Another investigation is underway after a Waymo driverless vehicle hit a young pedestrian, this time in Santa Monica, California.
Last month, School Transportation News reported that Waymo’s driverless vehicles are still illegally passing Austin Independent School District school buses in Texas despite multiple attempts to correct the situation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation Oct. 17, after a Waymo vehicle failed to stop and passed a school bus in Atlanta, Georgia a month earlier.
NHTSA opened another investigation Jan. 28 following the Santa Monica incident, which is about 15 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The preliminary evaluation states that on Jan. 23 Waymo “reported to the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) that a Waymo Automated Vehicle (AV) had struck a child near an elementary school earlier that day.”
The incident occurred within two blocks of the Santa Monica elementary school and during normal school drop off hours. Other children, a crossing guard and several double-parked vehicles were in the vicinity.
The child reportedly ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV towards the school and was struck by the Waymo AV. Waymo reported that the child sustained minor injuries. The Waymo driverless vehicle was operated by the 5th Generation Automated Driving System.
“At Waymo, we are committed to improving road safety, both for our riders and all those with whom we share the road. Part of that commitment is being transparent when incidents occur,” the blog post states.
The company details the incident, noting that it contacted NHTSA and will cooperate with the investigation.
“The event occurred when the pedestrian suddenly entered the roadway from behind a tall SUV, moving directly into our vehicle’s path,” the post notes. “Our technology immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle. The Waymo Driver braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made.”
The Waymo post notes that “a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph. This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver.”
Following contact, the student pedestrian reportedly stood up and walked to the sidewalk, and Waymo called 911. The driveless vehicle moved to the side of the road and stayed there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle.
“This event demonstrates the critical value of our safety systems,” Waymo added. “We remain committed to improving road safety where we operate as we continue on our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver.”
Julie Prokes hands out donated hand warmers and food for protesters and anyone else nearby in a parking lot at the Henry Whipple Federal Building Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Any supplies not needed for protesters, he gives to the veteran's shelter just behind him. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
About 20 protesters stood behind the barricades on Federal Drive heckling federal agents about American values as they exited the Whipple Federal Building gates and sped off Tuesday afternoon when a bald eagle flew over the road.
The Whipple building, which sits near the airport south of Minneapolis, has seen weeks of sustained protest since it has become the base of federal operations in the area and the site where people arrested by immigration agents — both immigrants and activists — have been detained.
People at the facility this week said the number of protesters has begun to decline — even before the Trump administration announced Wednesday it would be pulling 700 agents out of the state. Despite the lower energy, the group outside of Whipple still included people who had been at the scene every day for weeks, as well as those there for the first time.
Natalie Paquet said she’s an independent voter who was attending a protest for the first time because of the “constant rage” she’s been feeling about the actions of federal agents in her community.
“The absolute destruction, the ignoring of the Constitution,” she said, calling the federal forces secret police. “What country do we live in?”
As agents in SUVs cycled in and out of the facility, protesters blew whistles and used megaphones to trash talk the agents about their education levels, sexual proclivities and morals. The agents, often ignoring the stop signs at the intersection, occasionally responded with waves and blown kisses from behind their masks.
A common refrain from citizens behind the fencing was that the building is serving as a concentration camp. That status was connected more than once to the violent history at nearby Fort Snelling.
“I came to see the horror for myself,” said an area resident who only gave name as Sam.
The Star Tribune recently reported the conditions inside of the building have been deteriorating, with one woman saying she was shackled by her ankles in a bathroom with three men for 24 hours.
Demonstrators gather outside of the Henry Whipple Federal Building, shouting at federal vehicles and recording their plates Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
Julie Prokes said that prior to the operation in Minnesota he’d only ever been to large scale protests like the No Kings marches last year. Now, he’s been posted up at a table across the street from Whipple distributing food and warm drinks for 12 days straight to protesters and people released from custody — often with inadequate clothes for the winter weather.
Joking that the hot tomato soup someone had dropped off had become a cold gazpacho, Prokes said he’s never done this kind of organizing.
“I’m just a normal person,” he said, adding that despite the bad reputation Whipple has gotten as the site of clashes between protesters and federal agents, it’s become a safe place for new people to come express their frustration with the federal presence.
The protests at Whipple have also attracted people coming from out of state, including Cindy Leonard, who has been driving about 45 minutes to Whipple every day from Somerset, Wisconsin.
“I feel like I need to be here showing strength in numbers,” said Leonard. “They are violating Amendments one and four — so far.”
Leonard said she’s taking training to help with legal observation of ICE activities across the St. Croix River, but she’ll be coming to Whipple “until ICE is out.”
Richie Mead said he’s been at Whipple every day for more than two weeks. Off for the winter from his Massachusetts flower farm, he said he’s in Minnesota “fighting fascism.”
“There’s people caring for each other on this side of the fence,” he said before pointing to an SUV turning out of the gates. “There’s a city that hates them.”
Tom Edwards, a West St. Paul resident, stood by one of the stop signs on Federal Drive shaking his cane at each passing SUV, yelling that the agents inside were “cowards.” In late December, Edwards was arrested for allegedly brandishing a firearm at ICE agents, though he disputes the federal narrative, saying he never pointed the legally owned gun at anyone.
Retired from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Postal Service, Edwards said he continued to come out despite the scrutiny he’s been under because “you don’t get to steal people.”
“You can’t stand by and watch,” he said. “This is the groundwork for fascism.”
Demonstrators gather outside of the Henry Whipple Federal Building, shouting at federal vehicles and recording their plates Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
This story was originally produced by Minnesota Reformer, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
GOP lawmakers said they needed to reimplement checks on the executive branch. Gov. Tony Evers delivers his 2025 state budget address. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday argued for a constitutional amendment proposal and a set of bills that would allow them greater say over the administrative rulemaking process.
The effort follows Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions in recent years that have limited lawmakers’ ability to restrict administrative rulemaking. The proposals are the result of a task force on administrative rulemaking organized by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).
Rep. Brent Jacobson (R-Mosinee), who chaired the task force, cited the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Evers v. Marklein II decision issued on July 8, 2025 that found unconstitutional statutes that allowed the 10-member Joint Committee on the Review of Administrative Rules’ to review and suspend administrative rules.
Jacobson’s constitutional amendment proposal, AJR 133, would allow state lawmakers to suspend indefinitely or temporarily administrative rules that are promulgated by state agencies with a vote of the full Senate and Assembly.
Jacobson said the proposal would “ensure that the Legislature remains an effective check on the administrative state and that our constituents can still look to us to be a voice in the rulemaking and regulatory process.”
As a constitutional amendment, the proposal would need to pass the Legislature in two consecutive sessions before it would go to voters for a final vote. It would not require approval from the governor. This is the proposal’s first consideration.
AB 955, coauthored by Jacobson, would repeal the current state statute that includes language allowing agencies to promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the agency if it is necessary to enforce the statute. The bill would replace the language to prohibit agencies from promulgating rules interpreting the provisions of any statute without explicit and specific statutory authority.
Jacobson said the proposals are not about giving Republicans an advantage, but rather are about “ensuring good governance and our democratic system of checks and balances are in effect, regardless of which parties are in control of which branch of our state government.”
Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona) expressed concerns about whether the bill would implement some “real tight constraints” on what agencies are able to do.
“We trust our executive branch with some discretion over making things happen, implementing the policies and the statutes that we’re trying to have happen,” Bare said. “I’m wondering if that creates scenarios in the future [that]… limit too much what they’re able to do.”
“The key is that that statute should specifically and explicitly say, you have authority to promulgate rules around implementing the statute that we in the Legislature have passed,” Jacobson said in response. “That still gives them considerable discretion… Now if they go beyond what our intent was, that’s why we have the backstop of the constitutional amendment to say that rule that has taken effect now by joint resolution, we’re gonna suspend it, maybe temporarily.”
Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) said he was glad the issue was in front of the committee.
“The Legislature has been ceding authority for decades, and it probably goes back to the legislators not wanting to make tough decisions or take tough votes, but over time, a lot of authorities have been given to the executive branch. The agencies have absorbed a lot of that,” Knodl said. “Now we have a Supreme Court that is dialing back even more of our authority.”
“Quite frankly, we’re on a path of irrelevance as a Legislature,” he added.
Democratic lawmakers gathered with a handful of veterans after the meeting to criticize the delay and call for Republican lawmakers to advance the bill. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
A bill that would provide funding to a program that helps identify the remains of missing-in-action service members is in limbo after an Assembly committee put off a vote Wednesday due to concerns by Republican lawmakers that Gov. Tony Evers would use his partial veto on the measure.
The University of Wisconsin Missing-In-Action (MIA) Recovery and Identification project, which was started in 2015 at the state’s flagship campus, works to further the recovery and identification of missing-in-action American service members. Those working on the project include researchers, students, veterans, alumni and volunteers who conduct research, recovery and biological identification. The program is partnered with the federal Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) on the work and has acted as a model for DPAA, which now partners with more than 50 other academic and nonprofit institutions to work on MIA identifications.
AB 641, coauthored by Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton), would appropriate $500,000 in each year of the 2025-27 fiscal biennium for the UW MIA Recovery Project. The purpose of the funds would be to allow the program to prioritize recovering and identifying service members from Wisconsin, according to written testimony from Hesselbein.
According to the program, there are around 82,000 missing-in-action American service members with 1,500 of those coming from Wisconsin. According to the UW MIA program, of those from Wisconsin, approximately 1,300 were lost during World War II, over 160 were lost in the Korean War, 26 are missing from the Vietnam War and one service member is missing as the result of other Cold War-era operations.
The Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs committee was scheduled to vote Wednesday on the bill, setting it up for a vote on the Assembly floor. However, committee chair Rep. William Penterman (R-Hustisford) announced at the start of the committee that it had been removed from the calendar.
Sinicki thanked Penterman for his efforts but said she was disappointed with the entire Assembly Republican caucus because the bill is not being taken up.
“Many of you on this committee have come to me praising this program and tell me it’s got to get done, but once again that is so disingenuous — you are showing these military families just how disingenuous your support of this bill is,” Sinicki said during the committee meeting.
Sinicki said lawmakers were choosing once again to not “give these families the closure that they’re so desperately seeking” and that the “money requested is a drop in the bucket compared to the return that these families are going to get.” Wisconsin currently has a projected budget surplus of over $2 billion.
Penterman told the Wisconsin Examiner after the meeting the bill “just wasn’t ready for primetime” and said there are concerns in the Assembly Republican caucus related to what would happen if it makes it to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk.
“I mean, it spends money, so it gives the governor the option to line-item veto things, so he’s shown time to time again that he’s willing to take that to the extreme, so there’s concerns there,” Penterman said.
Penterman said the pause on the vote Wednesday “doesn’t mean it’s not going anywhere for the rest of the session.”
Penterman also brushed off Sinicki’s accusation that the bill was removed from the calendar at the request of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).
“There’s been concerns. My job as chair is to listen to concerns of members on both sides… I’d rather give it more time than rush it,” Penterman said.
Republican lawmakers have worked hard to try to get around Evers’ partial veto powers for the last several years, taking additional steps to try to prevent such action including passing bills without funding attached during the budget cycle. Under Wisconsin state law, the executive partial veto power, which is one of the strongest in the nation, can only be used on appropriation bills.
Evers proposed dedicating the same amount to the program that is specified in the current bill in his 2025-27 state budget, but Republican lawmakers rejected that proposal.
Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in an email to the Examiner that there is “virtually no basis for such a concern” and it’s “an absolutely bogus excuse.” She noted Evers’ previous support for the effort as well as email exchanges between Penterman’s office and Evers’ office, which were shared with the Examiner.
On Jan. 29, the day the bill received a public hearing, Penterman emailed Evers’ office asking for assurances that Evers would not use his partial veto power on the bill before he would schedule a committee vote.
On Feb. 2, two days before the committee was to vote, Zach Madden, Evers’ legislative affairs director, confirmed in an email to Penterman that Evers would not use his partial veto power on the bill as long as it remained in its original form.
“As you may recall, the Governor has been extremely supportive of the program and has proposed funding the UW Missing-in-Action Recovery and Identification Project in the last three of his biennial budgets,” Madden wrote. “It has been your Republican colleagues on the Joint Committee on Finance that have removed it each time. We would need to review any amendments to the bill to extend this same commitment if there were to be any changes from what was originally proposed.”
Cudaback said on Wednesday that “it seems Republicans simply don’t want to fund a program that helps identify and recover the remains of Wisconsin veterans who are missing in action, and that’s no one’s fault but their own.”
Democratic lawmakers gathered with a handful of veterans after the meeting to criticize the delay and call for Republican lawmakers to advance the bill. They stood in front of the POW/MIA Chair of Honor, a permanently empty, dedicated seat to represent service members who never returned, in the rotunda of the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Sinicki said at the press conference that Vos is to blame for the bill being pulled from the calendar. She called for people who live in districts represented by Republicans to call their legislators and “tell them to stand up to Robin Vos.”
“[Vos] is the one and only person holding up this bill, and it’s because of his crazy hatred for our UW system. That is the only reason why he’s holding this bill,” Sinicki said. “It is time for him to put that hatred aside and do what’s right for our military families.”
Republican lawmakers have criticized the UW system for an array of reasons, including its spending, and sought to cut the UW budget in recent years. Vos, the state’s longest-serving Assembly speaker, has also been at the center of a number of bipartisan bills being blocked this session, including one to provide Medicaid coverage to postpartum mothers and to expand health insurance coverage of breast cancer screenings for at-risk women. His office did not respond to a request for comment from the Examiner by the time of publication.
Rep. Maureen McCarville (D-DeForest) spoke about her late uncle who died serving in the south Pacific in World War II. She said his remains were identified and returned seven decades after his death.
“I can’t say enough how much this project means to families out there… We need to fund this so that every other family can have that same closure,” McCarville said. “There are no words to express how disappointed I am sitting on the vets committee knowing that the chair of that committee, who is also an active service member, allowed this to be pulled from his agenda.”
Wisconsin VFW Adjutant Adam Wallace quoted the Soldier’s Creed, which says “never leave a fallen comrade,” and said the bill would help ensure this promise is kept.
“We as a state have the opportunity to advance this piece of legislation, but unfortunately, petty politics and backroom politics has led to this being off the floor, and we are tired of the games,” Wallace said. “These games have real consequences. Every day, every year, every legislative session this does not pass is one next of kin or family member who can’t bring that closure.”
Sinicki told the Examiner that the concerns about a partial veto are “an excuse they’re using to cover their butts.” She said barring some change, she thinks this is likely the end of the line for the bill this session.
“I would find it hard to believe that they would do anything at this point,” she said.
A demonstrator waves a red cloth as hundreds gather after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good through her car window Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 near Portland Avenue South and East 34th Street in Minneapolis. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
WASHINGTON — The top two Democrats in Congress on Wednesday outlined their proposal for restrictions on immigration enforcement, including body cameras and a ban on masks, though they had no details to share about when actual negotiations would begin.
Lawmakers from both political parties have less than two weeks to find a solution before the stopgap law funding the Department of Homeland Security expires Feb. 13, which could force all of its components, including the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, into a shutdown. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement still has access to $75 billion in funding included in the massive tax cuts and spending package signed into law last year.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the offer that he and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were sending to Republicans was the result of “a very productive discussion.”
“Dramatic changes are necessary at the Department of Homeland Security with respect to its enforcement activities so that ICE and other agencies are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country, not in so many instances in a rogue or lawless manner,” Jeffries said.
Democrats will insist that federal immigration agents:
Wear body cameras
Only wear masks to conceal their identities in “extraordinary and unusual circumstances”
Do not undertake roving patrols
Do not detain people in certain locations, like houses of worship, schools, or polling places
Do not engage in racial profiling
Do not detain or deport American citizens
Jeffries said that judicial, as opposed to administrative, warrants should be required “before everyday Americans are ripped out of their homes or snatched out of cars violently.
“The Fourth Amendment is not an inconvenience, it’s a requirement embedded in our Constitution that everyone should follow.”
That amendment states the government shall not violate the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” and that warrants can only be issued with probable cause.
Administrative warrants are not signed by a judge, but approved by ICE officers themselves. Under U.S. immigration law, ICE also has some authority to conduct warrantless arrests if an immigration officer comes across a person suspected to be in the country unlawfully and believes that person will escape before a warrant can be obtained.
Accountability measures
Democrats will also press Republicans to agree to what Schumer described as “real accountability.”
“There’s got to be outside, independent oversight by state and local governments, by individuals,” Schumer said. “And there’s got to be a right to sue, there’s got to be a right to go to court and stop this.”
Schumer criticized Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for saying that immigration agents should be able to wear masks, referring to them as “secret police” who need “to be identified more than any other group.”
“I would bet when Speaker Johnson goes down to Louisiana, the sheriffs and the police deputies are well identified, as they are in almost every city,” he said.
When pressed about Johnson saying Republicans wouldn’t agree to require judicial warrants, Jeffries said the speaker had “articulated unreasonable positions.”
“He’s actually supporting the notion that masked and lawless ICE agents should be deployed in communities throughout America,” Jeffries said. “Mike Johnson called the Fourth Amendment an inconvenience. It’s not an inconvenience. It’s part of the fabric and DNA of our country, just like the First Amendment, yes even the Second Amendment, the 10th Amendment, the Fourth Amendment.
“We’re standing up for all of these constitutional privileges that have been part of who we are since the very beginning.”
Negotiation timeline
Schumer said during the press conference that Democrats from the House and Senate were prepared to begin negotiations with Republicans, but would insist on changes “to rein in ICE in very serious ways.”
“If they’re not serious and they don’t put in real reform, they shouldn’t expect our votes, plain and simple,” he said.
Schumer appeared somewhat skeptical that Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, whom Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., put forward as their top negotiator, was truly empowered to cut a deal on behalf of every GOP senator.
Britt, chairwoman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, told reporters Wednesday that she expects lawmakers will need to approve another stopgap spending bill for the department, signaling she doesn’t expect a deal within the next two weeks.
“We need a little more time, so hopefully (Democrats) see the good effort that we’ve made … and we’ll have another CR,” she said, referring to the technical name for a short-term funding bill, a continuing resolution.
Britt did not say how long that temporary funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security would last.
Any spending bill, whether short or long, will need Democratic support to move through procedural votes in the Senate.
Congress has approved 11 of the 12 annual funding bills, so DHS would be the only part of the federal government to shut down if lawmakers cannot approve its full-year bill or another stopgap measure before its funding expires.
WisconsinEye Board of Directors Chair Mark O’Connell called WisconsinEye “a worthy, appropriate use of state funds” for people to know how their elected officials are “controlling and charting the course of our future.” (Screenshot via WisconsinEye)
An Assembly committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill to provide long-term support to WisconsinEye, the state’s nonprofit news organization that livestreams and archives government meetings and legislative sessions.
WisconsinEye resumed its coverage in February — after more than a month offline — with the help of a $50,000 cash infusion approved by the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization Monday.
Mark O’Connell, chair of the WisconsinEye Board of Directors, explained the organization’s financial difficulties to lawmakers during the Assembly State Affairs committee hearing.
After going off air, O’Connell told lawmakers on the committee that WisconsinEye had reduced some salaries and cut back on expenses as much as possible. It also turned to state lawmakers, who had already set aside $10 million to be used for an endowment for the organization, but with match requirements that WisconsinEye could not meet. The organization also started to boost its fundraising efforts among small-dollar donors. A GoFundMe has raised over $56,000 as of Tuesday.
“While you allocated $10 million to WisconsinEye and said, ‘If you can raise $10 million, we’ll give you matching dollars up to $10 million,’ — that was incredibly gracious of you — but that was hard, hard to the point where it couldn’t be done in a very difficult fundraising environment,” O’Connell said. “That has resulted in where we are today.”
O’Connell called WisconsinEye “a worthy, appropriate use of state funds” for people to know how their elected officials are “controlling and charting the course of our future.”
Under the Assembly proposal, which was first announced by Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) last month, the match requirements for the $10 million would be eliminated and the money would go to establishing an endowment fund for WisconsinEye.
“WisconsinEye will still have to put in quite a bit of work and raise the remainder of their operating budget each year,” Neubauer told lawmakers Tuesday. “If we assume a rate of return of about 4 to 7% on the endowment, WisconsinEye will still have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to be able to maintain something close to their current budget, which is $950,000 annually.”
Neubauer said the organization has said that maintaining that budget is necessary to operate at its current level and to meet its contractually obligated services. She added that she hopes that one day WisconsinEye would be able to cover every committee meeting and hearing in the state Capitol, though that would “require strong private fundraising from them.”
“If we… bring in about $600,000 from the endowment each year, they would need to raise about $350,000. They have communicated that they think that that’s possible,” Neubauer said. “They would live off the interest. The endowment stays with the state of Wisconsin.”
O’Connell told lawmakers that approving the bill would help secure additional funding from donors.
“We are going to continue to raise funds as best we can. We currently have seven entities that contribute $25,000 per year. We have one entity that contributes $50,000 per year. We have a handful of folks that, to the tune of about $175,000, that are waiting to see if this commitment from the state is solid, and if it is, then we’re going to see those funds come in,” O’Connell said. “I am very optimistic that if we can come to a resolution on this piece of legislation, that we are going to be in a relatively strong position to have a solid base with the partnership with the state as we continue to do fundraising in the private sector.”
The proposal would require WisconsinEye to add four additional members to its board of directors who would be appointed by each legislative caucus leader, focus its coverage primarily on official state government meetings and business, provide free online public access to its live broadcasts and digital archives as well as submit an annual financial report to the Legislature and the Joint Finance Committee. The board appointees would not be allowed to be current legislators.
The bill also states that if WisconsinEye ceases operations and divests its assets, then it must pay back the grants and transfer its archives to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
O’Connell said there are some other details that need to be worked out with the bill. He said WisconsinEye will need “bridge financing” to help the organization function until interest from the trust fund begins to come in.
“We’ve got to operate between now and whenever that return comes in, so we’ll need some kind of bridge. We’ll work with the Legislature on that,” O’Connell said. “We will need to work on the trust fund language. We would like the state of Wisconsin investment board to be aggressive… There are some issues we’ll have to address, but we are incredibly appreciative of the state of Wisconsin… saying [to] the citizens of Wisconsin, it is important for us in the Legislature for you to know what we are doing.”
The committee approved the bill unanimously immediately following the public hearing, setting it up for a vote in the full Assembly in the near future.
Oak Bluff Natural Area in Door County, which was protected by the Door County Land Trust using Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds in 2023. (Photo by Kay McKinley)
A pair of Republican lawmakers, desperate to advance a Knowles-Nelson stewardship program bill that can garner GOP support, urged Senate lawmakers and members of advocacy organizations to get on board with pausing land acquisition for two years.
“I think we’ve landed it in a good spot now. Is it perfect? I’ll be the first to admit this is not a perfect bill,” Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) said during the Senate Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage committee meeting Tuesday. “If we simply allow the clock to run out, this program goes away, and I certainly don’t want to be behind the wheel when the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program phases out.”
Since 1990, the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program has preserved wildlife habitat and expanded outdoor recreation opportunities throughout Wisconsin by authorizing state borrowing and spending for the purchase of land and by giving grants to local governments and nonprofit conservation organizations.
The program will run out of money on June 30, 2026 without legislative action. Reaching an agreement to continue the program has been difficult, however, with Testin telling the committee that legislators have faced “buzzsaws” from all sides as they have worked to put together their plan.
“A lot of my colleagues said ‘Oh, you’ll never get a hearing in the Senate,’” Kurtz said. “Thanks to Chairman Stafsholts, we’re having a hearing in the Senate, so it’s baby steps. It’s like chopping wood. Sen. Testin and I are committed to keep working on this.”
“It’s not done, so time hasn’t ran out,” Kurtz added.
Under the current proposal, the program would receive funding for another two years.
The DNR would need to conduct a survey of all of the land that has been acquired under the stewardship program under the bill, as well as listing land acquisition priorities. The survey would need to be submitted to the Legislature in two years.
Kurtz told the committee that recent changes to the bill do “refocus” the program towards maintaining the land that has already been acquired under the program. He said that lawmakers had to make “some tough decisions.”
“It does temporarily change the focus of the program to maintain what we already own and catch up on backlog maintenance, while DNR is doing the study, planning and prioritizing a comprehensive path forward for land acquisition,” Kurtz said. “We’re confident this plan will ensure the long-term legacy of stewardship for generations.”
The lawmakers said there are still some additional changes to the bill to come.
Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay) expressed concerns about the decreasing funding and scope of the program and questioned how lawmakers got to the point of cutting the land acquisitions portion of the program.
The Knowles-Nelson program is currently funded at about $33 million annually. Habush Sinykin and Democratic lawmakers proposed a bill that would dedicate $72 million to it and Gov. Tony Evers had called for over $100 million for it in his budget.
The GOP bill in its current state would dedicate $28.25 million.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would be allowed to obligate $13.25 million a year under the bill in its current form. Of that, $1 million would be for land acquisition — a cut from $16 million — that could only be used for the Ice Age Trail. DNR would also be able to obligate $9.25 million for property development and local assistance — a cut from $14.25 million — and $3 million for recreational boating aids.
Funding for the program includes $7.75 million for DNR property development and grants, $4 million for local assistance grants and $3 million for grants for wildlife habitat restoration. There would also be $250,000 set aside each year to be used for DNR land acquisitions, but acquisitions would be limited to parcels of land that are five acres or less and meant to improve access to hunting, fishing, or trapping opportunities or are contiguous to state-owned land.
“Where we find ourselves now is a situation where we have zero dollars awarded to land acquisition,” Habush Sinykin said, adding, “When does this program stop being the Knowles Nelson stewardship program?”
Testin said the funding was what was “politically palatable” for the Republican authors’ Assembly and Senate colleagues.
“There are some individuals that have strong feelings both for and against this program,” Testin said. “And where we think we’ve landed is at a point to keep the program going in some form or fashion, continue to put state resources behind it, and then as we do every two years, when we come back in January 2027, regardless of what happens in — shakes out in the November elections, we will begin another state budget process, which then gives us the opportunity once again to take a look at where we are financially as a state, hopefully put more resources into various programs, whether it’s Knowles-Nelson or others.”
Habush Sinykin said funding acquisitions is necessary to maintain the “vitality” of the program. She also noted that there is strong bipartisan support for the program including from constituents and from conservation and recreation organizations
“What we’re hearing is we in the Legislature need to put our money where our values are, and this is a program that is valued,” Habush Sinykin said.
Kurtz shared what he said was the “Assembly perspective” with the committee.
“It became abundantly clear for the [Republican] caucus I represent that land acquisition was a problem, and that’s why we kind of pivoted to the major land acquisitions, which some people did not like that as well,” Kurtz said. “I’d love to see more money in the program… But I know what the power of our caucuses is, they don’t like borrowing money, and so that’s an issue. They don’t like buying all the land up north. That’s an issue…. Let’s focus for a couple years on maintaining what we have. Let’s do the inventory. Let’s see what the path is for, and in two years, we’re going to be right back here, saying, hey, we need to do this.”
Part of the political problem for the popular Knowles-Nelson stewardship program involves legislative Republicans’ resentment of a 2025 state Supreme Court decision.
For many years, Wisconsin lawmakers exercised control over the program through the Joint Finance Committee. Members of the committee had the ability to anonymously object to any project and have it held up for an indeterminate time. But last year the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that anonymous objections were unconstitutional, with conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley writing for the majority that the statutes “encroach upon the governor’s constitutional mandate to execute the law.”
Republican lawmakers on the committee complained that eliminating the anonymous veto had placed them in a difficult position.
Committee Chair Sen. Rob Stafsholts (R-New Richmond) said he was “a little disappointed” that the committee had to be there working on the issue at all, noting that the state Supreme Court ruling changed the shape of the program.
Testin said there was not a problem with the way that the program functioned prior to the decision and that the Supreme Court ruling is the reason the program is in trouble.
“By and large, the vast majority of projects that came before the finance committee were approved and enumerated,” Testin said. “We no longer have that authority and put this entire program in jeopardy.”
Republican lawmakers on the committee suggested that environmental groups that supported the Supreme Court case overturning the anonymous veto process were responsible for damaging the Knowles-Nelson program.
Cody Kamrowski, executive director for the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, met a cold reception when he told lawmakers about his organization’s decision to withdraw its support for the bill after the recent amendments.
“Land acquisition is not incidental. It is what makes public access, habitat protection and outdoor opportunity possible in the state of Wisconsin,” Kamrowski said, warning that setting aside more land is particularly important in fast-growing areas where preserving wild land will soon be “gone forever.”
“Have you thought about where we’re at and the political reality of where this program is at?” Stafsholts replied.
Charles Carlin, director of strategic initiatives for Gathering Waters, an alliance of 40 land trusts around Wisconsin, said his organization is concerned about the elimination of the land acquisition portions of the program and language that would limit habitat management to government-owned land.
GOP lawmakers on the committee were not receptive to Carlin’s pleas, especially since his organization was part of the Supreme Court case as a co-plaintiff.
“Do you as an organization regret intervening in that lawsuit knowing where we’re sitting here today?” Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown) asked.
Carlin said Gathering Waters is “incredibly proud of the work” the group did on the lawsuit. He noted that there were more than two dozen projects blocked by the committee in the first two years of Evers’ term.
“I don’t agree with the framing of the question that we are here today because of the Court decision,” Carlin said. “We are here today because of an apparent reluctance to come together and make a bipartisan compromise to keep the program moving forward.”
“I will happily go before the public any day to talk about why projects should always move forward with a democratic process, and that all of our decisions in government should be transparent and open to public scrutiny,” he added.
Stafsholts disagreed.
“I think that 100% of the reason we’re sitting here today is because of that lawsuit… you can’t sit there silently and watch something dramatically reduce the ability to have stewardship in Wisconsin and then come back here and beg for it.” Stafsholts said.
Testin said the lawsuit is the reason he and Kurtz had to “bend over backwards” and “move heaven and Earth” to get a bill advanced in the Legislature.
After the hearing, Carlin told the Examiner he wasn’t expecting to be challenged on his group’s participation in the lawsuit during the hearing. He questioned Republican lawmakers’ characterization of the “anonymous objector” system as good governance. He also said that Republicans could simply work together with Democrats to pass a bill that continues the program, which has long enjoyed broad, bipartisan support. Instead, Republicans are presenting an ultimatum that they will only consider a bill that has majority Republican support.
“This is what is politically possible right now, if we only rely on the votes of Republican legislators,” Carlin said, noting that all 60 Democratic legislators signed on as cosponsors to a Democratic proposal and the authors of that proposal, including Habush Sinykin, have said they want to work with Republicans. “Compromise is an absolute necessity in the Senate… If lawmakers were willing to work across the aisle — and they don’t even have to meet in the middle, they just have to make some meaningful progress towards supporting the core functions of the program — then there would be absolutely no problem getting this across the finish line,” he said. “The problem is only there if lawmakers insist on it being a partisan bill.”
The future USS John F. Kennedy, the second Ford-class carrier for the U.S. Navy, has completed builder's sea trials at Huntington Ingalls Newport New...
Momentum appears to be building within some corners of the Trump administration to offshore U.S. Navy warship production to yards in U.S. allied nati...
China’s first 10,000-ton electric containership is beginning sea trials. The shipyard is billing the ship as the largest of its kind and a further bre...
The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) is raising the alarm over a significant surge in cargo theft and freight fraud across the global su...
In 2025, China once again dominated the world's shipbuilding orderbooks, according to the latest numbers from Clarksons (compiled by eWorldShip). Out...
India's refiners might make out well by taking a deal with the United States to buy lots of Venezuelan oil, according to the State Bank of India. Ind...
Faced with the need for more electrical power and a desire to expand renewable energy, Massachusetts is looking toward the import of renewable energy...
Danish Defence reports that the study group working on the strategy for the construction of its new Arctic ships selected a distributed construction m...
Officials in Santa Marta, Colombia worked hard this week to refloat a small bunker tanker that went aground next to a breakwater near the center of to...
The Italian Coast Guard completed its inspection of the livestock carrier Blue Ocean A after overseeing the towing of the disabled ship into the port...
By decisively consolidating his personal power, President Xi Jinping’s latest purge of senior military leadership increases strategic risk for the In...
CK Hutchison fired back in its ongoing dispute over the concession to operate the port terminal at each terminus of the Panama Canal, saying it has c...
An area off Malaysia’s eastern Johore coastline has for several years seen a concentration of dark fleet tankers, many sanctioned, uninsured, flagles...
Login
