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The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production. You’re watching “Here & Now” 2024 election coverage.

Frederica Freyberg:
President Joe Biden visits Superior to tout infrastructure and the economy, while Wisconsin Republicans blast the president on inflation and immigration. And Governor Evers delivers his State of the State address.
I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” the latest from the state Legislature and movement on voting maps. Then what a Republican never-Trumper thinks of the former president’s victory in New Hampshire. What happens now as 19 clinics and two hospitals close in west central Wisconsin, and new guidance for lead testing in children. It’s “Here & Now” for January 26.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
A busy week at the state Capitol. Governor Tony Evers delivered his State of the State address as the Republican Legislature proposed and passed headlining bills.

Tony Evers:
I’ve introduced a comprehensive workforce plan twice. Anyone on either side of the aisle has a better plan than mine that not only prevents the collapse of our state’s childcare industry but also helps us compete against our neighboring states for talent and invests in public education at every level to prepare our kids for the future, let’s hear it. I will work with any legislator, any partner, any stakeholder who is willing to engage in meaningful conversations on these issues to do the right thing for Wisconsin.

Devin LeMahieu:
The Legislature released a plan today that would cut taxes for the middle class. It would exempt retirement income from state income taxes. It would increase the married couple credit and it would increase the child and dependent care tax credit. Democrats see state surpluses as an opportunity to grow government entitlement on the backs of hard-working taxpayers. Legislative Republicans have a different version. We stand for limited government, low taxes, safe communities, and a strong economy.

Frederica Freyberg:
In addition to the tax cut proposal and a bill banning abortions after 14 weeks, legislative Republicans passed a new redistricting plan, maps that mirror the one submitted by Governor Evers with changes to protect incumbents. Under the Evers map, Republicans would have a 53-46 majority in the Assembly and a 17-16 edge in the Senate but Vos said under those maps, 30 Republicans would be paired against one another compared with just two Democrats.

Robin Vos:
Under the map that we’re voting on today, with the small tweaks for five members, the governor is getting 99% of what he asked for. 99%. And actually the map that we’re voting on today disenfranchises fewer people than the governor’s map because we reunite a couple of the legislators with their communities and undo the most egregious political gerrymanders in this map.

Frederica Freyberg:
UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky was at the Capitol as all of this was unfolding. He joins us now for his take. Professor, thanks a lot for being here.

Anthony Chergosky:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
So as we’ve said, since we last talked, both the Senate and the Assembly passed this new redistricting proposal that mirrors Governor Evers’ maps with what they call minuscule changes to protect some of the incumbents in the same districts. What do you make of the Republicans move here?

Anthony Chergosky:
Well, I think it’s pretty significant changes when the maps are being adjusted to protect incumbents. Part of this is about self-preservation. If two incumbents are running against one another, then only one incumbent can win and that means that a substantial number of incumbents could be left out of a job after the 2024 election cycle is completed. So I think the ability to remain in office is certainly top of mind for legislators. In addition, the incumbency advantage still matters. The incumbency advantage is not what it used to be, but still, incumbents do have certain advantages in terms of fundraising, in terms of name recognition, in terms of the connections and the incredibility they’ve built with voters. So the more incumbents are on the ballot for Republicans, the better the party as a whole could do. I’m not surprised that Republican leaders want to protect their incumbents and ensure that as many of their incumbents as possible can be on the November ballot.

Frederica Freyberg:
But meanwhile, Evers says he will almost certainly veto the latest Republican proposal and that had to be expected on the part of the Legislative Republican leaders. So kind of why go through that exercise?

Anthony Chergosky:
I think for Evers, he understands that these changes are indeed pretty substantial. Allowing more incumbents to be able to run for office in November of 2024 could have significant effects on the election outcomes. Meanwhile, Republicans understand that as well. They want to protect their incumbents. They know that the more incumbents for their party that can be on the ballot, the better their party is likely to do. Think about this. If Republicans don’t have many incumbents who are able to run in November 2024 due to new maps, then it’s going to take a lot of work for candidate recruitment. It’s going to take a lot of fundraising effort. It’s going to take a lot of work to build name recognition for a new batch of candidates. Republicans undoubtedly want incumbents to be able to run in November 2024. Of course, certain incumbents will not be able to run, but the more incumbents Republicans can have on the ballot, the better for them.

Frederica Freyberg:
So Speaker Vos described this as minuscule changes and 99% of what the governor wanted in his maps thinking perhaps he would sign them. Is their proposal a hedge against the Supreme Court choosing a map that’s even more advantageous to Democrats or one of its own, which is kind of unknown at this point?

Anthony Chergosky:
You’re right. Right now, I think ‘unknown’ is the key word. We’re dealing with a period of uncertainty regarding the ongoing court challenge to the maps because we don’t know how the consultants hired by the Wisconsin State Supreme Court are going to come down on the maps that have been proposed. The consultants could pick one of the maps. They could draw their own maps. Right now there’s a lot of uncertainty hanging over the Capitol when we think about the legislative district maps for November 2024 and uncertainty makes politicians nervous. By drawing the maps themselves, they can bring some certainty back into the equation, but if this continues to work its way through the courts, the name of the game is going to be uncertainty at least until the Wisconsin State Supreme Court settles on a map and until all legal challenges have been exhausted.

Frederica Freyberg:
Briefly, all of this was happening kind of at the same time that Governor Evers was in the spotlight for his State of the State address. One of the things that Governor Evers did not discuss there was tax cuts at the same time that the Republicans came out with this tax cut proposal that would seem to be more amenable to what the governor might want. Why try to work with him on that now, or is that what’s happening?

Anthony Chergosky:
Republicans want things to run on in November of 2024. They need things to put on their campaign brochures. They need things to mention when they’re knocking on doors. So Republicans are looking to rack up some achievements and they might be able to meet the governor halfway on taxes. We’ll have to see how that pans out. The governor did not mention taxes in his State of the State but I think compromise on that issue is possible. Compromises on other issues like abortion, not so possible.

Frederica Freyberg:
That’s for sure. Professor Anthony Chergosky, thanks very much.

Anthony Chergosky:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
Presidential candidate Donald Trump beat his last Republican challenger standing in the New Hampshire primary this week. Nikki Haley vows to continue her campaign, but where are we with the presidential contest? We turn to political commentator, Charlie Sykes, who knows Wisconsin politics as former host of a powerful conservative talk radio show out of Milwaukee for more than 20 years and the cofounder of The Bulwark Podcast. We should note he’s also a well-known never-Trumper. Charlie, thanks very much for being here.

Charlie Sykes:
Good to be back with you.

Frederica Freyberg:
So not withstanding what Nikki Haley is saying, is it a foregone conclusion that the Republican primary race is over and the general election race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is on?

Charlie Sykes:
I think you have to assume that that’s the case. This is Donald Trump’s party. I think that that’s been evident for some time, and I think that the fact that so many elected Republicans are coalescing around him so quickly is an indication that they’re expecting a coronation this summer here in Milwaukee.

Frederica Freyberg:
What do you make of that?

Charlie Sykes:
Well, it is extraordinary how quickly the Republican Party has capitulated to Donald Trump once again. I mean, think about all of the off-ramps they could have taken. They could have taken off-ramps after he was defeated. They certainly could have taken off-ramps after January 6th, after the indictments, and yet at each turn, there’s been a failure of will. There’s been a failure to coalesce around somebody else, and here we are, three years after the attempted overthrow of the free and fair elections of 2020, and Donald Trump is poised to win the Republican nomination despite the fact that he is facing more than 90 felony charges. A case stemming from a sexual assault of a woman back in the 1990s and fraud cases in New York, and yet the Republican Party is not blinking at the prospect of running under his banner.

Frederica Freyberg:
No, in fact, experts have told us that the criminal charges against Donald Trump make him more popular among his base, not less. What is happening?

Charlie Sykes:
Well, I think two things are happening. I mean, number one, clearly the Republican Party, the base, has rallied around him. He has effectively played the victim card. He has effectively made the case that he is being targeted. But at the same time, it is hard to imagine that as the criminal charges unfold over the next year, that there are going to be very many swing voters who might have abandoned him in 2020 who are going to say, you know, this time around, we think we’re going to go with him. So I think there’s two narratives that I think are parallel at the same time. Number one, he is dominant in the Republican Party, but I think that you’re also seeing that he’s vulnerable in a general election. He’s vulnerable among moderates, among soft Republicans and among independents, and I think you saw that in both Iowa and New Hampshire and I think that that’s going to be — that that’s going to be more evident as we go through the year.

Frederica Freyberg:
How do you think those dynamics play with the Wisconsin electorate?

Charlie Sykes:
Well, in Wisconsin, everything is on a knife’s edge. These elections have been decided by 20,000 votes. And Donald Trump lost in 2020. Largely because he was — he didn’t do as well as he needed to do in the suburbs. You had a massive Democratic turnout, but you also had a number of Republicans, quite a few Republicans, who voted for Republican candidates for the state Legislature and for Congress but did not vote for Donald Trump. Now, I don’t know whether they voted for Joe Biden, but there was clearly an undervote, and I think that — there’s two big questions about Wisconsin. Number one, will Democrats be able to once again be able to have the enthusiasm to have a massive turnout, particularly in Dane County and, number two is Donald Trump going to continue to underperform in the WOW counties: Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington Counties. And I suspect that he probably will. But again, every election in Wisconsin is close and this one probably will be as well.

Frederica Freyberg:
So you were talking about soft Republicans and independents. Do you think they’ll vote for Joe Biden?

Charlie Sykes:
I don’t know at this point, but I think that there is — there’s evidence, there’s a lot of those voters that are just not going to vote for Donald Trump. The MAGA base is going to stick with him, there’s no question about it. I think the hard-core Republican voters are going to turn out. Nothing is going to continue to change there, but I think that there is a segment of the electorate that may not agree with Joe Biden’s policies, may have concerns about his age, may have concerns about where he’s taking the country, but also recognize, as Liz Cheney has said, only one of the candidates on the ballot is going to shred the constitution, and so the question is, what will they prioritize? Will they prioritize certainly ideological single issues or will they step back and say we cannot have a convicted felon in the White House. We cannot have a seditionist. We cannot have somebody who is as erratic as Donald Trump return to the presidency.

Frederica Freyberg:
Or maybe people just stay home. Charlie Sykes, thanks very much. Thank you.

Charlie Sykes:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
In a gut-punch to rural healthcare in northwest Wisconsin, medical clinics in 10 communities and two hospitals have announced they are shutting down, resulting in the loss of more than 1,400 staff and physicians. One state legislator from the region called it devastation. The healthcare providers said the decision was the result of financial stress related to things including lingering impacts of the pandemic, inflation and workforce shortages. One of the clinics and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls will close. That city’s mayor, Greg Hoffman, says he was not given notice of the closures. He joins us now. Mayor, thanks very much for being here.

Greg Hoffman:
Yes, good morning.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what was your reaction when you learned of these closures?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, little bit of history — I knew that St. Joe’s Hospital had been having some financial issues and they were looking to market it, and so that wasn’t a complete shock. It’s just the fact that there was no advance notice. All of a sudden, I get an email sent to me about 11:30, 12:00, informing me of all the closures and I was, yeah, very, very shocked by the whole events. And really, the thing that shocked me the most was that Sacred Heart and Prevea clinics were shutting down. We’ve worked around St. Joe’s. We were trying to come up with something, but having these other clinics, it is — it’s just devastation for the community.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because what will it mean for your community?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, you know, right now, we’re trying to figure out where we go. Sacred Heart Hospital and St. Joe’s accounted for approximately 40% of the beds and the medical care in the Chippewa Valley. So where do you go with 40%? I mean, we have Marshall Clinic yet. We have Oak Leaf Surgical and then you Mayo Luther, but they only have so much capacity. And so that, to me, is the real question, is what do we do? Chippewa Falls is blessed with an extremely large senior population. We have about 30% of our population is over the age of 65, and, of course, coming with that over 65 is health issues, and that’s what was nice about Sacred Heart and St. Joe’s. So where do we go now? And then in addition to that, you’ve got all the employees. You got the whole economy. I mean, it’s just a ripple effect.

Frederica Freyberg:
How frightening is this for you and the people who live in the region?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, you know, frightening is maybe a strong word. Right now, we’re trying to process all this. I’ve had numerous conversations with medical, a number of people outside of the medical field of what does this look like and is it a strong concern? Yes. And we need to work through this to see what it’s going to look like when we get to the other side. How much can Mayo Luther handle, how much can Marshall handle? Right now, we might have to go to the Luther Hospital, which is 15 miles north or the Aspirus Stanley. It’s really hard to say. And so there’s a lot of unknowns at this time that we’re trying to get our arms around and not let our imagination go down the road too far.

Frederica Freyberg:
How does Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement factor into these closures, do you think?

Greg Hoffman:
Well, I was just visiting with someone from the hospital board and that is part of our problem. Some of these facilities, I wouldn’t say they were [intelligible] but they took a larger share of the Medicare and Medicaid than maybe some of the other facilities in the area and as you know, Medicaid and Medicare payment on that is considerably less than private insurance. So that has definitely figured into the equation and that I wouldn’t say that was the only reason, but it had a portion of what happened to these facilities.

Frederica Freyberg:
You said that right now you’re trying to work through these things. With less than a minute left, have you been getting the answers or the support you need to work through this and come out the other end, as you said?

Greg Hoffman:
Yes. Everybody has been very cooperative. Everybody is, you know, we’re all looking for solutions to see what we can do. The upper — the Chippewa Valley is a very resilient community and I’m very confident that we’ll find — get to the other side. It’s just getting there is where there’s a lot of pain and frustration at this moment.

Frederica Freyberg:
Yeah. Well, Mayor Greg Hoffman, thanks very much and good luck.

Greg Hoffman:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
Wisconsin physicians have new recommendations to test all children for elevated levels of lead in their blood. The state Department of Health Services is calling for universal lead testing for all one and two-year-olds and up to age 5 if not previous tested. The number of Wisconsin children who were tested dropped 75% from April 2019 to April 2020, according to DHS. Dr. Beth Neary is a retired pediatrician, adjunct assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and copresident of the Wisconsin Environmental Health Network. She joins us to detail why these recommendations are needed. Doctor, thanks for being here.

Beth Neary:
Thank you for inviting me.

Frederica Freyberg:
How important is it that young children be tested for blood lead levels?

Beth Neary:
It is critical, and I’m really so proud of our state for taking this step. Right now, we have what’s called targeted testing, and as a result of that, we miss a lot of children. I don’t think we have a good handle on how many children in this state are being poisoned by lead.

Frederica Freyberg:
How concerning is it as the DHS reports that the number of children being testing has fallen off?

Beth Neary:
That’s extremely concerning. Part of it was COVID, because children weren’t going in to see their doctors but when you have targeted screening, you’re going to miss some children. When we go to universal, we’ll be able to find all of the children who are affected by lead.

Frederica Freyberg:
And what is targeted screening?

Beth Neary:
Targeted means you have a questionnaire, and if any of the answers to the question are positive, then you do a lead screen. Our previous targeted testing was based on the age of the housing. So we would capture, hopefully, children who were lead poisoned by paint, but we would miss children if it was lead pipes. If it was other things, such as living near a small airport that still uses leaded gasoline in small aircraft. We might miss children who had food that was contaminated, as with this last case we saw in November 2023.

Frederica Freyberg:
What happens to a child if they have lead in their blood?

Beth Neary:
Well, lead is a toxicant. It affects every organ in the system, but it is awful for the human brain. And if you think of children from the ages of zero to five, that brain is still developing. It’s creating these pathways, and it’s their future. So what happens is that it interrupts these circuits in the brain so the result is we see children who have lower IQ. It affects what we call executive function, and that means the ability to sit still in class, to regulate your emotions, to reason through things. So when you think about a child who can’t do that, and in kindergarten, maybe they can’t sit still and they can’t focus, they can’t learn, and so what we discovered is that if we had elevated lead levels in children, it affected their third grade reading and math scores. It affected high school graduation rates and it’s linked to incarceration. So it’s awful for the child, but it has societal implications for all of us.

Frederica Freyberg:
Is there any way to treat it if a child has elevated levels?

Beth Neary:
That’s a very difficult question. So once it’s in the body, the body sees lead as calcium, and so it gets stored in the bones. The only time we actually treat a child for lead poisoning is if their level gets up to 45 micrograms per deciliter, and that’s very high, and then they go through a process of what’s called chelation. They have to be hospitalized. It’s quite extreme, but the damage has already been done. It’s already hit the brain. Everything we should be doing is to prevent children from being lead poisoned.

Frederica Freyberg:
Speaking of doing things, should Wisconsin be doing more, particularly in Milwaukee, where two-thirds of elevated lead levels are found?

Beth Neary:
Absolutely. So what we do with blood testing is what’s called secondary prevention. What we really want to do is primary prevention. And what that means is prevent the child from ever being exposed to lead. So what we should be doing is taking the lead out of the environment, okay, and so we are doing some of those things. Getting rid of the lead service lines across this state, across the country, making sure that we have what we call lead safe homes. Maybe not lead free, but lead safe. The paint is in good repair. We have done wonderful things. We took the lead out of residential paint in 1978. We took it out of automotive gasoline in the ’70s and that was the biggest drop in lead levels for this country for children. What I would love to see is Milwaukee to say to all the landlords, show me that your property is lead safe before you rent it. Do you know what we do now? We wait until a kid is poisoned, then we go into the house and say, okay, now clean it up. That’s backwards. We should be preventing those children from being exposed, but we have a state law that limits it. Rochester, New York, has legislation like that. Baltimore, Maryland, does. We need to do that in Milwaukee.

Frederica Freyberg:
Dr. Beth Neary, thanks very much. Thanks for your passion.

Beth Neary:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
In other health updates, the JN.1 variant of COVID has taken hold as the most prevalent strain, having been first detected in August. This, along with cases of influenza and RSV, have been swirling this season. Health officials are hoping the worst is over, but still caution getting tested and vaccinated.

Al Dababneh:
Really what you’re seeing is evolution in action with these viruses. Mutations happen, viruses adapt and they change over time. So the fact that we’re seeing a new viral strain shouldn’t be surprising. And I would enforce that discussion with your provider. There’s a lot of misinformation out there about vaccines, what they do and what they don’t do. Absolutely, there’s a lot of overlap in terms of symptoms between RSV, COVID and influenza. So I think it’s going to be really difficult for patients to figure out which one of the three they have. I would encourage them if they’re not feeling well, to reach out to their provider and get tested.

Frederica Freyberg:
For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBSwisconsin.org and then click on the news tab. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.