TUE AM News: Bill aims to make Wisconsin an aviation biofuel leader; Senate panel to vote on DFI secretary-designee

September 23, 2025

— A new Forestry Revitalization Act aims to make Wisconsin a global leader in aviation biofuel made from smaller, low-quality forestry biomass.

Northwoods Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would spend $210 million in state assistance to help attract a $1.5 billion plant in Hayward. It would turn bark, branches, cutter shavings, tree tops, slash and forestry processing residue into fuel for airplanes.

Senate President Mary Felzkowski, of Tomahawk, during a press conference Monday morning said Wisconsin is competing with Michigan and Minnesota to attract a new business headquarters.

“There is a little bit of pressure to be the state that helps,” she said.

State Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, said the project would be a boost to a forestry industry that has taken a downtown after the closure of a paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids. Before that, the state had been harvesting 1.2 million cords. It’s now down to 839,000 cords, and the proposed project would add 440,000 cords to the annual harvest.

The project would be a partnership between Wisconsin-based Johnson Timber and Synthec Fuels, a German company with a Wisconsin subsidiary. It would be located on property adjacent to the Johnson Timber plant in Hayward, and the Wisconsin company would do the initial processing of the wood that would be turned into the sustainable aviation fuel.

The legislation calls for $60 million in WEDC Enterprise Zone Tax Credits and $150 million in state bonding that would be supported through the forestry account. Felzkowski said the plant would employ 150 people.

Felzkowski argued Wisconsin is primed to be a leader of sustainable aviation fuel as the market grows due to sustainable aviation fuel mandates in the European Union. The mandates require aviation fuel to be a 2% blend with sustainable aviation fuels in 2025, growing to 70% in 2050.

That means the EU would require over a trillion gallons of biofuel by 2050, Felzkowski added.

“So there is going to be an increasing demand for this type of fuel, and we are right at the forefront here in Wisconsin,” she argued.

The bill would also require Johnson Timber and Synthec Fuels to invest the $1.5 billion in the facility in the first five years, and that 80% of the biomass used to create the fuel come from Wisconsin.

Sawyer County Administrator Mark Markgren said the new plant would help bring demand back to the logging industry after several paper and pulp mills have shut down in the past few years.

“It would bring back the forestry industry and all the subsidiaries that would help, probably another 200 jobs at least. And all of those would be a living wage,” he said. “It would just be a huge economic boon for the local economy, which is suffering right now.”

Great Lakes Timber Professional Association Executive Director Henry Schienebeck praised the measure as both a way to bring jobs back and improve forest maintenance. Low quality timber biomass is not in demand, and a buildup of the material on the forest floor increases the risk of forest fires, he added.

— Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has opened voting for the 10th Annual Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest.

Nominees can be found at www.madeinwis.com, and one vote can be cast per day. WMC is again partnering with Johnson Financial Group to host the competition, which aims to highlight the state’s manufacturing industry.

Past competing products have included motorcycles, military vehicles, cheese products, boats, generators, robots, iron castings, beer, all-terrain vehicles, snow blowers and more. Almost 150 products are competing this year.

The first round of voting ends Sept. 30, with the top 16 products announced Oct. 1. Competing products will then go head-to-head until the final winner is announced Oct. 23.

— The Senate Transportation and Local Government Committee today will hear public comment on the appointment of Department of Transportation Secretary-designee Kristina Boardman.

Gov. Tony Evers in September last year appointed Boardman to the position. She’s worked for the DOT since 2005, holding positions as deputy secretary, DMV administrator and director of DMV field services. She has also served as the chair of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators International Board of Directors.

The committee will also hear public comment on a pair of bills that would raise the threshold for which local and county governments must provide notice before contracting work, and raise the threshold for requiring contracts go to the lowest bidder. SB 216 and SB 428 would raise the notice threshold to $10,000 from $5,000, and raise the lowest bidder threshold to $50,000 from $25,000.

— The Senate Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage Committee is set to vote today on the appointment of Department of Financial Institutions Secretary-designee Wendy Baumann.

Baumann last week faced few questions during the public comment period of the confirmation process. That’s despite the rift between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the GOP-controlled Legislature over the agency administrative rules process.

See last week’s coverage of the public hearing here.

— The Wisconsin Technology Council is hosting a Tech Council Innovation Network luncheon today on policy initiatives that touch on Wisconsin’s tech economy.

Panelists include Steve Lyons and Mark Austinson of SJL Government Affairs and Communications along with some lawmakers. They’ll touch on upcoming issues that could surface in the fall and spring legislative sessions, including the state’s 20-year-old investor tax credit program, tax incremental financing district legislation for data centers and LLC filing fees.

“We’ll also talk about legislation approved thus far this year that is expected to spur development of the state’s nuclear fission and fusion options over time,” Tom Still, Tech Council president and luncheon moderator, said.

– Buc-ee’s project up for final site approval

– Bill would prevent local alternative fuel mandates

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

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CONSTRUCTION

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ENVIRONMENT

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