Wisconsin’s dairy industry is suing the state’s attorney general for using an outside lawyer to work on environmental cases.
The lawsuit, filed last week in state court by two groups that represent Wisconsin dairy farmers, marks the latest challenge to a program that has sparked conservative backlash in several states.
The Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and Venture Dairy Cooperative argued that state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) is violating the Wisconsin Constitution by employing an attorney whose salary is paid for by a Bloomberg Philanthropies-backed fellowship program that “pushes states to pursue left-wing programs and policies.”
Opponents of climate lawsuits targeting the fossil fuel industry have criticized similar arrangements with other state attorneys general, and several states have looked to outlaw the practice. Virginia in 2019 became the first state to pass a measure requiring lawyers in the attorney general’s office to be state or federal employees paid with public funds.
