MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Governor Tony Evers has issued a veto for Assembly Bill 367, also known as the Mill Bill, a move that is sending Republicans back to the drawing board as they continue to work to re-open idled paper mills in two Central Wisconsin communities.
The bill called for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to issue $50 million in short-term loans using COVID-19 stimulus dollars to a cooperative group looking to buy the idled Verso mill in Wisconsin Rapids. With another $15 million to a similar group trying to restart the Park Falls mill.
In his veto message, the Governor questioned whether ARPA funds could be used for the mills because the paper industry was declining well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit due to changing consumer habits. He also said he would rather see the state use general funds since they are more stable and reliable than the one-time stimulus funds.
Representative Scott Krug of Nekoosa, who helped author the bill, says the move is frustrating for him because what’s most important is getting people back to work at both facilities and in the adjacent trucking and timber industries.
“The Governor could do it today without the bill. He doesn’t have to sign my bill, he doesn’t have to acknowledge it. He has full federal power to make these things happen today. So that’s plan B, Governor, just make the announcement and fund these out of the federal dollars you have full control over yourself.”
Republicans like Krug have argued that since Verso cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for shutting down the mill that ARPA funds could be used to bring them back online. Evers has said that the state has enough general funds to cover the loans without using ARPA dollars.
Evers’ complete veto message is attached to this story.
State Senator Patrick Testin, who also represents a portion of the Wisconsin Rapids area, issued the following statement: “With this veto, Governor Evers turned his back on thousands of families and jobs in Central and Northern Wisconsin – but he still has the opportunity to do the right thing. He has the authority to allocate these ARPA funds to help the mill – something Rep. Krug and I asked him to do more than a month ago. It’s past time for him to act.”
Krug also expressed frustration with a lack of communication with the Governor, saying he’s willing to sit down and negotiate with the Democrat but has found it difficult to get an audience. “I would love for the Governor to sit down and talk to us. We’ve asked that since day one, but we’ve only had the opportunity for a couple of phone calls and a letter back and forth.
“I don’t know why he won’t sit down with us in a room and talk these things through. I don’t understand it,” he added.
Krug also notes that both the Senate and Assembly are in recess until September. So should another bill is required, it would be months before it could be signed into law unless the Governor were to call a special session.
The Verso mill was the leading employer in Wisconsin Rapids with more than 900 people on its payroll until it was closed last July. The facility also processed nearly a quarter of the region’s timber, which lead to thousands of indirect jobs in the trucking and logging industry.
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