Disappointed in vote

Vox Pop

Tom Tiffany, the representative from the Wisconsin 7th Congressional District, voted no on the Great American Outdoors Act. It still passed both the House and the Senate with over-whelming bipartisan support and was signed into law. Since the funding will come from offshore oil and gas leasing revenues income taxes will not be increased.

This legislation will benefit both conservation and the economy.

Thus, Tiffany voted against funding deferred maintenance projects at national parks, national forests, and national wildlife refuges and other conservation projects like parks, trails, and boating access sites.

He voted against a $22 billion tourism industry. Tourists spent nearly $14 billion in Wisconsin in 2019, generated $1.6 billion in state and local revenue taxes, and supported 200,000 jobs.

Tiffany voted against the interests of thousands of small businesses like resorts, motels, sporting goods stores, bait shops, ski and bike shops, gas stations, cafes, supper clubs, grocery stores, and others who provide services to residents and tourists alike pursuing outdoor recreation.

Once again, Tiffany voted in agreement with the mining industry which strongly opposed this legislation. He also had a history of voting against conservation and in support of mining interests while a Wisconsin state senator. The Wisconsin Conservation Voters writes of his voting record, in part, “he worked in concert with out-of-state and foreign mining corporations to bring metallic sulfide mining, America’s most toxic industry, back to Wisconsin with his Industrial Acid Mining Bill. In the process, Sen. Tiffany divided and misrepresented conservation groups and misled local governments. As an independent voter I am writing this letter in the interest of transparency in government. I am retired from a 42 year career in fisheries, wildlife, and water quality research and management.

— Everett (Bud) Fuchs, Hudson