Crawford Stewardship Project

Rural Concerns with Governor Walker’s budget bill and related legislation

A budget bill should simply set the budget. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has confirmed that many of these changes are non-fiscal items, and will not save the state any money. Long-term effects and non-budget items need discussion.

Local Control: Loss of local control occurs for farmers and rural communities by the governor’s takeover of state regulatory agencies’ rulemaking, including veto power on Livestock Siting Law rules that affect factory farms or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
Rural Economy: While cutting state funds shared with towns and counties, the budget bill takes the right of local governments to set tax rates and to set compensation for teachers and government workers, effectively causing further erosion of our schools and public services.
Bargaining rights: Cutting public workers’ collective bargaining rights is an affront to the collective bargaining process in which family farmers participate through cooperatives and pooling.
Recycling: Bill eliminates state recycling requirements and halts all funding for municipal and county-run recycling programs. Our recycling programs earn money for Wisconsin.
Department of Natural Resources: Budget bill cuts funding to the Department of Natural Resources by nearly 16%. This is the department that implements and enforces conservation laws and manages and maintains our resources.
Farmland: Bill eliminates the program to preserve farmland, which will not help create rural community jobs in our state.
Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin programs: Budget ends this program and removes language from the state statute. This project builds local food system infrastructure in the state and strengthens rural communities. Similarly, the budget recommends that the Farm to School grant program not be funded.
Energy: Bill eliminates programs that attract green businesses to Wisconsin and help businesses to save money through energy efficiency.
Health care: The budget repair bill would threaten Badger Care, on which more than 11,000 state farm-family members and a total of 62,000 working Wisconsinites depend for health insurance coverage.
Tax breaks for the wealthy: The Governor’s recently enacted tax breaks for corporate campaign donors have grown our debt at a time when he intends to impose more sacrifices on working and rural families. Further, the budget cuts capital gains tax for outside investors in Wisconsin . http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?rw=pr030211.php&CTGTZO=-360&CTGTZL=-360

			Crawford Stewardship Project works to protect the environment of Crawford County from threats such as those posed by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and to promote sustainable land use, local control of natural resources, and environmental justice. Crawford Stewardship Project is a nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible. Support CSP Send a check to: Crawford Stewardship Project P.O. Box 284 Gays Mills, WI 54631 csp.county@gmail.com
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	Ongoing Projects Sand Mining Crawford County CAFOs Water Quality and CAFO Monitoring Karst Geology Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network-SRWN Livestock Siting Law & State CAFO Permitting Crawford Stewardship Project is grateful for the generous support of the Wisconsin Community Fund. Order your Driftless Wisconsin poster today! "CAFOs are only profitable because so much of the cost and damage is externalized onto the environment, neighbors and wildlife. The monitoring, supervision, clean-up, restitution, fines are not happening, thus the true cost of CAFOs never find the way onto the balance books." Talking point from the CAFO Conference.	Rural Concerns with Governor Walker’s budget bill and related legislation A budget bill should simply set the budget. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has confirmed that many of these changes are non-fiscal items, and will not save the state any money. Long-term effects and non-budget items need discussion. Local Control: Loss of local control occurs for farmers and rural communities by the governor’s takeover of state regulatory agencies’ rulemaking, including veto power on Livestock Siting Law rules that affect factory farms or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Rural Economy: While cutting state funds shared with towns and counties, the budget bill takes the right of local governments to set tax rates and to set compensation for teachers and government workers, effectively causing further erosion of our schools and public services. Bargaining rights: Cutting public workers’ collective bargaining rights is an affront to the collective bargaining process in which family farmers participate through cooperatives and pooling. Recycling: Bill eliminates state recycling requirements and halts all funding for municipal and county-run recycling programs. Our recycling programs earn money for Wisconsin. Department of Natural Resources: Budget bill cuts funding to the Department of Natural Resources by nearly 16%. This is the department that implements and enforces conservation laws and manages and maintains our resources. Farmland: Bill eliminates the program to preserve farmland, which will not help create rural community jobs in our state. Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin programs: Budget ends this program and removes language from the state statute. This project builds local food system infrastructure in the state and strengthens rural communities. Similarly, the budget recommends that the Farm to School grant program not be funded. Energy: Bill eliminates programs that attract green businesses to Wisconsin and help businesses to save money through energy efficiency. Health care: The budget repair bill would threaten Badger Care, on which more than 11,000 state farm-family members and a total of 62,000 working Wisconsinites depend for health insurance coverage. Tax breaks for the wealthy: The Governor’s recently enacted tax breaks for corporate campaign donors have grown our debt at a time when he intends to impose more sacrifices on working and rural families. Further, the budget cuts capital gains tax for outside investors in Wisconsin . http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?rw=pr030211.php&CTGTZO=-360&CTGTZL=-360