Zac Schultz:
If elected, it's possible you have a Democratic Legislature behind you. What's your AB 1? What's the first bill you want to sign into law?

Sara Rodriguez:
So the things that I want to make sure that I'm signing into law are things that are going to reduce costs for Wisconsinites. That's going to be health care costs primarily, but also looking at child care. We've got other states that we can look at for examples where they've been able to subsidize child care for folks — treating that as infrastructure is gonna be something that's gonna be a priority for me.

Zac Schultz:
It's also possible that there's a Republican Legislature. What's your history of working across the aisle?

Sara Rodriguez:
So coming from a redder community, I'm used to having those types of conversations with Republicans. I represented a purple district. My strategy would be to do things that have, you know, wildly popular support in Wisconsin, and be able to start with those types of things. So whether that is fully funding our public schools, we know that that's something that people want to do within Wisconsin. We want to make sure that we're going to be able to get some relief for health care across the finish line. I'm willing to work with anybody who's going to make life better for Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:
Right now, the Public Service Commission is looking at large utility rate hikes. There are data centers that are popping up all over the state. What's your position on those issues?

Sara Rodriguez:
So the data centers have to be a conversation with the community, and we want to make sure that those data centers are in a community that wants them. But what we have to do on the front end is to make sure, contractually, that the energy uses are not going to be borne on the backs of taxpayers, that they are going to be investing particularly in renewable energy, and that they are going to be bearing those costs for those energies, because we certainly don't want it to be on the backs of taxpayers.

Zac Schultz:
When it comes to public education, is it simply a matter of investing more money or does there need to be reform?

Sara Rodriguez:
Both. We need to make sure that we are investing the money, because what we see all across the state is that there are all of these referendums, and people are voting to increase their own taxes. Not to pay for a new science lab, not to pay for a new middle school, but to pay for operational expenses, teachers' salaries, and that is just unsustainable moving forward. So, we have to put more dollars into the public school system, but we also have to look at reform to make sure that kids are getting the education they need to be able to succeed.

Zac Schultz:
What would you like to see happen with the voucher system?

Sara Rodriguez:
I think we need to absolutely address the voucher system. We need to make sure that the voucher system is what it was originally intended to do, which was for low-income families to be able to have some choices. Right now, we do not have an income limit on the voucher system and we're going to be taking off the cap for the vouchers, and that is going to be funneling public money into private schools. We cannot afford to have two separate school systems within the state of Wisconsin, so we're going to have to have some reform in that area as well.

Zac Schultz:
What's your number one tax change that you'd like to see?

Sara Rodriguez:
The number one tax change I'd like to see is that we look at tax relief for our lower-income and middle-income families. Right now, our tax system is absolutely skewed toward the most wealthy in Wisconsin, and so we want to make sure that the most wealthy are paying their fair share while we're able to have some tax relief for middle class families.

Zac Schultz:
Over the course of the last year, we've seen the Supreme Court eliminate legislative oversight of the rulemaking process in a lot of areas. Would you like to see a bipartisan compromise to restore some oversight?

Sara Rodriguez:
I think the Supreme Court was right in terms of making sure we have separate branches of government. We have the executive branch, we have the legislative branch — let's make sure everybody stays in their lane.

Zac Schultz:
As far as funding for local government, does there need to be more investment or once again, is the reform needed?

Sara Rodriguez:
I think both as well. We do need more investment in local government. When I talk to municipalities and cities all across the state, they are really struggling to be able to provide the services that their constituents expect. Basic services — we're talking about making sure that their parks stay open, their public libraries stay open, that there's a public pool that kids can go to in the summer. So we're going to have to look at that formula of how we fund municipalities and cities to make sure they can provide those services.

Zac Schultz:
Right now, we've got active exploratory drilling projects across the North Woods, looking at different mining projects down the road. What would you like to see happen as far as permitting for those mines?

Sara Rodriguez:
What I think we need to do is to make sure we have a really good environmental assessment for permitting for those mines, and to make sure that we are talking with the local communities. If tribal nations are involved, we are having those open conversations with them, and making sure that we don't have the environmental impact that would be negative for Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:
Do you have any concerns about your personal safety in this political environment?

Sara Rodriguez:
You know, I don't. I love Wisconsin and I believe in Wisconsinites and I believe that they want us to have an open dialogue for politics. And so I do not have any concerns about my personal safety.

Zac Schultz:
What's your plan to address the affordable housing crisis?

Sara Rodriguez:
So, affordable housing across the state is something that I've been very, very interested in. I'm actually the chair of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, and we need to look at it as a three-legged stool. There is the legislation that we have to make sure that we have laws that allow us to build affordable housing. There are administrative rules and making sure, like, how you can build, what type of permits that you need. And then there's funding. Right now, there is nobody who is looking at all three of those things to make sure that they're aligned. So as governor, I would assign somebody to make sure that they're looking at housing overall, having a statewide strategic plan to make sure that we have some of those starter homes that we certainly don't have in Wisconsin anymore. If you look at somebody who's on the average salary making $50,000 a year, they could possibly afford a home around $100,000 to $125,000 — that simply doesn't exist in the marketplace today. We need to get back to making sure that we are building starter homes with a priority on home ownership, not just rentals.

Zac Schultz:
Gov. Evers has got an ambitious plan to overhaul the Department of Corrections and the prison system. Would you carry that forward?

Sara Rodriguez:
Absolutely. We absolutely have to make sure that we are doing what's best for people within our prison system and correction system and it needs an overhaul.

Zac Schultz:
Would you like to see any changes to Wisconsin's abortion law?

Sara Rodriguez:
I would. What we need to do is to make sure that we enshrine Roe within Wisconsin. That's what I've always been really clear about. I'm, again, a nurse by background. We know that these type of health care decisions are best made between a patient and their doctor, and Roe has been something that has kept women safe for decades. We need to make sure that we have legislation to keep women safe in Wisconsin so that it does not go back and forth between if we have different leaders between Republicans and Democrats.