Committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said water quality is better than it was in the 1970s, a time “when you couldn’t see the bottom of the lake.”

“Some of the biggest manure production comes in this building,” Nygren said.

But Taylor pointed to fiscal bureau statistics showing that Department of Natural Resources regulators have been overwhelmed by the growth of the dairy feedlot industry, and that a record 101 manure spills were reported in 2018, bringing the total to more than 10 million gallons spilled in the last 12 years.

And the state hasn’t yet provided enough money to address DNR staffing problems highlighted in a 2016 audit that found the department was unable to properly oversee the disposal of millions of gallons of manure on farm fields.

Committee Republicans postponed a vote on Evers’ proposal to increase fees on large animal feedlots to help pay for five more DNR regulators to enforce water pollution laws.