Thank you for mobilizing so quickly! In the past week, you’ve sent over 33,000 emails to the Capitol, making sure Joint Finance Committee members and legislators heard you loud and clear that Knowles-Nelson needs to be a priority.
Hundreds of you then called the Governor’s office and asked Governor Evers to stand strong in his negotiations with the legislature.
We just learned that the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) intends to vote on Knowles-Nelson TOMORROW (FRIDAY).
We are very concerned that Knowles-Nelson funding could be left out of the budget, leaving Knowles-Nelson in a precarious position.
What To Do:
1. Call Governor Evers at (608) 266-1212 and ask him to:
“Stand strong and demand that some Knowles-Nelson funding be included in the state budget. Compromise is fine, but we cannot accept zero funding for Knowles-Nelson.”
2. Email the Governor and your legislators with just a few clicks, letting them know again that we must have some funding for Knowles-Nelson in the budget, even if it’s nowhere near what the Governor proposed.
Why Call Governor Evers?
The Governor is the final backstop in the budget process. Governor Evers’ team and legislative leaders have been engaged in on again / off again negotiations for months in an attempt to build consensus on priorities for the budget. Everyone’s goal is to build a budget that can pass the legislature and that the Governor is willing to sign.
However, as reported in the press, there has been a wide rift between the Assembly and the Senate and between the Legislature and the Governor in their respective budget priorities.
The Joint Finance Committee vote is a crucial step in the budget process, but the budget also has to be passed by both chambers of the legislature and signed by the Governor before it becomes law. Governor Evers will continue to have significant influence on what is included in the budget and if it becomes law.
Where We Stand:
The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) just announced this morning that they intend to meet tomorrow, Friday, to vote on all remaining items in the state budget. They have really left things to the last minute.
The Assembly and Senate met yesterday in a rare joint caucus, presumably to discuss their choices about what to fund in the state budget.
Given the chaotic, uncertain nature of budget negotiations, it’s on us to push as hard as we can for some basic certainty for Knowles-Nelson.
The Stakes:
The situation remains critical. If the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is not included in the state budget, we are looking at the program expiring, leaving land trusts, local governments, friends groups, and the DNR with no state funding to buy conservation land or develop outdoor recreation resources.
While legislators did introduce a standalone bill to make policy changes to the Stewardship Program, that bill stalled almost immediately and included zero funding for the program. It faces an uncertain future, to say the least.
The momentum you’ve built matters, but we can’t let up now. Visit Action.KnowlesNelson.org to contact legislators and the Governor today.
What You Can Expect From Us:
We will closely monitor tomorrow’s Joint Finance hearing and let you know the result of the Knowles-Nelson vote.
Assuming that hearing proceeds as laid out in the agenda (a previous Joint Finance session was cancelled), this will wrap up JFC’s work and the draft budget will then go to the Assembly and Senate chambers for potential amendments and a vote in each chamber.
If the legislature passes the budget, it will then head to Governor Evers’ desk to be signed into law, amended with his partial veto authority, or vetoed in full.
Featured image by ken fager, 2023
