State News: Jan. 17-24

Wisconsin Communities Search for Road-Salt Alternatives

Southeastern Wisconsin has seen a mild winter so far, but it’s only January, and Wisconsin communities are preparing by looking at alternatives to road salt.

Although salt has been an effective way to melt ice on roads and sidewalks, as little as one teaspoon permanently pollutes five gallons of water, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources.

During the past decade, the communities that make up Milwaukee County used about 18.3 billion teaspoons – or around 320,000 tons of salt. County highway and freeway usage in Milwaukee County contributed to another 380,000 tons of salt being used during the last decade.

That salt goes into ground water, rivers and Lake Michigan, according to the DNR.

“Salt that we see on the roads in the winter doesn’t just disappear,” said Amy Barrilleaux, spokesperson for the Madison Water Utility and a member of Wisconsin Salt Wise, a Dane County-based advocacy group. “All that salt we’ve been putting down since the 1950s in Wisconsin is with us, so anything we can do to take a step toward getting control of that is really important.”

WisContext: Refugee Resettlement in Wisconsin Leveled Off in 2019

Following two years of steep drops, the number of international refugees who resettled in Wisconsin leveled off in 2019. 

In all, resettlement agencies helped 480 refugees to find new homes and reunite with loved ones in the state during 2019 – a slight uptick from the 472 refugees who arrived in 2018. 

The small increase in Wisconsin was modest compared to an upswing in refugee arrivals reported nationally in 2019. More than 27,500 refugees resettled across the United States during that period – 20 percent more than during the prior year.

Still, resettlements in Wisconsin – and nationally – remain down significantly from a recent high in 2016. That year saw nearly 1,900 refugees resettle in Wisconsin, among almost 100,000 refugees who arrived in the country.

State Senator Dave Hansen Won’t Seek Re-election

State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) has announced he will not seek re-election, creating an open seat in a district that has grown more conservative during the past couple of decades.

Hansen, who has regularly outperformed other Democrats since winning the seat in 2000, said in a written statement that he was confident that he would have won again had he run, but he noted that he turned 72 in December.

“As much as it has become a cliché in politics, I truly am retiring to spend more time with my family,” Hansen said. “I have no fears about my chances for re-election, having survived an attempted recall in 2011 and winning handily in a district that Republicans told me they gerrymandered specifically to defeat me. I believe had I chosen to run again, I would win.”

Republicans currently hold a 19-14 majority in the Senate, which is more than enough to pass most of their agenda, but short of the two-thirds supermajority required to override a governor’s veto. 

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