Funding for Wisconsin’s recycling program was raided to the tune of $26 million dollars as part of the state budget. Now Democratic legislators are calling for that loss to be made good. “It’s such an important program to so many people across the state, that we need to do everything we can to make sure that we’re at the same level of support that we’ve always been,” said Representative Mark Pocan of Madison. Pocan is proposing the Recycling Fund Restoration Act. “There’s a lot places they can take that from” said Pocan in explaining how the revenue might be replaced. “They raided the recycling fund to fund another fund that went to what’s now the new department of Commerce.”
Pocan said recycling will be all right in the short term — but predicts running out of money in this budget cycle is “a distinct possibility” if the funding not restored. He’s proposing the action along with state Senator Chris Larson of Milwaukee.