Here & Now

Race for Governor: Kathleen Vinehout

Frederica Freyberg:

Looking ahead to the August 14th primary election and another in our one-on-one interviews with candidates running for governor. Tonight we talk with Democrat Kathleen Vinehout who is serving her third term in the state senate. She represents the 31st district in west central Wisconsin. She came into politics after over two decades of dairy farming in Buffalo County. Vinehout also holds graduate degrees in health services and has taught at the university level. And Kathleen Vinehout joins us now. Thank you for doing so.

Kathleen Vinehout:

My pleasure.

Frederica Freyberg:

So of all the democrats running in the primary for governor, why should you be the voter’s choice?

Kathleen Vinehout:

I have a very different set of life experiences. I spent ten years full-time dairy farming. I know what it’s like to get my hands dirty or get up at 4 a.m. and get slapped across the face with that nasty tail from an unhappy cow. I live in beautiful Buffalo County, a part of the state where democrats need to win if they’re going to win. I know what it’s like to have to find a cell signal. I’ve been working in the senate for 12 years. I know where the bones are buried. I have experience on the Audit Committee, understanding what programs are working, what the governor’s done. The recommendations that he should have taken and he never took.

Frederica Freyberg:

As you well know, the Marquette Poll came out this week and it has you in single digits. But even so, why do you believe that you in particular can beat Scott Walker with his incumbency and his war chest?

Kathleen Vinehout:

Well we need people to be part of this election and I have, back in 2006 when I ran, I ran by getting more people to the polls, by engaging people that generally don’t vote. I’ve been running a very people-focused campaign, a grassroots campaign. But democrats are never going to win if they think they’re going to beat the money that the governor has. We have to be the party of the people and that means engaging people all over the state. We have 50 action teams all over the state. We’re getting the word out in a very different way.

Frederica Freyberg:

On the issues, what do you believe is the most important thing that Wisconsin needs to do on the economy?

Kathleen Vinehout:

We need to raise wages. Wisconsin is 18th worst in United States in wages. Worse than Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee. We need to make– open wide the doors of higher education which is why I so believe in free tuition for two-year and tech colleges. It’s a bill that I’ve written that I fully funded. It’s actually taken after the governor of Tennessee who looked at his people and said, “Our people don’t have the education that they need and they don’t have the wages.” And we can change that in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

More on education, what else do you think Wisconsin needs to do for the entire gamut?

Kathleen Vinehout:

I serve on the legislature’s Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding Reform. We need to change the way we fund schools. We need to get rid of the antiquated notion of funding on property taxes and instead focus on children’s needs and fund based on children’s needs. That includes things like recognizing that poverty has doubled over a ten-year period. Many more students have problems with mental health. They’re facing trauma. All of these factors need to be a part of the way we fund schools.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you fund schools with straight state aid?

Kathleen Vinehout:

It’s a mix of property tax and state aid, but the state hasn’t been keeping up its end of the bargain. So when we look at the national figures, we’re just a little over half, of Wisconsin, spending on state aid. That needs to change.

Frederica Freyberg:

On healthcare, what would be your plan for that that is different from how things are run in Wisconsin now?

Kathleen Vinehout:

We need to accept the Medicaid money. Use the money that’s freed up to invest in a system of mental health and addiction recovery all over the state. It’s one of the reasons that we have so many people incarcerated when you compare us to Minnesota. We need to create our own exchange, our own marketplace. Offer a public option like BadgerCare on that marketplace, and bring as many people as we can into healthcare.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you open a marketplace in Wisconsin as the feds are chipping away at the Affordable Care Act?

Kathleen Vinehout:

It’s really important that we do it because it provides stability to the health plans that are in the marketplace. I introduced a bill back in 2010, in 2011, every session since then, I’ve carefully crafted the bill to provide for quality of care and affordability. It’s something that other states like Minnesota have done. They’ve done it years ago. They’ve showed how to lower costs. It’s about time Wisconsin did that.

Frederica Freyberg:

On Foxconn, virtually every of the democratic candidates is opposed to the Foxconn deal. Why are you?

Kathleen Vinehout:

Well there aren’t the environmental protections. There’s a whole new set of rules that this company is following that other companies have to follow. The jobs that are being promised are nowhere in the contract and nowhere in the bill. There’s no guarantee that any jobs are going to be created. Plus the agency that’s overseeing it, has a terrible track record of verifying jobs. The contract is written in a lot of weasel words. Words like the company shall to the best of its ability. But that’s not a standard.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Kathleen Vinehout, we leave it there. Thank you.

Kathleen Vinehout:

Thank you.