Highlights from Gov. Evers’ 2025-27 Budget

Highlights from Gov. Evers’ 2025-27 Budget

Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s Executive Director, Meleesa Johnson, attended Governor Tony Evers’ State Budget address on February 18, 2025. In the address, Gov. Evers kicked off the “Year of The Kid” with his 2025-2027 State Budget. He highlighted several critical announcements to ensure all Wisconsinites have access to safe, clean drinking water. A few of the governor’s 2025-27 Executive Budget highlights include funding on water quality (PFAS and lead), forests and public lands, and agriculture and food. The budget covers many more topics, and we encourage you to review the documents and reach out with your comments or questions.

Water Quality (PFAS and lead)

• Invest over $145 million to fight PFAS contamination statewide and expand eligibility for key programs aimed at improving water quality.
• Provide funding for emergency resources like bottled water to households and communities impacted by water contamination.
• Protect innocent landowners like farmers who unknowingly spread biosolids containing PFAS on their land and invest in helping clean up biosolid contamination.
• Strengthen PFAS standards statewide by adopting public health-based groundwater standards for six PFAS contaminants.
• Address lead poisoning in homes, schools, and communities across the state by investing over $300 million in numerous initiatives aimed at removing lead service lines and keeping Wisconsinites’ drinking water and environment free from lead.
• Expand and increase funding for the Well Compensation and Well Abandonment Grant Program to continue the Evers Administration’s work getting harmful contaminants out of private wells, including PFAS.

Forests and Public Lands

• $775,000 in one-time funding for the development of a forestry industry strategic plan and roadmap.
• Increased funding for grant programs for forest landowners, and county forest projects.
• Reauthorization of the Stewardship Program for another 10 years, providing $100 million for the program annually for a total investment of $1 billion.
• Continue supporting projects that improve the state’s water quality, protect key habitats, and support investments in state and local parks and other public lands across the state that improve the quality of life of residents and visitors to Wisconsin alike.
• New this year is $15.5 million for Management and Development of state properties and increased funding for local park and recreation projects.

Agriculture and Food

• $1 million dollars for the state’s popular Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant program. This funding supports 49 local watershed groups who promote on-farm conservation practices to prevent runoff and improve water quality.
• $400,000 for manoomin (wild rice) stewardship and public education efforts in ceded territory waters, plus label protections for manoomin (wild rice) that would ensure only products harvested with traditional techniques can the use the label “traditionally harvested.”

Budget in Brief

The State of Wisconsin Budget in Brief 2025-27 provides an overview of Governor Evers’ budget. You will find summaries of the major budget initiatives and other information. The most pertinent contents about conservation and natural resources are on pages 55-61 and 138-143.

• 2025-2027 Budget in Brief – Division of Executive Budget and Finance, Department of Administration

More specific details about the budget for the Department of Natural Resources are available in the document linked below.

• Department of Natural Resources Budget Document

Legislative Bills about the Budget

After the State Budget address, the Legislative Joint Committee on Finance immediately met and introduced identical Budget bills in the Senate and the Assembly.   Each “contains the governor’s recommendations for appropriations for the 2025-27 fiscal biennium. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau summaries will be released soon.

• Senate Bill 45 
• Assembly Bill 50

What happens next?

The Budget will now be debated and passed by the Joint Finance Committee. Then it will need to pass both the Senate and Assembly.  The Governor then has the final say when the Legislature sends the completed document to him. Then, he can either sign it into law or veto.

Wisconsin’s Green Fire will be continuing to follow the budget process. We will work to keep you informed about what the budget means for science-based conservation and natural resources management in Wisconsin.

If you have any questions about the State of Wisconsin budget, feel free to call Paul Heinen, Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s Policy Director at 608-692-0279 or email him at pheinen@wigreenfire.org.

Looking across Monona Bay to the Wisconsin State Capitol in winter with a red ice fishing tent on the right. Taken from Shore Road, Madison, WI. Photo by Chris Rycroft via Flickr.