WASHINGTON — About $250 million dollars in funding for more than 80 projects in Wisconsin was secured for recently finalized federal budget. That includes $22 million dollars for researching PFAS, known as forever chemicals, and removing them from the state’s drinking water.
“In the state, it was used in a lot of different factories, it was used in flame retardants, especially at some of the airports, etc.,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison. “And it obviously has health concerns for people in our state.”
Pocan secured nearly a million dollars for laboratory equipment upgrades at UW-Madison. Students will be able to use this technology to study forever chemicals in ways they can’t now.
“It's a long term investment for the state, and we're very excited to be at the forefront,” said Kaitlyn Gruber, a Ph.D. candidate at UW-Madison.
Funding for the 80 projects was inserted into the federal budget by lawmakers apart from the normal appropriations process. Congress banned these so-called earmarks 13 years ago because of scandals, but lawmakers revived earmarks a few years ago with new rules to prevent the misuse of funds. Pocan was on the committee to enact reforms.
“So we've done, in a bipartisan way, cleaned them up to be more transparent, more accountable,” Pocan said. “And because of that, I think they're in a place that hopefully they're here to stay.”
Congressman Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, is also concerned about PFAS. He said it’s a reason why he worked to get millions of dollars for water treatment projects in his district, in western and central Wisconsin.
“It's 2024 in the United States of America, and I think everybody should be able to turn their tap on and drink water,” Van Orden said. “It's real simple.”
Nearly $2 million will flow to the Milwaukee-area to remove lead pipes. The money was sought by Congresswoman Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee.
“I'm very, very excited about what this means for the health of our community, the health of our children in particular,” Moore said. “And I'm not too mad about the fact that I think it creates jobs and opportunities for people to actually do the work to replace these pipes.”
Wisconsin lawmakers also got funding for mental health services, transit infrastructure, and emergency communication systems.