Here & Now

Here & Now for June 8, 2018

Announcer:

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

Frederica Freyberg:

I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here and Now,” approval to take Lake Michigan water results in legal action. And democrat running for governor Tony Evers is here. It’s “Here and Now” for June 8.

Announcer:

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

Frederica Freyberg:

A first look tonight at Foxconn and its thirst for water. And why environmentalists say Foxconn should not be able to take seven million gallons of Lake Michigan water per day to run its plant manufacturing liquid crystal display panels. Midwest Environmental Advocates filed legal action opposing the diversion of the water for use by Foxconn Technology Group. The state DNR approved the city of Racines request to divert the seven million gallons of water per day outside the Great Lakes Basin. Opponents say the Great Lakes Compact prohibits such a diversion. Jimmy Parra is the lead attorney on the case for Midwest Environmental Advocates and thanks very much for being here.

Jimmy Parra:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Why, in your legal opinion, does this diversion for Foxconns use of Lake Michigan water violate the Great Lakes Compact?

Jimmy Parra:

Sure. So one of the key requirements and one of the only requirements for this type of diversion of Great Lakes water is that the diversion be for public water supply purposes. I think on a sort of common sense level, most people have a sense of what that means and it’s not to send water to one private industrial customer for their exclusive use. Further than that, we have language in the compact which says that public water supply purposes is distributing water through a system that serves primarily residential customers. And what’s being proposed by the city of Racine and was approved by the Wisconsin DNR is transferring water out of the basin for exclusively industrial/commercial customers. There’s no amount of water that is being sent to residential customers.

Frederica Freyberg:

We asked the DNR, as you say, which approved this, for a statement for this program today, and they declined to provide that. But the mayor of Racine, Cory Mason, did provide one and he says this. “The decision to apply for the diversion for Mount Pleasant was made before I came into office. The question raised by the lawsuit seems to question whether or not the area served is for public water supply or not. The Great Lakes Compact defines public water supply as ‘water distributed to the public through a physically-connected system of treatment, storage and distribution facilities serving a group of largely residential customers that may also serve industrial, commercial and other institutional operators.'” He goes on to say, “Racines water utility certainly meets that definition and would continue to meet that definition if the small part of Mount Pleasant outside the basin were served with Great Lakes water.” So what about all of that?

Jimmy Parra:

Yeah. So that’s kind of the heart of the debate here. But a couple important things to keep in mind. The city of Racine and all of the residential users it currently serves are in the Great Lakes Basin. And what we think the compact says is you have to look at the area outside of the basin. Look at the area where the water is being sent. There’s language in the compact that says all the water so transferred must be used for public water supply purposes. And when you look at the water that’s being transferred here, it’s clearly not serving public water supply purposes, as that term is defined in the compact.

Frederica Freyberg:

So those are your legal arguments, but what about your opinion as to the harm that this diversion of water from Lake Michigan would cause?

Jimmy Parra:

Sure. So — and the Wisconsin DNR has made this point, which is that the volume of water when you compare it to the total volume of water of the Great Lakes is not a particularly significant amount. But what it does is opens the door and undermines a really key component of the compact to future diversions in straddling communities, which are communities that are partly within the basin and partly outside the basin. So the compact itself is a forward-looking document. It’s looking how do we jointly manage and protect the compacts– I mean, excuse me, the Great Lakes for years to come. And this provision, the way the DNR has interpreted this provision, opens the door. There’s an example I think of sort of what type of impacts it could have across the basin that’s particularly salient. So in Minnesota there’s a number of mines or mineral deposits that are close to the basin line in the iron range. And under the Wisconsin DNRs interpretation it’s possible that Great Lakes water could now be used to supply that very water-intensive industry. So it’s not this project. It’s what comes next.

Frederica Freyberg:

Its the precedent, in your mind, that it sets.

Jimmy Parra:

Exactly.

Frederica Freyberg:

What about the argument that most of the water that is diverted and used for industrial purposes is returned to the lake?

Jimmy Parra:

Yeah. So a lot of the water is returned, but for the water that’s being supplied to Foxconn, the five million gallons per day, I think 38% of that water will be consumed and not returned. And, again, that’s not an issue that we’ve raised in our lawsuit, but it’s– again, what we’re looking at is the precedent this sets and opening the door too wide at this point.

Frederica Freyberg:

I read that Pennsylvania believes that the Wisconsin approval of the diversion complies with the compact. What have you heard from other Great Lakes state governors?

Jimmy Parra:

So a couple of states submitted comments on the application that Racine submitted. Illinois and Michigan and New York. And Michigan and New York raised questions about the DNRs interpretation. They didn’t go as far to say it was wrong, but they definitely raised some serious questions about how it was being applied, the public water supply purposes was being applied. We haven’t gotten follow-up correspondence from those states to see where they stand at this point, but there is obviously some concern around the region.

Frederica Freyberg:

Going back to the Waukesha water diversion from Lake Michigan, kind of set the stage, set a precedent for this?

Jimmy Parra:

Well, the city of Waukesha, that diversion was clearly for public water supply purposes. I mean that served a community that was outside of the basin that was largely residential. So this wasn’t an issue in the Waukesha diversion situation. It’s something that’s really unique to Foxconn and is sort of a precedent-setting situation that we don’t think should stand.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Well, we’ll be watching. Jimmy Parra, thanks very much.

Jimmy Parra:

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

Frederica Freyberg:

Next up, politics and the race for governor. In tonight’s closer look, we continue our series of one-on-one interviews with the democrats running in the very crowded primary race. Tonight, Tony Evers. Evers is the current state school superintendent. First elected to that post in 2009, he was re-elected in 2013 and again in 2017. He’s a former classroom teacher and high school principal. Evers is also the former Oakfield and Verona school district administrator. Tony Evers joins us now and thanks very much for doing so.

Tony Evers:

Thanks, Frederica. Good to be back.

Frederica Freyberg:

So why do you believe you are the progressive voice for Wisconsin?

Tony Evers:

Well, I think we are in a position in this race to really articulate what people actually believe in, what their value systems are. Whether it’s around education or whether it’s around, frankly, our natural resources, health care. Those type of values that have been frankly decimated by Scott Walker. I believe those issues bridge the gap between democrats and republicans. We hear all across the state when we go there. So I think being a campaign around values. Certainly we’re going to spend our time hammering Scott Walker. That’s part of the deal. But the fact of the matter is if we’re not positive about the future, we will live in the past, continue to live in the past.

Frederica Freyberg:

Amongst all the many candidates running in this primary, why do you think you’re the one that could beat Scott Walker?

Tony Evers:

Well, quite simply this. I’m the only candidate that has run three times and won. Last time I won with 70% of the vote. I won 70, 72 counties. I’ve never lost a county in northern and central Wisconsin in my winning races. So that’s important. I’ve also lived, my family has lived all across central Wisconsin, where I did a lot of my work as a superintendent or as a teacher. And central Wisconsin has a lot of votes, 70% — or 60% — 40% of the votes, excuse me, of people that vote for governor, come from there. And the last thing is Ive actually run things. I mean, that’s important. If we’re going to serve the people of Wisconsin, we have to know how government works. I’m now in charge of an agency that’s ultimately responsible for 860,000 kids and 100,000 adults that work in those system. That counts for something. We have to have a government that works for the people of Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

I want to get to some issues. On the economy, one of the things that you call to do is disband the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Why do you want to do that?

Tony Evers:

Well because the original intent has never been met. It used to be the idea was going to be some kind of public/private partnership. Well, it’s not. It’s a public entity. It uses public money to create economic development in the state. And frankly, it hasn’t done a very good job of that. So the initial idea behind it is gone. It’s never been a public/private partnership. In addition, I think as we move forward with economic development in the state, you know, we’ve gone down the Foxconn rat hole, frankly, and we need to make sure other parts of the state actually have economic development money. We need to reinvest all across the state, not just in southeast Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

I want to ask you about Act 10. You oppose it, and right to work. But how would you counter such laws?

Tony Evers:

Well, the grand theory would be to have a bill that says we’re redoing Act 10. And will that happen? Unlikely, in the very near future. But we have to make sure that we do building blocks around this. Do I think we can repeal right to work? That’s an important piece. Yes, I think we can. Can we — the whole issue of prevailing wages that was passed last time? There are republicans and democrats that will support that. In addition, I think there’s some really onerous things about preventing public employees from bargaining, such as making — recertifying every year, which is really difficult for any union to do. And also dues deduction. So we can start the building blocks to make that change. I was against Act 10 right from the beginning. I would support repealing it. But we just can’t wait. We have to make those building blocks, put those building blocks in place.

Frederica Freyberg:

Clearly you know a lot about education. One of the things you call for is investment in early childhood education. What would that look like?

Tony Evers:

Well, to put it in a nutshell, the worst– the most difficult poverty-ridden part of the state of Wisconsin is one of our urban areas. And there is no high-quality, five-star early childhood programing in that area. We have to start where the need is. I would invest in making sure every child in that — as a pilot. I think we can do this in the next budget. Every child that lives in that zip code has a right to a five-star early childhood programming. We start to expand that statewide. All data shows that that’s where a change has to happen.

Frederica Freyberg:

What zip code are you talking about? What city? What district?

Tony Evers:

In Milwaukee, 53206. There are no five-star, early childhood programs there. Think of the children there that come from extraordinary poverty and the trauma that brings with it and parents working two or three jobs and not having access to free, early childhood programming is frankly a stain on our society. We have to change that.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. With just about a minute left, what’s the single-most important thing you think Wisconsin could do around health care?

Tony Evers:

Healthcare. Take the Medicaid money. That money has been sitting in Washington D.C. for the last– for Scott Walker’s reign. And we can change how health care is delivered in the state of Wisconsin by taking that Medicaid money. That’s absolutely important. And we’ll do that. And we’ll also set up exchanges. All those things that Scott Walker didn’t do has caused Minnesota to move forward and have cheaper and better health care than we do in Wisconsin. Our Wisconsin folks need to have that same opportunity.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We leave it there. Tony Evers, thanks very much.

Tony Evers:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

Tonights inside look, the big, big field of ten democratic candidates running for governor and the efforts to cull the numbers. Efforts not without controversy. This week, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association cancelled a planned statewide debate amongst just four of the candidates. The WBA was set to use polling and campaign cash to determine who got a seat at the table. The plan was criticized by many, including the pollster whose survey the association intended to use. But enter something called Wisconsins Choice. An effort by two progressive groups to whittle the field of dem candidates. How are they doing it? We turn to the director of one of those groups, Marina Dimitrijevic, with the Wisconsin Working Families party. Thank for being here.

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Happy to be here.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what is your method?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

So ours is more people-powered. It’s actually the exact opposite of using campaign cash, which has been used in the past, to have the primary candidate decided. We want it to be people-powered. So our Wisconsin Revolution, Working Families Party, came together months ago, hosted forums, 50 house parties across the state. And just this week nearly 4,000 people voted. Everyone can vote in the state of Wisconsin. So it’s a much more transparent process that includes everyone. We will be choosing the final four very soon.

Frederica Freyberg:

And you have these house parties and then you also kind of tried to educate voters about the candidates. How does that work?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Yes. This is a really unique moment in Wisconsin. And some people have said well Im just going to wait and sit back and see who wins the primary and all these democrats seem the same. We challenge that. There’s major differences in issues. We’ve had nearly ten forums, hundreds of people across the state that have been to those forums. On our website, WeChoose.org, there’s issue-specific videos, people speaking and then the candidates responding. And the house parties were great. We averaged 50 people for a house party. I hosted one. Taking that conversation that we’ve all had informally and having it in the backyard or at a kitchen table.

Frederica Freyberg:

I went on your website and there was a place to punch in the zip code to see about nearby house parties. In the Dane County zip code that I put in, the closest one was Walworth County.

Marina Dimitrijevic:

I believe there was one in Portage, but yeah, they were all nearby. There was more in Milwaukee due to population density. But there was a huge one the other night in Sheboygan that had nearly 60 people.

Frederica Freyberg:

You have done this all along and one of your straw polls already culled the numbers. Is that right?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Correct. So it’s a three point process. And look, there’s no perfect process here. This is a unique experience. And I think we should celebrate the fact that we have a lot of options so it’s exciting. The first round of voting took the candidates down to nine. And now the second round is nine to four. And in mid-July, we’re looking for the people’s champion. And if someone obtains from the four 50% plus one, they’ll be the people’s champion.

Frederica Freyberg:

Which candidates were eliminated according to your straw polling in the first round?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

The first round, I believe it was Ramona Whiteaker and Jeffrey Rumbaugh. So we went from 12 or 13, because people were still filing, down to nine. Also thousands of people voted in that. So now we’re going from nine to four and then four to one.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is the reaction on the part of the candidates to this?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Well I think that they feel that it’s a more fair, transparent process. Something exciting in this round two vote, candidates paid for Facebook ads asking for folks to vote in our poll. They send emails out. It’s been very candidate-driven as well. They want to be the people’s champion.

Frederica Freyberg:

So the polling in this second round ended Thursday night at 10:00 p.m. when are results coming out?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Results will be out Monday morning. Monday morning we’ll have the official results.

Frederica Freyberg:

And just briefly, why do you want to narrow this field to this extent?

Marina Dimitrijevic:

We want to push on the issues. For too long, it has been financially-based. That the person that can raise the most money generally has won the primary. We have proof that hasn’t been successful for democrats. We want to have that really much-needed discussion of the issues. You take any issue: wages, education, immigrant rights. There’s a spectrum of ten different points on that. We want to have that powerful conversation because that’s the way to beat Scott Walker.

Frederica Freyberg:

And if your final vote comes up with that super candidate, that’s ahead of the primary.

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Right. It is. And what that endorsement comes with is thousands of people-powered hours. Because here’s the kicker. In the final round, we’re asking folks prior to vote to commit to ten hours for their candidate of choice. So it will be a bank of thousands of hours to put that person over the edge.

Frederica Freyberg:

Interesting. We’ll be looking for the results on Monday. Thanks very much.

Marina Dimitrijevic:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

In tonight’s look ahead, a new interactive tool developed by the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, along with other partners, has mapped the state’s levels of obesity down to the zip code. Multimedia reporter Marisa Wojcik explains more.

Marisa Wojcik:

Health researchers are calling the big picture of obesity in Wisconsin an epidemic. The Wisconsin Health Atlas is a new searchable map that compiles health data from systems across the state. It shows rates of obesity across various factors, but most importantly by zip code. The study’s researchers are hoping that this tailored data will lead to targeting resources towards the areas that need it most. Within the same county, there can be sharp contrasts between two zip codes that are right next to one another. For example, in Eau Claire County, the zip code 54701 has an average rate of obesity of about 40%. But the zip code right next door, 54742 has an average rate of about 48%. Researchers say that there is also a correlation between obesity and rural zip codes and there are a number of factors that contribute to this, including access to fresh, healthy food, time spent driving, quality health care and older populations. Statewide, the highest rates of obesity occur in people age 65 to 75, but it can start at infancy. 10% of Wisconsins children aged two to five are considered obese. This map is just a snapshot displaying data from 2015 to 2016. However, it’s more accurate than previous estimates because it’s using information from our electronic medical records. Until now, most maps only go by numbers on a county level. But this new map looks at pockets within counties, equipping health officials, governments and even school districts with a more detailed picture of their communities. For these and other fast facts, visit wpt.org.

Frederica Freyberg:

That was “Here and Now” producer Marisa Wojcik. Now to ag news. Small dairy farms in Wisconsin continue to struggle as milk prices remain low, but dairy farmers just got an extension to sign up for a federally-run insurance program designed to help when milk prices take a dive. That extension, though, runs out tonight, June 8. Andy Soth has more on the Margin Protection Program.

Andy Soth:

Trempealeaus town hall shares its facility with the local curling club. But on this afternoon it’s also hosting a meeting of dairy farmers.

Mark Stephenson:

So the payments that you’re due will be coming more quickly.

Andy Soth:

Theyve gathered to learn more about recent changes to the Margin Protection Program, the federally-run insurance programs that aids dairy farmers when milk prices are low.

Mark Stephenson:

It’s 100% probability that would be covered at these levels.

Andy Soth:

The speaker is the director of the UW’s Center for Dairy Profitability, Mark Stephenson, who’s very familiar with historic efforts to support dairying.

Mark Stephenson:

Weve had different programs over time, going clear back to the 19 — late 1930s, early ’40s. We had a Dairy Price Support Program. And the idea there was that the government would purchase dairy products off the marketplace when market prices were low. And that was something that aimed to improve market prices themselves. It wasn’t for an individual farmer. It was to move prices up for everybody.

Andy Soth:

When that program was judged too expensive, it was replaced with the Milk Income Loss Contract or MILC program.

Mark Stephenson:

And this was just a direct payment to dairy farms. If prices fell to a certain level, we would just write you a check and say here you go. This is because it’s hard for you.

Andy Soth:

That program was replaced in the 2014 Farm Bill by the Margin Protection Program. To come up with the margin, economists worked with dairy nutritionists to calculate how much feed it takes to produce 100 pounds of milk. 90% of the price for that feed is subtracted from the marketplace for a milk hundredweight. That makes up the margin from which the farmer pays other expenses. When the margin is small, as it was in this example for March of this year, any profit is unlikely. The Margin Protection Program kicks in when that margin is $8 or less, providing payments for producers depending on the level of protection they’ve bought into.

Mark Stephenson:

So it is an insurance type product. Farmers have to make a decision about how much protection do I need, just like we would for auto insurance or fire insurance, and you hope you don’t have an accident, but if you do, then it should pay.

Andy Soth:

Recently, it has paid.

Mark Stephenson:

And Im here to tell you we now know what the first three months are, and two of those months would have had payments.

Andy Soth:

But many dairy producers were not enrolled. So changes to the program enacted in February as part of continuing federal funding legislation essentially gave some farmers a do-over. Not only was the time frame to sign up reopened, but benefits can be claimed even for the time before farmers enrolled.

Mark Stephenson:

This is unusual because it’s retroactive. We get to go back and make a decision about the entire year and we already know that we would be receiving payments at some of these levels of protection. The nickel and a half that it costs you to buy additional up to this level of coverage in premiums is covering another 50 cents worth of payments, okay? So I spend a nickel, I get 50 cents. That’s the one time that you won’t hear an economist going, you know, on the other hand. No. There is no other hand here.

Andy Soth:

The program is hardly a panacea for the many factors troubling the dairy industry. But every little bit can help. Which is why it was so important to get the word out.

Mark Stephenson:

Theres been a big educational effort to try to get back out and tell farmers about that and that they need to go back and rethink their enrollment.

Frederica Freyberg:

Support for Andy Soth’s report was provided by the OBrien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism and Marquette University. Now we heard earlier about the race for governor but next week Wisconsinites will take to the polls in two special elections for the state legislature. Voters in the 1st Senate District will choose between Democrat Caleb Frostman and Republican Andre Jacque. Frostman is the former head of the Door County Economic Development Corporation. And Jacque currently serves in the state Assembly. The seat was vacated by Frank Lasee, who joined the Walker Administration in December. Voters in the 42nd Assembly District will take to the polls Tuesday as well. In that race Democrat Ann Groves Lloyd and Republican Jon Plumer are vying for the seat. Lloyd is an alder on Lodi’s Common Council and Plumer is a supervisor on the Columbia County Board. They are running to replace Keith Ripp, who also took a job with the Walker Administration last December. The election is held next Tuesday. And that is our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. 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.