News

Wisconsin Governor’s partial budget veto leaves ag provisions unchanged

Governor Tony Evers signed the budget bill into law Wednesday.  He made stops in Green Bay and at a farm near Bangor to sign what’s been called an agriculture-friendly state budget supporting roads, meat and dairy processor grants, the nitrogen optimization pilot program, and producer-led watershed conservation groups. 

Governor Evers used his partial veto authority to try and force the Legislature to reconsider their proposed tax cuts and instead fund child care for working families, additional school and college funding, and mental health care, but the agriculture-related elements of the budget became law.  Those include:

• One million in export market assistance funding to increase Wisconsin agricultural exports
• $300,000 in each year of the biennium to fund the Dairy Processor Grant program
• 1.6 million this fiscal year to fund the Meat Processor Grant program
• $1,080,200 over two years to fund Wisconsin’s meat inspection program
• $100,000 in each of the next two years to fund farmer and family mental health assistance
• $362 million for local roads and bridges, including $150 million specifically for farm-to-market roads