The Legislature created the Public Intervenor Office in 1967 to watchdog state government and intervene when government action or inaction threatened public rights in the water or other natural resources of Wisconsin.  This check and balance system was lost when the Public Intervenor was eliminated in the 1995-96 state budget process by a unanimous party-line vote of the Republicans in the state legislature.   It was a tragic loss for our state, with serious environmental consequences. The Public Intervenor Office gave ordinary citizens a place to call for technical and legal advice, and referrals, when they faced complicated environmental problems or couldn’t get results from government agencies. This service is badly missed.

The Intervenors also lobbied government agencies directly to ensure public rights were addressed and to counteract lobbying of special interest groups who could harm public rights.  The Intervenors advised legislators, testified at hearings, wrote detailed technical and legal comments to agencies, served on numerous agency advisory committees, and successfully pushed for environmental protection legislation. 

On occasion, the Intervenors joined or initiated lawsuits on precedent-setting cases to uphold public rights --- for example: to stop pollution and protect drinking water, to enact water recreation safety provisions, to ensure adequate environmental impact studies, to protect public access to Wisconsin lakes and streams, to create public right to know laws such as for pesticide applications, to require that landfills comply with siting and water protection laws, to defend the right of local governments to regulate harmful activities, to enforce Wisconsin’s water quality standards, etc. 

Sometimes, the Intervenors joined with agencies to strengthen their legal actions to uphold public rights, because of the Office’s unique experience and skills. 

Traditional Watchdogs

Independent government watchdogs are a traditional cost-effective check on government excess, ranging from agency omsbudsmen, to solicitors general, to independent prosecutors.  They are a recognition that watchdogging government is a full time job and that most citizens don't have the resources to keep government accountable between elections for day to day decisions that affect our lives. 

Lawsuits were only a small part of the Intervenors’ role and few lawsuits were actually pursued.  The Intervenors' authority to sue was often enough to bring people to the negotiating table to get results, avoid lawsuits, and to discourage agencies from making decisions which could damage public rights.  The Intervenors served as preventative medicine.  Many times, the Intervenors were able to negotiate reasonable compromises and out-of-court settlements that protected public rights. 

Great Work for Little Cost

For less than a nickel per person per year, citizens of Wisconsin had an entire office with two full-time attorneys, 1.5 clerical staff and 8 non-paid legal interns to represent their public rights in the environment and to respond to their calls.  The annual "saving" from eliminating the office amounted to only $232,000, or .00001166% (one one thousandth of one percent) of the $15.5 billion budget.  The Intervenor Office was always streamlined --- one of few agencies which grew little (from one attorney to two) over a 27 year period. 

Compare the Public Intervenor Office annual budget with the $1.7 billion budget of the Dept. of Transportation (DOT), $429 million budget of the Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR), $59.7 million budget of the Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), and $197 million budget for the Commerce Dept. --- four state agencies the Public Intervenors were charged with watchdogging. 

We Need Them Back! 

You can help by joining with a statewide coalition working to restore the Wisconsin Public Intervenor Office.   For more information, visit:  http://www.wsn.org/publicintervenor.html

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