Wisconsin Ag Connection - Wirch Sponsoring Bill to Allow DNR Board Choose its Own Secretary

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Wirch Sponsoring Bill to Allow DNR Board Choose its Own Secretary
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 02/23/2017

A Wisconsin lawmaker is making another attempt to strip the governor's authority from appointing the Department of Natural Resources Secretary as a cabinet position. State Senator Bob Wirch says he is introducing a bill that would give that responsibility back to the DNR Board because he feels the position has become too politicized.

"In order to effectively serve Wisconsin citizens and achieve its conservation goals, the DNR cannot continue to be subject to the whims of party politics," Wirch said.

This is the second time the Kenosha Democrat sponsored such a measure. In 2013, he authored a similar bill which did not advance.

The Legislature passed a bill that also would have transferred the appointment authority from the governor to the DNR board in 2009, but then-Governor Jim Doyle vetoed the proposal.

Prior to 1995, the seven-member panel had selected the agency's top leader, but that process changed under the Tommy Thompson administration in the 1990s.

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