The Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) is continuing to delay efforts to release funding to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination statewide and crisis response resources to help stabilize health care access in western Wisconsin, according to a recent press release from Gov. Tony Evers. The $125 million in funding approved through the 2023–25 biennial budget to fight PFAS statewide has gone unspent in Madison for over nine months. Similarly, $15 million in crisis response resources that Evers approved in 2023 Wisconsin Act 97 has waited in Madison for more than 48 days.
Evers last week announced he was calling the budget committee into a special meeting on April 16 at 9:30 a.m. to urge Republican legislators’ release of the $140 million in already-approved, bipartisan-supported funding. The 12 Republicans on the committee did not attend the committee’s special meeting, again refusing to release the $140 million.
Republican committee members have given no indication of when they plan to release the funds. Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in Evers v. Marklein, a lawsuit brought by Evers against the Wisconsin State Legislature arguing Republican-controlled committees such as the JFC are unconstitutionally and unlawfully obstructing basic government functions and operations.
