Four state legislators are asking the Natural Resources Board to review statements by DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp about the mining bill. Madison Democrat Brett Hulsey criticizes Stepp for accusing Democrats of “throwing the DNR under the bus.”
Stepp had said, “The failure of this bill in the state Senate … really comes down to politics over policy.” Hulsey, a member of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, accuses Stepp of being a “political hack.”
In signing the letter to the board, Hulsey says it’s inappropriate for the DNR Secretary to publicly accuse senators of playing politics during the mining deliberations.
What’s his end goal? “We want the Natural Resources Board to reign her in and to stop these out-of-control political statements by an unqualified DNR Secretary on an issue she knows nothing about,” he says, “that’d be a start.”
Representatives Mark Pocan and Jon Richards, and Senator Bob Wirch also signed the letter.
Secretary Stepp had no comment.
