Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service invites community members to submit opinion pieces of 500-800 words on topics of interest to central city Milwaukee. To send a submission for consideration, please email info@milwaukeenns.org. The views expressed are solely those of the authors.

In Wisconsin, we expect and deserve to have clean rivers and lakes, excellent public schools, and safe neighborhoods.  

Over the past twelve years, our state Legislature has strayed from those commitments, and as a result, our communities and natural resources have been harmed. At the same time, the public has become more aware of and educated about the significant harms from environmental pollutants – chemicals that have contaminated some of our water, soil, and air. 

Wisconsinites are being harmed by deadly chemicals that individuals cannot control or remediate on their own. Whether it’s Trichloroethylene (TCE) or Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), we know that significant negative impacts on human health come from pollution in our communities. 

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DNR needs more power

Unfortunately, our current laws don’t do enough to protect people from these potential negative health effects. Too often, polluters are given a pass because our Department of Natural Resources (DNR) cannot independently test to verify that pollution has been remediated. 

For TCEs, we need to grant the DNR the ability to set standards for inspecting and mandating remediation of TCE when detected. For sites that have been contaminated but the responsible party is gone, the DNR should have the authority and resources to remediate sites. Public entities also need the power to test sites for contamination where evidence exists to indicate TCE has been present. 

With respect to PFAS, a “forever chemical” that threatens safe drinking water across the state, Republican politicians took a victory lap for supporting funding to address PFAS contamination, even as their proposals make it much more likely that corporations will not be made to pay to clean up the pollution they created and profited from. 

While Republicans pay lip service to addressing PFAS, they have so far refused to advance legislation to ensure standards or enforcement. Democratic legislators, by contrast, are focused on protecting people’s health, preventing future contamination, and holding polluters accountable. 

Compromise is elusive

We routinely hear from people who ask about bipartisan solutions and finding common ground. While we always work to build support from broad groups for our proposals, on this issue compromise is difficult. That’s because Republicans want to let polluters off the hook – socializing the cost of pollution – while blocking efforts to establish clear standards for safety, and Democrats can’t agree to that. We want public funds used to cover costs left after polluters have paid their share. 

More broadly, despite strong public support for protecting public health from contaminants, Republicans have little incentive to compromise with Democrats, because gerrymandering allows them to ignore the will of the people without suffering electoral consequences. Beyond environmental health and safety, we know that Wisconsinites want abortion rights restored, public schools fully funded, and quality, affordable child care. 

For Wisconsinites in every community to thrive, we need responsive, accountable representation in the legislature.

Our political leaders should enact laws to protect reproductive freedom, so that people can choose when and whether to have a child.

We need public support for quality child care, so that parents don’t have to choose between caring for their children and economic stability or pursuing their career goals.

Our kids deserve well-funded public schools and higher education, where they have the freedom to learn and achieve their full potential.

And above all, we deserve to be safe from harm when we breathe air in our bedrooms or drink water from our faucets – to know that the homes our children inhabit will not poison them.

Protecting human health and helping families thrive should be priorities for the Wisconsin Legislature. All of us who want our state to be a place where everyone can thrive – no matter your ZIP code – should pressure Republicans to stand up to elements in their party that are thwarting meaningful progress on these issues. 

By returning to our core values of protecting natural resources, investing in education, and protecting our freedoms, we can make Wisconsin a place where young people want to build their families and their futures.

State Sen. Kelda Roys represents the State Senate’s 26^th District.