From the Conservation Voters mailing list:

THIS IS IT! A final draft of the Great Lakes Compact bill will be released tomorrow at 11:00 am, and a hearing on the bill has already been scheduled for THIS THURSDAY!

As you may have heard, last week, the Speaker of the Assembly, Rep.
Huebsch, along with Rep. Gunderson, put out a press release opposing
even a BASELINE Compact. They would rather see the entire Compact
re-negotiated, throwing years of negotiations between the 8 Great
Lakes states out the window and leaving our Great Lakes vulnerable to
water diversions and lawsuits. Clearly, leaders in the Assembly are
out of touch with what the citizens of Wisconsin want--a STRONG Great
Lakes Compact that protects the Great Lakes from diversions!

If you are interested in and concerned about this bill, please mark your calendars and try to make time to come to Kenosha, or block off some time to write-up your comments.
Members of the Coalition to Protect the Great Lakes will be reviewing
this final bill today (and into the wee hours I'm sure!) so that we can
send you some analysis of the bill, especially regarding the 6 points
we have been looking for in a STRONG Compact, and talking points ASAP.
I would expect you should have those in your inbox by sometime tomorrow
afternoon. PLEASE STAY TUNED--time is very short, but your efforts to weigh-in will be incredibly important!

If you ALREADY know that, come hell or high-water, you plan to be at the hearing, let us know!

Thank you again for your diligence on this issue!

Jennifer
Giegerich & Jessica Garrels in Madison, 608-661-0845; Kim
Biedermann in Green Bay, 920-429-9008; Adrienne Roach in Milwaukee,
414-765-0910

PS--please help get the word out on this--click the 'Forward to a Friend' link above to alert people you know!

Senate

PUBLIC HEARING

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

The committee will hold a public hearing on the following items at the time specified below:

Thursday, February 21, 2008

11:35 AM

Kenosha Public Museum, Chrysler Room

5500 First Avenue

Kenosha, Wisconsin

LRB 3207/1

Relating to: the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, withdrawals of water from the Great Lakes Basin, water withdrawal and use, water supply planning, water conservation, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.

Copies
of any unintroduced legislation listed above are available at the
Senate Chief Clerk's Office at 11:00am on Wednesday, February 20^th.

This bill draft will be officially introduced as a committee bill prior to the public hearing.

Senator Mark Miller
Chair