Madison: Early Thursday evening, Governor Evers vetoed a bill authored by Sen. Testin and Rep. Krug that would have helped restart the shuttered Verso mill by creating a loan to help with its sale.

“With this veto, Governor Evers turned his back on thousands of families and jobs in Central and Northern Wisconsin – but he still has the opportunity to do the right thing,” noted Sen. Testin. “He has the authority to allocate these ARPA funds to help the mill – something Rep. Krug and I asked him to do more than a month ago. It’s past time for him to act.”

The bill proposed by Sen. Testin and Rep. Krug passed by the legislature would have utilized federal pandemic stimulus/relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 to create a loan to facilitate the mill’s purchase. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) would be the entity making the loan.

“Governor Evers continues to play politics with people’s lives and livelihoods,” said Rep. Krug. “He says that he supports the mill – in theory. There’s nothing theoretical to the harm that he’s doing to the mill workers, loggers, and their families.”

Until its closure in June of 2020, the Verso Mill was the leading employer in Wisconsin Rapids.

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