State Senate Passes Bills On Homelessness, PFAS

Wisconsin state senators passed bills Tuesday that would send $500,000 per year on homeless shelters and ban firefighting chemicals containing PFAS.

But Senators did not take up a half-dozen other anti-homelessness bills that passed the Assembly last summer, and their PFAS bill fell short of what Gov. Tony Evers had asked for.

Both the Senate and Assembly were in session Tuesday, which could be one of a handful of days they’ll meet in 2020. While GOP leaders have yet to set a firm adjournment date, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said recently that chamber will finish its business for the year by the end of February.

The homelessness bill is one of several that passed the Assembly in June with bipartisan support. The overall package had been held up by some conservative Republicans in the Senate who worry the overall package costs too much. Evers also included the proposals in his budget, but they’ve been blocked by Senate Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee as well.

The bill that passed the Senate Tuesday would increase funding for a grant program that provides funding for homeless shelters by $500,000 in each of the next two years.

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, amended the plan to pull the funding out of an account controlled by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority rather than spend it out of the state’s general fund. That change will need the Assembly’s approval before the bill can be sent to the governor’s desk.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, sponsored the original plan and said she hoped the Senate would do more.

“I agree with the people who say this bill doesn’t do enough,” Darling said. “I hope you can support this bill today knowing that we are going to do more in the future.”

Democrats said there was no reason to settle for less in the Senate with so many Republicans and Democrats on the record as supporting all of the homelessness bills.

“The people aren’t divided on these issues, it’s the legislature that is,” said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-West Point. “We are so tone-deaf.”

Democrats tried unsuccessfully to amend the plan to include all the anti-homelessness initiatives. The single bill eventually passed on a unanimous vote.

PFAS Bill Passes

In addition Tuesday, the Senate and Assembly passed a bill that would ban the use of firefighting foam that contains chemicals known as PFAS, sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals,” but that also fell short of what Democrats wanted.

Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, said GOP lawmakers were still deciding what their next step would be.

“This bill in front of us was never meant to be the only bill,” Cowles said.

Evers called the Legislature to pass a stricter PFAS bill that would expand the list of PFAS chemicals the DNR would monitor, as well as require any PFAS groundwater standard recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to be used as an interim standard.

Democrats, like Sen. Dave Hansen, said his constituents told him to vote against any PFAS bill that was not comprehensive.

“You’ve got to understand, this is an issue that cannot wait,” said Hansen, D-Green Bay. “We’ve got to do whatever we can and we’ve got to do it today.”

The plan heads next to Evers’ desk.

Senate Confirms Appointments

The Senate also voted 33-0 Tuesday to confirm state Department of Workforce Development Secretary Caleb Frostman and Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Executive Director Joaquin Altoro. Evers appointed Frostman in January 2019 and Altoro in April.

Both men have been leading their agencies without Senate confirmation like many other cabinet secretaries in the Evers administration. Senate confirmation is not required for a cabinet secretary to lead an executive agency, but senators can vote to fire an agency head, as they did in November with former state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Brad Pfaff.

Evers will have a chance to talk more about his agenda Wednesday during his second State of the State address since becoming governor.

Also this week, the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office could release new revenue estimates. Recent reports from the state Department of Revenue have shown tax collections coming in faster than anticipated.

Sen. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in December that he wanted the Legislature to use its remaining time in Madison to pass a new property tax cut.