Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative leaders announced an agreement Wednesday on the Great Lakes Compact, a major environmental bill that is scheduled for a special session vote April 17.
“Our Great Lakes waters in many ways define who we are, and now the Great Lakes Compact will ensure that we protect this tremendous resource while responsibly using water we need to prosper and grow,” Doyle said in a statement.
The bill would stop long-distance diversions from the lakes and mandate rules regarding maintaining them. Proponents state they want to pass the bill in all states surrounding the Great Lakes and have the proposal approved by Congress to become law.
State Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said the agreement was possible because Assembly Republicans stopped pushing for changes that would have sent the GLC back to other states for re-approval, as each state has to pass the same version.
However, states are allowed some leeway in how they apply the GLC, with the recent agreement dealing with implementation language in the proposal.
Miller said he thought the bill would easily pass again in the Senate, which passed an earlier version with a 26-6 vote.
Mike Bruhn, chief of staff for state Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, said the bill includes some legislative oversight provisions on a governor’s ability to change the compact.
He said if a governor wants to make substantive changes to the compact, the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, made up of leaders from both houses, must approve them.
Bruhn also said the special session bill is likely to pass, with Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, endorsing the recent agreement.
“I imagine this will have overwhelming bipartisan support,” Bruhn said.
Keith Reopelle, program director at the environmental group Clean Wisconsin, said the GLC does not change current laws regarding property owner rights over groundwater, which some previous critics alleged.
He said the recent agreement would also take effect as soon as the governor signs it, unlike in other states where it does not become law until passed by Congress.
