GOP Wisconsin Treasurer Goes To War With State Board Over Climate Change

Wisconsin State Treasurer
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The new Republican state treasurer in Wisconsin has launched a bizarre mission to destroy the state’s Board of Commissioners of Public Land.

State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk is trying to cancel the board’s New York Times subscription, remove references to climate change from its website, and oust the board’s executive secretary, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Adamczyk has targeted the executive secretary, Tia Nelson, overconcerns about her influence over the board, according to the Journal Sentinel. Nelson is the daughter of the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson and has served on Wisconsin’s global warming task force.

“I don’t see a role in this board to do anything else (outside its mission), like become a Wisconsin version of the Environmental Protection Agency,” Adamczyk said at a board meeting on Tuesday. “I just think in some cases things might be straying.”

Adamczyk has also tried to initiate a performance review for Nelson and alter the board’s letterhead to remove her name, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel and Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette also sit on the board with Adamczyk, and both argued against removing Nelson’s name from the letterhead.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: