WED AM News: Assembly approves bills to boost nuclear power in Wisconsin; Supreme Court rules DNR doesn’t have to identify PFAS as hazardous before ordering cleanup

June 25, 2025

— The Assembly has sent to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk several measures to boost nuclear power in Wisconsin.

SB 125, approved by voice vote, would require the Public Service Commission to conduct a nuclear power siting study. The bill would also require the PSC to submit a report on the study to the Legislature within a year after the bill takes effect, and set new deadlines for the agency to approve permits for a plant.

Evers had proposed investing $1 million to study siting a new plant.

Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Weston, said lawmakers “can’t be living in the past” of nuclear disasters like those seen at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

“This is something for the future. If you want the cleanest energy, then nuclear has to be included,” Snyder said yesterday. “Otherwise there’s not enough of the non-carbon energy to be able to supply the needs of this United States — especially if we move toward electric vehicles and everything that goes electric, we need this kind of energy.”

Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, D-Milwaukee, said nuclear energy could be part of the conversation on reducing carbon emissions in the state. But he argued more work needs to be done before moving forward and said the bill puts the cart before the horse.

“Do we really want to move forward in the nuclear energy space? If so, what’s the best way to do that? If not, how can we promote alternative energy sources instead?” Moore Omokunde said. “I bet if we went door-to-door in our districts today, I can almost guarantee that no one is going to want a nuclear plant sited in their backyard, for health concerns, for property value concerns. We need to have the conversation first.”

A new board would be created to organize, promote and host a nuclear power summit in Wisconsin under SB 124, which the Assembly approved by voice vote.

Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, said the goal is to bring international investors, innovators, educators, scientists and policymakers to Wisconsin in 2028 to discuss nuclear energy. He said the summit would coincide with the opening of UW-Madison’s new engineering building.

The chamber also signed off by voice vote on SJR 7, a resolution supporting nuclear power and fusion energy and declaring the state’s “commitment to the continuation and expansion of nuclear power, fusion energy, and nuclear technologies.”

— Gov. Tony Evers and environmental groups hailed as a major victory the state Supreme Court’s decision affirming the Department of Natural Resources’ authority to require cleanup of PFAS and other hazardous substances.

Evers yesterday called the 5-2 decision a “historic victory” for Wisconsinites and his administration’s efforts to combat harmful contaminants.

“The Supreme Court’s decision today means that polluters will not have free rein to discharge harmful contaminants like PFAS into our land, water, and air without reporting it or taking responsibility for helping clean up those contaminants,” Evers said. “It’s a great day for Wisconsinites and the work to protect and preserve our state’s valuable natural resources for future generations.”

Midwest Environmental Advocates staff attorney Rob Lee said the decision is “a victory for the health and wellbeing of the people of Wisconsin.” He criticized Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce for bringing the suit.

“We are pleased that the court rejected WMC’s reckless attempt to undermine a bedrock environmental and public health protection that has kept Wisconsinites safe from toxic contamination for almost fifty years,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, WMC Executive Vice President of Government Relations Scott Manley knocked the decision for approving a “fundamentally unfair” approach by DNR.

“The DNR refuses to tell the regulated community which substances must be reported under the Spills Law, yet threatens severe penalties for getting it wrong,” Manley said. “Businesses and homeowners are left to guess what’s hazardous, and if they’re wrong, they face crushing fines and endless, costly litigation. This ruling blesses a regulatory approach that is fundamentally unfair, unworkable, and impossible to comply with.”

See more on the decision at WisPolitics.

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is touting new federal legislation aimed at guaranteeing abortion access, calling it a “necessary step” amid efforts to ban the procedure.

Baldwin, D-Madison, and other Senate Democrats have introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025, marking the third anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned. The legislation would bar states from restricting access to abortion earlier in pregnancy through “arbitrary” waiting periods and mandatory ultrasounds, according to the announcement, among other changes.

In a statement, Baldwin said President Donald Trump and Republicans are “continuing their crusade for a national abortion ban” and taking away women’s choices about their bodies and health care.

“In Wisconsin, we’ve seen how these attacks on women’s reproductive rights and freedoms have hurt our neighbors, friends, and families — and we won’t stand for it,” Baldwin said.

The legislation would also prevent states from limiting access to abortion later in pregnancy as well if doing so would jeopardize the life or health of the mother, the release notes. And it would protect women’s ability to travel out of state for an abortion.

Meanwhile, the head of anti-abortion group Pro-Life Wisconsin yesterday issued a statement on the Roe v. Wade anniversary, saying the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling has “saved hundreds of thousands of babies from abortion” in America.

“We thank God that our United States Supreme Court finally did something about this egregious overreach of power and legislating from the bench by their predecessors,” State Director Dan Miller said.

See the Dem bill text.

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— Dem AG Josh Kaul warned Donald Trump has put the country “on the verge of a dark ages” for public health with the way the president has cut federal money for research of lifesaving treatments.

Speaking yesterday at a WisPolitics luncheon in Madison, Kaul also slammed changes that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made to the way vaccines are approved.

“You can’t cut $11 billion in public health grants, you can’t drastically cut research funding, you can’t kick people off of Medicaid without having enormous impacts,” Kaul said.

The AG, now in his second term, took a series of shots at the Trump administration, accusing the president of taking unusual steps to consolidate power by threatening political opponents, freezing funding and ignoring acts of Congress.

Kaul, who started his role as AG midway through Trump’s first term, said his office has been more active in challenging the president’s actions than previously. He said that’s a reflection of the legally dubious moves Trump has made early in his second term.

The Department of Justice under Kaul is now involved in 20 legal actions against the Trump administration since the start of the year. His agency has also joined friend-of-the court briefs in other cases. That includes joining 22 other attorneys general on Friday in filing an amicus brief supporting lawsuits filed by National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service seeking to block funding cuts Trump demanded through executive orders.

See more coverage from the luncheon here.

— GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald has rolled out legislation that he says will protect shareholders from “biased advice” by creating new restrictions on proxy advisory firms.

Fitzgerald, who represents the state’s 5th congressional district in southeastern Wisconsin, yesterday announced the Stopping Proxy Advisor Racketeering Act. It would prohibit these firms from issuing voting recommendations when any conflict “could reasonably be expected” to affect the objectivity or reliability of that advice. That includes if the advisory firm is part of a group that supports proposals similar to what’s being considered, for example.

He says the legislation would restore “transparency and accountability” in corporate governance, arguing proxy advisory firms are “riddled with conflicts of interest” while holding substantial market power in the United States.

“Proxy advisory firms have outsized influence over corporate governance but operate in the shadows,” he said in a statement. “My bill will rein in these unaccountable firms and restore fairness and transparency for American investors.”

See the release and bill text.

— In the latest episode of “WisBusiness: the Show,” attorney Joe Boucher and entrepreneur Matt Younkle discuss the future of the Wisconsin Innovation Awards, which they founded.

The Wisconsin Technology Council is taking over the awards this year. The group will host the Wisconsin Innovation Awards Nov. 4 in Madison, just before the annual Early Stage Symposium takes place Nov. 5-6 at the same venue, the Monona Terrace.

Younkle, who has successfully launched multiple startups, said the awards program has served to connect innovators from around the state. He notes “there’s a lot of value that happens” when entrepreneurs and others from various industries get together.

“The other piece is capturing the stories to inspire the next generation of innovators,” he said. “And so we’ve been able to curate these videos and these origin stories, essentially an oral history of how these companies were formed and where these big ideas came from.”

Meanwhile, Boucher of Madison law firm Neider & Boucher shares details from past competitors and Younkle touches on how bigger firms such as Kohler have been featured in the awards program as well.

“There you have a big company, they’re very innovative in a way that everybody kind of knows about, but they’re also innovative in these other ways that you wouldn’t know about but for an opportunity like this,” Younkle said.

Tech Council President and show host Tom Still adds the awards program “shines a light on all kinds of innovation in Wisconsin.”

The episode also previews upcoming events being put on by the Tech Council, which produces the show.

Watch the show here and find more episodes here.

— Representatives of U.S. and Mexican dairy industries recently issued a joint statement committing to “preserve, facilitate, and improve trade” between the two countries after a summit in Madison.

The seventh annual U.S.-Mexico joint summit was held last month, involving the National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and others, according to the release.

The NMPF and USDEC say they’ve agreed with Mexican counterparts on “key policy areas,” including avoiding tariffs or new barriers to trade, commiting to grow dairy consumption in both countries and the “active defense of common food names” such as certain types of cheese.

Last month’s joint statement referenced more than a dozen policy priorities related to farm productivity, the use of dairy product names by other food producers, information sharing on animal welfare and farm labor, and others.

See more here.

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