Gov. Evers vetoes 2029 deadline of Green Bay prison closure

GREEN BAY, Wis (CIVIC MEDIA) – Governor Tony Evers issued nearly two dozen partial vetoes when he signed the state budget into law Thursday, including a veto to remove the deadline for Green Bay Correctional Institution’s closure.

The prison was previously due to be closed by 2029 at the latest. Gov. Evers stated that his veto of the deadline was the most significant of the nearly two dozen he executed.

“Saying that we’re going to Green Bay by ’29 doesn’t mean a damn thing. We have to start working on this. That was probably the most important one for me.”

Evers has proposed closing the 1898 prison as part of a broader overhaul of the state’s corrections system. He proposed that plan back in February and said it would cost half a billion dollars. 

Last week, Gov. Evers said the Legislature hadn’t engaged with his plan or proposed their own, and he objected to setting a firm deadline without one in place. Although the two parties couldn’t agree on a plan, the budget keeps $15 million to begin planning for a prison “realignment” and potential closure of the prison. 

Jim Rafter, the Village President of Allouez, the same town where the prison is based, called the veto a sign of broken government. He says the time for studies has “come and gone,” and that the village deserves a timeline.

Republican Representatives David Steffen of Howard and Ben Franklin of De Pere also criticized the move. They say Green Bay is structurally unsafe, older than Alcatraz, and that a firm deadline would’ve forced the state to act.