On Friday, Governor Evers vetoed Senate Bill 622, authored by Senator Romaine Quinn (R-Birchwood), which would have “prevented exorbitant fee increases on agricultural producers.”
Quinn released the following statement in response to the latest action from the Evers/Sara Rodriguez administration.
“Last year the liberal state Supreme Court handed down a ruling to remove legislative oversight from the Evers’ administration rulemaking power. It did not take long to see the consequences of this unchecked power,” Quinn wrote.
Soon after, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) “used its rulemaking power to increase fees at an extreme level on animal markets, animal dealers, and animal truckers. In the proposal, animal dealer licenses would climb from $220 to $670, a 205% increase,” he added.
“The registration fee paid by truckers transporting livestock would increase 517%, from the current $60 to $370. And an Animal Market Class A license would jump from $420 to a whopping $7,430 – an increase of nearly 1,700%!”
Continued Quinn: “Unfortunately, under the new unilateral power given to state agencies, the legislature can no longer object to such rules, so the bureaucratic deep state is free to make these changes all on its own – with the blessing of Governor Evers. In the midst of this debate, we watched the Equity Livestock barn in Barron, a Class A dealer, close its doors.”
In response, wrote Quinn, “I introduced Senate Bill 622 to prevent the fee increases and maintain them at current levels – and it would ensure the fees could only be modified by the legislature and not by unelected bureaucrats. The governor vetoed the bill in its entirety. In his veto message he had the audacity to say that freezing the fee increases amounted to ‘enabling the Legislature to go right back to indefinitely obstructing the People’s Work.’ I find it offensive that the governor would consider it the ‘people’s work’ to target those who work hard to survive in our ag industry.”
Concluded Quinn: “Governor Evers chose to back his unelected bureaucrats instead of looking out for the farmers in this state. Forcing his unchecked power against the will of the majority…looks like we have some new material for the next ‘No Kings’ protest.”
