PFAS, or "forever chemicals", as they're sometimes called, have been a topic of policy debate for the past few years, as we've begun to learn how prevalent they are in our water supply. An EPA study found 70% of private wells in Wisconsin contain some level of PFAS contamination. The contamination was first identified in Marinette County and has generated a lot of media attention in Northeastern Wisconsin communities because of its prevalence in that region.

Because of this, Republicans wrote and passed a bill this past session to help address the issue. Senate Bill 312 established a program to provide $125 million in grants to local units of government and affected landowners to test for and remediate PFAS contamination. It also sought to protect innocent landowners from being bankrupted if they unknowingly own land needing PFAS remediation.

Unfortunately, Governor Evers vetoed this bill, effectively siding with powerful government bureaucrats over innocent landowners needing a shield from plummeting property values and financial insolvency. It would have been a big step toward safer drinking water in our state.

Then, instead of owning his veto, he played politics. You may have read slanted news reports last week that Republicans didn't show up for a meeting the Governor called to address PFAS. It was a media stunt. He didn't reach out to anyone to find out their availability. He just called the press into a room, declared a "meeting" and chided Republicans for not being there. To be clear, had he reached out, we would have replied that there was no need for a meeting and pointed to his veto of this bill.

This is politics at its lowest. When it comes to making sure people have clean drinking water, we need solutions, not media stunts.