Gov. Tony Evers has called the Republican-controlled Legislature into a special session next week to take up an $8.5 million package of bills designed to help rural Wisconsin. The state is in the middle of a crisis that’s caused the loss of one-third of the state’s dairy farms since 2011. Republican state representative Mark Born of Beaver Dam says he wants to hear details of the plan. “I’m hopeful this is something he’s serious about,” Born told WFDL news. “So far he (governor) hasn’t worked with anyone in my caucus at all on this.” Assembly Democratic leader Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh the state has to do something to try to help dairy farmers. “The governor managed the expectations that there isn’t a single swipe of the wand that we can do to address every problem that’s out there. We’re obviously going through a major transformation from what we’ve all grown up with in Wisconsin in terms of small dairy farms,” Hintz told WFDL news. “But there is a role for the state to make sure we are doing everything possible to help open up new markets for a lot of these farms.” The Democratic governor on Thursday dismissed criticism from Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that the proposals show he has ignored rural Wisconsin. Evers calls that criticism “baloney.” He says Republicans and Democrats need to work together for the farmers.
