10. What are the most important issues facing women in Wisconsin?
With health care coverage, reproductive rights and childcare services under attack, women need strong voices in the legislature. Unfortunately, there are fewer women serving in the Wisconsin legislature today than in the 1980s. That is why I am so proud that there three strong women running in this race. As board member of Emerge Wisconsin, I have helped train and support over 100 women to run for state and local office. If we had more women in office today, our government would make better decisions, particularly regarding health care and children.
There is a coordinated attack on affordable health care and reproductive rights in Congress and in states across the country. Efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and attacks on SeniorCare and BadgerCare threaten access to quality healthcare for thousands of women and their families. Additionally, I've strongly supported the young star quality rating system for childcare provided, because parents to need to have adequate information available when evaluating the right childcare services for their family.
I've spent my career expanding access to health care, fighting for quality childcare and standing up for patients and healthcare workers, and I'll continue to be a champion on these issues in the legislature.
11. If elected, what would you do to improve the economy?
We now have 30 years of evidence that giving tax breaks to corporations does not create good paying, middle class jobs. Yet Gov. Walker and the Republicans still favor tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations over investments in education, job training and transit.
Wisconsin needs a balanced tax system and economic development strategies that integrate regional transit authorities, smart growth plans, clean energy technologies, and business clusters, pooling common talent, technology and infrastructure to maximize sustainable job growth.
Tax incentives are only helpful in attracting business to communities that have good infrastructure, quality schools, and accessible transportation options. Good schools mean a well-educated work force, which attracts jobs in high-tech manufacturing, biotechnology, health care, and financial services. It also means workers will want to live in that community, because people care about where their kids go to school.
I will fight to fund our public schools, technical colleges, and universities, so that we can have a work force that is smart, tech-savvy, and ready to compete in the global marketplace of goods and ideas.
12. I've touched on some obvious big issues, but are there any issues that the media and general public are overlooking? What are they?
In the wake of this last state budget, Wisconsin faces a difficult question: What happens to a state that stops investing in its young people?
Throughout the last century, strong public universities and a robust manufacturing and agriculture economy created tremendous prosperity in northern and western states. Unions helped create a vibrant middle class, and women increasingly entered the work force. In contrast, southern states struggled, in part due to a failure to invest.
Today Gov. Walker's attack on public workers, education, and health care has left Wisconsin a divided and deeply polarized state. We cannot continue to be a great country without a strong middle class. Which is why restoring bargain rights is not enough; we must create a better system that makes it easier for workers to organize. We must invest in our public schools and universities, because education is the great equalizer, and we must ensure that the social safety net created after the Great Depression is not cast aside.
We need a legislator with the experience to succeed, the passion to lead, and the toughness to fight. I will stand up to Walker and fight for the people of the 48th district. This is the leadership I have to offer, and I ask for your support on July 12.
