State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, called for continued pressure and support for the reinstatement of the government office of public intervenor Thursday. The public intervenor is an assistant attorney general who has the authority to sue state agencies on the public's behalf to protect water and other natural resources.
Black criticized the 1995 elimination of the public intervenor position, which occurred under a Republican-controlled legislature and Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.
\The system of environmental protection that made our state a national conservation leader was seriously weakened,"" Black said.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk served as the public intervenor from 1983 to its elimination.
She noted that although there are many citizen environmental groups in Wisconsin, none of them have the resources that the public intervenor had at its disposal.
Even more importantly, Falk said, ""There is no state law that requires [private environmental groups] to help individual citizens.""
Black proposed a bill in March asking for the government to reinstate a public intervenor. However, Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, has not yet permitted a hearing for this bill to take place, Black said.
Mike Bruhn, spokesperson for Gunderson's office said, ""The Assembly of Natural Resources is one of the busiest committees in the legislature. There are many other bills [proposed before Black's] that have not had a hearing yet.""
Black labeled this ""political spin"" and said that dozens of bills that were introduced later have already been given a hearing.
Black added that a bill concerning fishing with a bow and arrow at night received a hearing before his proposal.
Some representatives, however, said the position is unnecessary.
""[The public intervenor] was an attorney that was paid for by tax dollars whose sole responsibility was to sue the state,"" Bruhn said. ""It really does not make a lot of sense.""
He compared having a public intervenor with a company hiring an attorney to make it more difficult for them to conduct business. He said that the attorney general is effectively handling current environmental issues.
Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, said he thought no money was wasted with having a public intervenor.
""If you are going to spend tax dollars on anything it should be on defending the rights of our citizens and interests of our citizens,"" Parisi said.
There has been no date set for a hearing on the public intervenor, but it has become a topic of conversation among both parties and the people.
UW-Madison professor of urban and regional planning Harvey Jacobs said, ""the public intervenor acted as a voice for the people of the state of Wisconsin in addition to the voice of the elected officials.""
