawmakers in blasting the GOP inaction.

“The Republicans are missing in action on this,” Evers said. “This is one they whiffed on, big time.”

Evers said he is considering filing a lawsuit, perhaps with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to force the committee to take action.

The moves are the latest twist in the ongoing stalemate between Evers and the Legislature over the best way to combat PFAS chemicals that have polluted groundwater in communities across the state. Evers and Republicans have both said that fighting the chemicals is a priority, but they haven’t been able to come together on what to do about it.

Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Mark Born, the Republican committee co-chairs, said in a letter delivered to Evers on Friday that although the governor can call a meeting of the budget committee, he can’t actually require it to meet or take action. The committee will not meet, they said.

“We are disappointed in your disregard for a co-equal branch of government, as well as the legislative process,” Born and Marklein wrote to Evers.

Evers last week vetoed a Republican bill that would have created grants to fight PFAS pollution. He also called on the Legislature’s budget committee to give the state Department of Natural Resources the authority to spend the $125 million.

But Republicans have said doing what Evers wants would give the DNR a “slush fund.”

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals that don’t easily break down in nature. They are found in a wide range of products, including cookware and stain-resistant clothing, and previously were often used in aviation fire-suppression foam. The chemicals, which are commonly referred to as forever chemicals because some don’t degrade naturally, have been linked to health problems including low birth weight, cancer and liver disease, and have been shown to make vaccines less effective.

Municipalities across Wisconsin are struggling with PFAS contamination in groundwater, including Marinette, Madison, Wausau and the town of Campbell on French Island. The waters of Green Bay also are contaminated.