96th Wisconsin State Assembly Candidates

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, area voters will make choices on the national and state election level. One of those races is the 96th Wisconsin State Assembly representative. Candidates are incumbent Lee Nerison and challenger Alicia Leinberger. Editor Correne Martin met with both of them personally to ask them a number of questions. Their answers are below. More candidate Q&As are upcoming in the Courier Press.

Tell me about yourself.
LN: I’ve moved a total of two miles since I was born, so I’m strictly a Vernon County boy. I graduated from Viroqua High School, then went to the Farm and Industry Short Course at UW-Madison. I milked cows for 40 years before I got into politics. I was on the county board for eight years in Vernon County and was chair for four years. I was on the Vernon Coop Oil and Gas Board as secretary. When I was elected in 2004, I had to resign because I got put on the energy and utilities committee in the Assembly. I’ve been married to Laura for 42 years. We have three grown daughters and, our fifth grandchild was born Oct. 17. I rent out my farm but I still own it and do the fencing and maintenance on the buildings and machinery. I like to spend a lot of time with my kids and grandkids.
AL: I’m from Cedarburg. My parents are both public school teachers who gave me a rich appreciation for public school and public service. I got a degree in conservation biology from UW-Madison, went into the Peace Corps in El Salvador and spent three years in agriculture there. I was very interested in the relationship between humans and plants and insects. When I came back, I was very interested in continuing to work for the coffee farmers, and I got involved with fair trade coffee for about seven years. I learned a lot about agricultural markets, how something gets from the farmer to the consumer, where the money goes and how to change that. That got me thinking a lot about how to change the world through business. I also became involved in La Valle with a fair trade cheese product and became familiar with what happens on a family-scale dairy. Then, I fell into renewable energy in 2012, started a non-profit business with a friend. So I have a lot of small business background. I was involved with the beginning of the Focus on Energy program, a really fantastic state program the whole country was looking at before, in 2010, Gov. Walker was elected and proceeded to dismantle it.

Why are you running for Assembly?
LN: I still feel that one person can make a difference. This time, deciding to run, I had a number of people tell me not to quit, that they needed me. When you get that, you feel revitalized and more pumped up that they want you to stay. This is actually my seventh election. I think I have local, family values and I strive to do what’s right for the district and the state, because this is the best place to live, raise a family and retire.
AL: I moved to Viroqua nine years ago and have been in renewable energy since. We build solar projects in the Driftless Region. I did not plan on running for Assembly but I got involved with the Bernie Sanders campaign and was so inspired by what he was talking about—the authenticity, the straight-forwardness. I really enjoyed getting out and talking with people. So we did well in the primary election and the Democratic Party asked me to run. I’m particularly prepared for this job because I have a strong background in business and in policy work for energy and agriculture specifically. With my parents as teachers, I’ve watched what’s gone on with Act 10 and the unions. I understand the way money moves around and I understand the relationship between policy and economies. The other thing about me is, I’m a mom. As a mom, you put others first, and that makes your family strong. Plus, because of my entrepreneurial nature, I have a lot of applicable skills.

How do you think Obamacare has impacted Wisconsin and what are your thoughts on the state rejecting the Medicaid expansion?
LN: I think we need something else. Just look at Minnesota; they started their own exchanges. Even their governor, who was a big supporter of it, said it’s not working. It’s doubling their premiums and providing less coverage. Before it came in, Wisconsin was one of the top states as far as having insurance for its residents. I’ve talked to a lot of people who’ve said they can’t afford to be on it because of the cost and what they have to pay out-of-pocket. But we can’t just say we want to get rid of it; we have to find something to put in its place.
AL: If we had taken the federal money for the Medicaid expansion, we would have saved the state $550 million and insured 83,000 more people than we are now. It would’ve been a federally-run program, so there would have been more people involved and everyone’s premiums would have benefitted. As a result of not taking it, everybody’s premiums have gone up. In Minnesota, where they took the federal program, their premiums are about half what ours are. So people who have never had insurance in their life are insured. How could you vote against that in this district? We have many farmers who are lower income. We have one of the most impoverished districts in the entire state. I think it’s most likely a very good program, but we don’t know.

What is your opinion of Gov. Walker’s roads plan and how it addresses the state’s transportation needs?
LN: We have to figure out our revenue source. We have to get money for these roads and bridges because that is our economy. Borrowing money, I’m not so sure about that; I don’t like raising taxes anymore than anybody else does. But you can look at doing different things. For example, one construction site in Crawford County is looking at moving light poles six inches. Why is that? Is it because when you use federal dollars, you have to use federal specifications? So when you’re looking at expenses like that, maybe there are other ways to save some money. I talked to one guy who is in construction and has spent $5,000 to $10,000 repairing his trucks because of our roads. I sometimes think, if we could use state money out here and keep the federal dollars on the big projects, then we could use the state specs instead of the federal specs. A lot of these roads, basically, need to be ground up, made sure the base is still good, and replaced with a new pad on top, instead of widening them out.
AL: Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, who is on the audit and finance committee, put out an assessment of this. In reading it, I’ve been wondering where this money is going, who it’s going to and whether we are paying a fair price for what’s getting done. In her report, it says, since 2009, per project, the costs have gone up 68 percent. That seems a little high to me. Since 2011, a law was put in place that keeps municipalities and townships from collaborating, so they’re all hiring separate, private companies. Instead of using in-house engineering and design for our roads and sourcing local companies, the costs for design and construction have both gone up. My other criticism is Gov. Walker’s insistence that there are no taxes. Just because you’re not taxing something up front, doesn’t mean the costs aren’t being incurred. The taxes are actually coming out in other ways and we’re feeling them. There’s also wear and tear on vehicles that are running over the road. A progressive gas tax makes perfect sense. Let’s take advantage of our low gas prices. Walker borrowed over a billion dollars, so we have $24 million in interest payments for 20 years. Those are our kids paying that, for roads that aren’t even working for us. Then, he came up a billion dollars short, on top of that. How many chances do we give these people?

How do you feel about the state of Wisconsin’s education system?
LN: The schools around here could take any competition out there because they’re good public schools. In a lot of these towns, the school is their heart and soul. A few years ago, Minnesota paid for consolidation and has less public schools because of it. But I think we have to get our kids educated, and if that’s in a public school or a private school, we need to do it. That’s why the voucher system started, because people were tired of seeing the schools fail our kids. Over the last couple budgets now, there’s been more money put into transportation for the schools and for declining enrollment. They’re trying to help some of these schools that are seeing referendums. Also, in this last budget, a provision was put in where schools could share classes with other rural schools or schools in need that are nearby.
AL: First, I would take the lead of Superintendent Tony Evers, who has come up with some awesome ways of fixing the funding formula so our rural kids get the same opportunities as kids from more populated areas. Second, I would make our legislators honor the pledge that Gov. Tommy Thompson made that schools would always be state-funded to two-thirds. Right now, it’s a little less than half. What that means is our schools suffer and local communities have to come up with the money.

How can we best improve economic development in our rural communities?
LN: I voted so we could get grants for broadband. That even helps on the farm because everything’s so technology-driven nowadays. That’s why you see the co-ops getting out there further than the for-profit companies. Also, tourism is a big issue and so is our river. I serve on the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, which watches the tourism up and down the Great River Road. I passed a law, last session, called the ag tourism bill. Everybody’s starting to wonder where their food comes from, but they don’t always realize you can get hurt pretty easily on a farm if you’re not paying attention. This was a liability fix, so now, the farmer would be more willing to let people come and see his operations. For our small businesses, the regulations really stop a lot of them from trying to expand or even get started. We need to get rid of some of that red tape.  
AL: If we raise the taxes on corporations a little bit, and elect people who are representing our interests, we can keep the money in our communities. Also, minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour and my opponent voted, in February, against increasing it, over two years, to $10 an hour. To me, that’s still too low. Anyone coming from this district who can vote against it must not be paying attention to the people who are struggling here. In my small rural business, my training wage is more than double the minimum wage. All it means is I get paid a little less and I get creative and resourceful. I live like everybody else and I don’t try to put myself above others. Increasing the minimum wage would be a pretty easy fix. Everybody’s income goes up, they spend more money locally and the businesses stay because they have more people buying their products. If you want good workers, pay them well.

How can we reclaim democracy from the influences of money and negativity in politics?
LN: Unfortunately, when they do polling, the negative works. So until the voter gets tired of it, or it quits working, it probably won’t change. Looking back at 2008, for my campaign, they spent $800,000 against me with third-party money. The candidates have no control there. So If you just get out and work, you can do it. I’ve never gone against any of my opponents on a personal attack. That’s just not in me to do that.
AL: It’s some crazy corporate elite who all somehow think they have the right to suck every little bit of life out of our working families. We need to talk to each other, face-to-face, and have conversations that might be a little uncomfortable. We need to open our hearts to each other and realize we’re all suffering. The only ones running away with it all are the billionaires at the top.

Name the part of your agenda that’s nearest and dearest to your heart.
LN: Farming is in my heart and in my mind all the time. Keeping the ag industry going forward is important to me. I’ve been chair of the ag committee for six years and, in the last seven years, we’ve gone from a $59 billion industry to an $88 billion industry. A lot of that is that prices were up and we also had a lot of exports in the state and in other countries. The hardest thing is to maintain what we have. Organic farmers are doing well, but conventional farmers, with the milk and grain prices going the way they are, they’re going to have a hard time holding on.
AL: Everything I’m doing is for my children because I see the trajectory of where we’re going as a country and as a state. I’m running for Assembly and giving my life over to this process because I don’t want my children, or anyone’s children, to have to go through this. I want the children of today to grow up and have hopes to do whatever they want to do. They go to school and their poor teachers are stressed to no end and they come home and their parents are stressed out. That’s not right. We need to do something about all of this for our children.

What’s the biggest difference between you and your opponent.
LN: I think the biggest thing is just our basic outlook.
AL: I want people to understand that my opponent is misrepresenting himself. His statements about being a moderate or being an outsider in the party are false. I actually have his voting record on my website. One of the things he always says is that he voted against Act 10, but just this past February, he voted to extend the 2011 Act 10 provisions. The whole reason I am running is because we’re not being represented by him. In the past three years, the total state budget has gone up $7.5 billion, so we’re spending a whole lot more. And what do we see: broken roads, broken schools, broken DNR, broken health care. I would really appreciate the opportunity to go out there and give this a shot.

Why do you believe voters should choose you?
LN: I believe I’ve done well for the district. I listen a lot to the constituents. I’m enjoying what I’m doing for the people. Hopefully, they realize, if I give you my word, it’s good. What you see is what you get. I believe I’m pretty visible.  
AL: My job will be to represent everyone’s voices. I won’t back down.