Senate Bill 523, a bill calling for the states and Canadian provinces surrounding the Great Lakes to regulate the lakes' water, passed in the Wisconsin state Senate Thursday.
The bill, called the Great Lakes Compact, allows states and provinces to make agreements about how to conserve and regulate the lakes' water, but only become law if all they all agree.
According to a statement by state Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, most of the other Great Lake states have already ratified the GLC.
Miller, who is chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, helped to pass the bill through the Senate.
This is an issue of such importance that it transcends partisanship '¦ It also requires a vision for preserving the remarkable resource for Wisconsin's economic and social well-being,"" Miller said.
Gov. Jim Doyle said in a release he is happy about this important step toward making the GLC into law.
""It is essential to pass the [GLC] both to ensure that our water use is sustainable and that cities such as Waukesha can meet their needs,"" Doyle said.
According to Miller, the bill passed in the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 26-6.
The six state Senators that voted against the bill want to pass the GLC, but are worried certain aspects of the bill need to be reviewed more, according to Ryan Murray, spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.
One of the bill's own authors, state Sen. Neal Kedzie, R - oElkhorn, voted against it because he was concerned the bill was rushed through the Senate, according to Murray.
The primary dispute over the bill is the ""one-state veto provision."" This means that any one state or province can veto proposed water use of another state, according to John Murray, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R - oWest Salem.
""We've raised some specific concerns and we'd like to see those concerns addressed before we put it on the Assembly floor,"" spokesperson Murray said.
