Here & Now

Here & Now for Jan. 19, 2018

Announcer:

The following program is part of our “Here and Now” 2018 Wisconsin Vote election coverage.

Zac Schultz:

I'm Zac Schultz filling in tonight for Frederica Freyberg. Just ahead on “Here and Now,” a first look at Tuesday's special election upset. Senator-elect Patty Schachtner is here. We talk about the new session with Assembly leaders in our capitol insight segment. A closer look at the lead poisoning threat in Milwaukee. And a new report on refugee resettlement in Wisconsin from WisContext.org. It’s “Here and Now” for January 19th.

Announcer:

Funding for “Here and Now” is provided, in part, by Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.

Zac Schultz:

Tuesday night Democrat Patty Schachtner shocked Wisconsin by winning the special election for the 10th Senate district in northwest Wisconsin. The seat was held for 17 years by Republican Sheila Harsdorf but it opened up when she became Governor Walker’s Secretary at the Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Protection. Going into the race, Democrats were quietly hopeful Schachtner had a chance, but her ten-point victory was larger than most people expected. Governor Walker responded to the results by sending out a series of tweets saying it’s a wake-up call for Republicans in the state. Joining us now on the phone is Senator-elect Patty Schachtner. Thanks for joining us.

Patty Schachtner:

Thank you for having me.

Zac Schultz:

Were you surprised by the margin of victory in this race?

Patty Schachtner:

I always knew it was going to be close, so I really — I didn’t know what to expect. I just really knew that I had a feeling based on talking to the folks out there that it was going to be a close election.

Zac Schultz:

And it actually ended up not being that close. A ten-point margin of victory, that’s a pretty solid, solid win. Does that change how you feel about your campaign and how you ran it?

Patty Schachtner:

I think we ran a positive campaign and really kept it on the issues that affected western Wisconsin, district 10, access to mental health, access to addiction [treatment], the environment, and education. Stayed focused on those relevant issues.

Zac Schultz:

What lessons about how you ran your race apply to other candidates this fall, specifically other Democrats that would hope to tap into some of the energy on the Democratic side but want to learn from what you did in your race?

Patty Schachtner:

We had a fantastic team of local — our local groups, all came together. And they really believed in me and what I wanted to bring to the table. And we stayed focused and we just stayed with our message and on topic no matter what was thrown at us. We just kept on focus. And I think people appreciated that.

Zac Schultz:

Now, a lot has been made nationally of the increasing number of women running for office, both at the state and federal level. Do you think that matters to voters? Do you think it had an impact in your race?

Patty Schachtner:

I don’t necessarily know that it’s all about women, but I think a lot of it is about your communication skills and your message. If you’re sending out the right message, the voters will vote for you. And our message really dealt with the struggles that are going on in western Wisconsin and we really focused on being positive and working together and working collaboratively. And I think that’s what people want. They — you know, the rhetoric, everyone is a little sick of.

Zac Schultz:

Right before election night you had an announcement on your Facebook page and you talked about being humbled by this entire experience. What’s your reaction a few days later? Has this really sunk in? That you are going to be coming to Madison, that you are senator-elect now?

Patty Schachtner:

It is a very — it’s a very humbling experience and I just — I just can’t get over the fact that thousands and thousands of people have faith in me and my message that I can help them through what goes on in Madison and help their lives be better. And at the end of the day, you know, that’s — the fact that they feel that I was the right person is really — it is humbling, and it’s a, a, challenge that I am really look forward to serving at this level. And I am all in. So I'm super excited about it.

Zac Schultz:

All right. Senator-elect Patty Schachtner, thanks for your time today. The results of the 10th Senate election received national headlines. Joining us now to talk about the implications of this race is Michael Wagner, Professor of Journalism at UW-Madison. Thanks for your time today.

Michael Wagner:

My pleasure.

Zac Schultz:

It’s always dangerous to read too much into low turnout special elections, but that hasn’t stopped both the Democratic Party and Governor Walker from giving immediate reactions.

Michael Wagner:

That’s right. Usually it’s dangerous as you say, to say, Okay, we had one special election. That means whatever happened in that is going to happen in an election that takes place 10 or 11 months later with way more candidates and way more entrenched partisan areas where the political battle is more conventional. It’s dangerous to look too far ahead. On the other hand, of the 70 or so special elections around the country, Democrats have improved their position in about 74% of those, an average of 12 points or so per race. They haven’t won all of these. In those races, about 34 flipped from Republican to Democrat. Four flipped the other way from Democrat to Republican. But the Democrats have certainly had results that make a wave election and talk of a wave election reasonable. Whether that will be as large as this 12 percent advantage they’re enjoying in the special elections I think is a little less likely but it’s certainly the case that Republicans ought to be worried as evidenced by the governor’s behavior on Twitter right after the special one here in Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:

The theme for most of those races is that the GOP is losing educated women, college-educated people in the suburbs. That’s what happened in St. Croix County. In Wisconsin, those voters are in Waukesha County, suburban Milwaukee County. Those are hot bed Republican areas. Could we see that same trend hold there?

Michael Wagner:

It’s certainly possible. In St. Croix County, there was an 11-point win for Schachtner. But Sheila Harsdorf won that by 30 in 2016. It’s sort of amazing to see that kind of shift happen so quickly. So in areas that have a campus community or suburban community, especially — and communities where women are maybe more likely to turn out to vote as well, those are communities where there could be big changes. So the ones you outlined are areas where the Republicans need to think about battening down the hatches in the elections coming up in November.

Zac Schultz:

Republicans have had an ironclad lock on the legislature for seven years now. And especially with the way the maps are in their favor. Is it possible that a wave could overtake some of the electoral possibilities there?

Michael Wagner:

I think in the state Senate it’s more of a possibility than in the state Assembly. The state Senate got a little bit more narrow. Just a few seats now divide the majority from the minority there. If the Supreme Court redistricting case in Wisconsin comes back and it forces a redrawing of districts, then a wave for Democrats becomes much more likely. If the Supreme Court comes back, rules in favor of the Democrats but says you don’t have to redraw the districts, then we should expect a really competitive election. And if the case comes back in favor of the Republicans, it’s a little bit more difficult for Democrats but the political environment is better for them than it typically has been in Wisconsin in state elections in recent years.

Zac Schultz:

Scott Walker is running on one map and that’s the whole state so he doesn’t worry about any changes there. He’s had a lot of policies that have come out in a flurry in the last few weeks. Now he’s in favor of reforming Lincoln Hills and juvenile justice. And the welfare reform special session. Democrats are saying this is just him throwing anything against the wall to make it look like he’s doing good work. Republicans say, no, this is responsible government in action.

Michael Wagner:

That's the crux of the debate. The governor’s job is to govern and to make decisions about issues of importance so that’s what he’s doing from his perspective. Democrats as you say are making the argument that this is too little too late or it’s a decision that’s electorally calculated in some way or another. But that will be something that the governor will debate against whoever his opponent is once they have a general election. Depending upon which side of the fence you sit on at home, you’re believing one of those stories over the other.

Zac Schultz:

Meanwhile, in Washington we’ve got the potential for a federal shutdown. What could that mean in Wisconsin especially since Paul Ryan is from here, he’s a key player in this whole thing?

Michael Wagner:

From Speaker Ryan’s point of view, the House passed legislation to keep the government open. From his point of view the House did its job and it’s up to the Senate to do theirs. Now, Ryan will say if things don’t go well in the Senate it’s because of senate Democrats, but of course Republicans have a majority in the House, Senate and the White House. Government shutdowns in a unified government are not common place in American politics. It’s a more difficult argument for Republicans to make to say we’re in charge of everything but we couldn’t keep the lights on.

Zac Schultz:

Michael Wagner, thanks for your time today.

Michael Wagner:

My pleasure.

Zac Schultz:

With the elections coming up in the fall, the legislature isn’t planning on being in session very long this year. In tonight’s capitol insight, we’ll hear what legislative leaders hope to accomplish in the next couple months. First up, Republican Jim Steineke, majority leader in the Assembly. He joins us from Green Bay. Thanks for your time.

Jim Steineke:

Thanks for having me.

Zac Schultz:

First off, I want to get your reaction to the result of Tuesday's special election. Governor Walker called it a wake-up call for Republicans. What’s your take-away?

Jim Steineke:

I think that’s right. I think the enthusiasm gap is obviously there, so that’s something we’re going to have to work on. I think as state legislators and state leaders, the biggest thing that we have to do is continue to tell the story of the transformation Wisconsin has seen over the course of the last seven years and why it’s important to keep that momentum going.

Zac Schultz:

Now in recent days we've seen the governor agree to more funding for rural schools, call for speeding up the overhaul of the juvenile justice system and now a special session on welfare reform. What on that list fits with your agenda in the Assembly?

Jim Steineke:

Most of it does. We’ve been looking at — for the remainder of the session, we’ve been looking at, focusing on economic development, schools, welfare reform and some other things. So it fits in pretty well with what we’ve been thinking.

Zac Schultz:

Regarding the welfare reform and the special session, the Journal Sentinel reported that the current Foodshare work requirements have cost the state $18 million and 24,000 people have found jobs thru that program. And 86,000 did not and lost money for food. Is that a success? And how will the new welfare bills change that system or work with it?

Jim Steineke:

The biggest thing that we’re seeing in Wisconsin is we’ve gone from seven years ago not having enough jobs for the people that needed them to a place where we have not enough people for the jobs that are available, which is a better problem to have, but it’s still a problem. So we need to make sure that as much as we can, as we get people that aren’t currently working that are able to work, we need to get them back to work. So whether that’s getting them the skills they need and the training or just getting them the motivation to start moving in the right direction, those are things that we have to look at.

Zac Schultz:

But some of the welfare package includes an ID for Foodshare cards using a photo ID is that necessary? Will that get people working?

Jim Steineke:

Well, I think it’s cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse is always been something we’ve been working on over the course of the last seven years. One of the things that I hear on a regular basis as I go out into the communities and talk to my constituents is they want to make sure if they’re sending their tax money to Madison to help people that it’s going to people that truly need the help and it’s not being wasted or fraudulently used.

Zac Schultz:

The governor vetoed the rural school funding in the last budget and he’s ignored calls to shut down Lincoln Hills in recent years. So Democrats are saying this rush of things, ideas from the governor is just politics for an election year. How do you respond to that?

Jim Steineke:

Well, listen, I can’t put myself in their shoes because I don’t understand the thinking. These are things that they want. Just because he didn’t embrace them when they wanted him to, you know, they’re criticizing him. The point is we’re on the way now. We’re getting more monies to schools and that’s a good thing.

Zac Schultz:

Are you hoping for any of these bills to gather any Democratic bipartisan support?

Jim Steineke:

I would certainly hope so. I mean, over 90% of the bills that got signed into law so far this year have had bipartisan support. I would expect that to continue. Because these are things that have broad support throughout the state and something I would hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle would embrace as well.

Zac Schultz:

Now, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau recently put out that the cost of public benefits for the Foxconn project is now approaching $4.5 billion. When you compare that with money cities around the country are offering Amazon in order to win their new headquarters, do you still consider Foxconn to be a good deal for Wisconsin taxpayers?

Jim Steineke:

Absolutely. What people have to remember is that high line number is only reached if they meet certain performance measures. So payments — money doesn’t go out until they create jobs or they make capital expenditures. So as they do that, that’s when the tax incentives come into play. So it’s really a pay-as-you-grow kind of system. I think it’s going to prove to be a good thing for the state of Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:

There has been a lot of political observers saying Governor Walker is not campaigning on Foxconn and Republicans aren’t talking about Foxconn out in the world so that they’re afraid this deal. They think it will hurt them in the polls and the elections this fall. Do you think that will happen?

Jim Steineke:

No. I don’t think so. I’ve been talking about it freely. I think others will as well. As we start to see the ground being broken on this project, as we start to see suppliers from around the state getting involved in this project, it is going to touch every corner of this state, this project will, and I think when people see the jobs coming and the expansion — you know, the actual creation of the buildings, I think it’s going to be a good thing for all of us.

Zac Schultz:

All right. Representative Steineke from Green Bay, thanks for your time today.

Jim Steineke:

Thank you.

Zac Schultz:

Joining us now to respond is Democrat Gordon Hintz, the minority leader in the Assembly. Thanks for your time today.

Gordon Hintz:

Thanks for having me.

Zac Schultz:

What is your takeaway from Tuesday night?

Gordon Hintz:

I think Senator-elect Schachtner deserves a lot of credit for a campaign she ran that demonstrated she was really in touch with what people want from state government on their basic needs. I thought she ran an authentic campaign. Obviously it was a rejection of what we’re hearing from a lot of people around the state of Wisconsin that they’re tired of a government at the national level that just focuses on tax cuts for the wealthy, seems out of touch with dealing with problems that we need fixed, like transportation infrastructure, and really just getting back to the basics.

Zac Schultz:

Now, as the new minority leader part of your job looking forward to the election is to bring in a lot of new members. Are you sensing the same wave that other people are talking about? Do you feel that same energy?

Gordon Hintz:

Look, Tuesday's results are fantastic for Democrats. They followed a pattern that has happened all over the country. We’re hearing from people that are overwhelmingly rejecting the Trump/Walker agenda on federal and state issues. Besides the western Wisconsin race, we won the city of West Bend in a special election in a race that wasn’t expected to be competitive. So one of the things that we saw in the race the other night, in the senate race, is across the board Democrats picked up seats, including people who voted for Trump in ’16 are now coming around two years later and voting for Democrats. That’s a good sign.

Zac Schultz:

How will the election results and Governor Walker’s wake-up call on Twitter impact what legislation is introduced and passed in the next couple months?

Gordon Hintz:

Based on Governor Walker’s excessive tweets following the race and just each day this week, it appears he’s trying to make up for seven years of failed leadership by taking Democratic ideas, by trying to chase the politics of resentment, by attacking people living on the margins, which I think goes further to demonstrate how out of touch he is with both the economy and the needs throughout the state.

Zac Schultz:

But when it comes to actually passing legislation, if some of these are Democratic ideas or good policy, it’s better late than never?

Gordon Hintz:

Well, look. Democrats have long supported expanded health care access, juvenile corrections reform, funding transportation, dealing with sparsity aid and low-spending school districts. I think we’ll look at those actual proposals if they come to the table. We certainly would love to get them done regardless if it’s for political reasons or not. But I think we’ll wait and see. The governor has said he’s going to do things before. We’ve got a month left in session. It seems like a lot of desperation, but we’ll see.

Zac Schultz:

What about this special session on welfare? What about calling it a special session signifies it over some of the other things he’s pushing?

Gordon Hintz:

Yeah, it’s funny. Democrats crush Republicans in western Wisconsin, blow it out. Get a lot of support. And the governor immediately gets on an airplane and flies around the state and comes with a bunch of mean-spirited, inefficient and costly legislation that he’s never talked about before with one month left in session. And it seems a little desperate. It seems completely geared at the election. And it’s trying to take us in a different direction message-wise where he doesn’t have to defend $4.5 billion going to Foxconn or that fact that he’s failed on fixing transportation for seven years.

Zac Schultz:

And speaking of Foxconn, the $4.5 billion is the new number that came out from the Fiscal Bureau. How does that compare to what other cities or states are offering Amazon, in particular, to move their headquarters? Is that just the price to play ball nowadays?

Gordon Hintz:

Look, I think everybody might have been willing to offer some incentives and take some risk. But when you’re looking a cost with a payback that’s at least 25 years and now it’s costing even more money, and there’s a lot of questions about the long-term viability of what they’re going to be making, I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this. I haven’t seen the Amazon deal, but I understand it’s a much smaller investment and commitment from state government and a much bigger return in terms of jobs and they’ve got demonstrated success with what they’ve done in Seattle and beyond and seem to be a company that is here for the long haul.

Zac Schultz:

Just the last few seconds, how big of an issue will Foxconn be for Democrats in the fall?

Gordon Hintz:

We didn’t have to make Foxconn an issue. It's already on voters’ minds. I just don’t think people think cutting funding from their public schools in their communities and cutting funding from their universities to give money in cash payments to a foreign company is the best investment.

Zac Schultz:

All right. Gordon Hintz, we’ve leave it there. Thank you.

Gordon Hintz:

Thank you.

Zac Schultz:

An update now on a Milwaukee story that broke late last week. The Milwaukee Health Commissioner resigned when it was revealed his department failed to follow up on test results that showed elevated lead levels in thousands of area children. This week, a unanimous motion by the common council there launched an investigation into the city’s management of lead abatement procedures. One alder said he’ll push for an independent audit of the city’s health department. We asked Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to come on this show and received no response from his office. But here are some fast facts to know about lead poisoning and its dangers.

Lead poisoning is an environmental disease that can result in damage to the brain and nervous system. Signs of lead poisoning include learning and behavior problems, developmental delays and hearing problems. Children ages 18 to 36 months are most at risk for lead poisoning. Children with lead poisoning often live in a home built before 1978 with lead paint.

Now to our partners at WisContext and new reporting on refugee resettlement in Wisconsin. While the current political fight in Washington revolves around DACA and the so-called dreamers, there’s been a downward shift in another type of immigrant, refugees. Our partner at WisContext, Scott Gordon has new reporting on this topic. Thanks for your time.

Scott Gordon:

Thanks for having me.

Zac Schultz:

Your numbers show a big drop-off in the number of refugees resettled in both the United States and Wisconsin in the last year. What’s behind those numbers?

Scott Gordon:

Well, the Trump Administration has been, it’s fair to say, less hospitable refugee settlement than any administration in probably about a generation. Going back to Reagan, this has been a fairly noncontroversial, almost nonpartisan thing. And of course over the past year, they’ve implemented multiple versions of the travel ban, targeting several countries that tend to send a lot of refugees to the U.S. and they’ve also lowered the target of the number of refugees that they want to welcome in a given fiscal year.

Zac Schultz:

During the presidential election Donald Trump was stoking fears about Syrian refugees and terrorism. And we heard about the need for so-called extreme vetting. Has the vetting process changed?

Scott Gordon:

To start with the vetting process was already very strict. It already involved first the United Nations and second a number of federal agencies interviewing people, biometric screening, background checks. It’s something that could take up to two years for a lot of people, and that’s before they even have a chance to get on a plane to the United States. So the whole extreme vetting thing has put, it’s fair to say, a disingenuous frame around the whole debate. It already was pretty strict. Of course, one could argue the details of that if they wanted to. But it certainly wasn’t people pouring into the country willy-nilly via this process.

Zac Schultz:

In 2016 Governor Walker said he didn’t want any Syrian refugees in Wisconsin. And while as a governor he doesn’t have control over that, your numbers show only 57 Syrians were resettled here in 2017, which looking at the graphic on the screen, that’s not the top bar or the first few. That’s way down the list.

Scott Gordon:

That's correct. The big bar at the top of the chart is refugees from Burma. In recent years they’ve been the fastest-growing refugee group entering Wisconsin, although they don’t enjoy nearly the same media visibility as the crisis in Syria. Of course Burma is a country has been in crisis on multiple fronts for decades. But as you pointed out, it’s a relatively small number of people from Syria entering Wisconsin. Although that’s, of course, people from Syria are a big driver of refugee resettlement in the country as a whole.

Zac Schultz:

This drop-off in refugees in Wisconsin is not new. Some of your other research shows there have been spikes up and down over time for Wisconsin. Why is that?

Scott Gordon:

Yeah. This year is especially low compared to any time in the last decade. But refugee resettlement is a process that is inherently tied to crisis and instability and to shifts in policy, not necessarily whether or not we welcome refugees, but whether people want to focus on bringing a certain group of refugees over. For example, in the early aughts, the federal government made a big final push to bring over Hmong refugees from this last refugee camp in Thailand. That accounted for a big spike of people being resettled in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

Zac Schultz:

The Hmong are a great example in Wisconsin of a success story for refugees. They’re well-established in a number of communities: Wausau, Eau Claire, Green Bay, over to the Twin Cities. So it’s not like they failed to assimilate into Wisconsin.

Scott Gordon:

Well, yeah. If you look at a community like that, obviously they’ve had several decades to get established here and are a pretty visible part of Wisconsin's public life. Again, I think people across the political spectrum were generally really proud of how the United States welcomed Hmong refugees. And of course as you see now, there’s tons of different groups and countries where people are fleeing crisis or persecution of one kind or another. So it really is a diverse population that’s coming in. Even in Wisconsin, which has a relatively small number of refugees compared to the country as a whole.

Zac Schultz:

Scott Gordon, thanks for your time today.

Scott Gordon:

Thanks very much.

Zac Schultz:

Now for an update on the race for governor. We are seven months from the August primary and the 17 Democratic candidates looking to challenge Scott Walker are hoping their fund-raising numbers will distinguish them from the rest of the field. The Democrats who raised the most money in 2017 are Tony Evers, Dana Wachs, Andy Gronik, Mahlon Mitchell and Matt Flynn. According to filings with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, Gronik and Wachs are largely self-funded with both candidates contributing over half their campaigns earnings. On the Republican side, Governor Scott Walker has a significant advantage, raising more than $7 million in 2017, ending the year with $4.2 million in cash on hand, just under his numbers from the same time in 2014. And finally tonight, a look ahead to next week. Join Frederica Freyberg and WPR’s Shawn Johnson Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. for live coverage of Governor Walker’s State of the State address. This special will include a minority party response from Representative Gordon Hintz. The program will be re-aired Wednesday night at 9:00. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Zac Schultz. Have a great weekend.

Announcer:

Funding for “Here and Now” is provided, in part, by Friends of Wisconsin Public Television. For more information on “Here and Now’s” 2018 election coverage, go to WisconsinVote.org.