Announcer:
The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Zac Schultz:
A Wisconsin senator weighs in on Make America Healthy Again, and as students pack back into the classroom, school officials take stock of student enrollment and state budget numbers.
Good evening. I’m Zac Schultz, filling in for Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” Senator Tammy Baldwin discusses changes to Medicaid and the ACA. School budgets see a reprieve under new special education reimbursement rates. Wake boat impacts on lakes stir up controversy. And finally, jobs and wages make gains but there’s concern for workers. It’s “Here & Now” for September 5th.

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

Zac Schultz:
It’s been two months since Donald Trump signed into law his “big, beautiful bill.” And while the cuts to Medicaid included in the bill don’t take effect until 2027, Democrats are already sounding the alarm on the overall impact. Joining us now is U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin. Thanks for joining us.

Tammy Baldwin:
Thanks for having me.

Zac Schultz:
So you’ve been touring the state to talk with providers and patients about these cuts. What are you hearing?

Tammy Baldwin:
Well, I’ve been visiting critical access hospitals in rural areas of the state. Their margins were thin to begin with before the passage of this. Now they’re looking at heartbreaking decisions about, perhaps, closing off certain departments because they are not profitable, and to help them stay afloat. And some, we know, in Wisconsin will be looking at shutting their doors. Particularly troublesome is the decision some hospitals have made to stop having obstetrics delivery, meaning that there are places in Wisconsin where women have to travel literally hours to get the services they need. And it’s harming the health and well-being of Wisconsinites. That’s just one small example. You know, there were big nutrition cuts in the bill. And so visiting food pantries and those who are focused on food security and recognizing the impact that those cuts are going to have. And we also deal with an issue of the premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act health coverage. Those will end at the end of this year, and we’re going to see those impacts almost immediately. All of us are going to pay more. And what’s so ironic, you know, this is Trump’s signature legislation. He came into office vowing to lower costs on everything, right? Groceries, health care, etc. This bill that has just passed, which is predominantly tax legislation benefiting large corporations and the very richest, it’s going to bring costs up for everyone and especially health care costs.

Zac Schultz:
Republicans claim the bill only creates work requirements for Medicaid. It doesn’t push anybody off.

Tammy Baldwin:
You can’t cut $1 trillion out of Medicaid over ten years without kicking people off who are eligible. And that’s what we’re going to see happening. But again, the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of this year. We’re going to see a lot of Wisconsinites losing access to private insurance through the health care marketplace much sooner than the impacts of the Medicaid cuts.

Zac Schultz:
Now, yesterday, we saw the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert Kennedy, RFK, Jr. testify before a Senate committee about his decision to fire the CDC director, among other things, that he’s done. There’s a growing list of Democrats and organizations calling for him to be fired or resign. Are you on that list?

Tammy Baldwin:
I am among them. I call on him to resign. Look, between his massive layoffs, mass firings, and his refusal to administer grants that he’s required to by law, and the cutting off of biomedical research and his choice to put his own personal politics on vaccines above science is literally endangering the health of Wisconsinites who I represent. And I would not only call on him to resign, but I’d call on my Republican counterparts, many of whom got assurances directly from RFK, Jr. that he would not put his own conspiracy theories ahead of rock-solid science as he’s doing. And they feel betrayed, I think, by RFK, Jr. And I hope they’ll stand up with me calling on him to resign.

Zac Schultz:
Speaking of vaccines, we saw Florida announce they’re moving to eliminate vaccine requirements. We have a measles outbreak in Oconto County in Wisconsin. How do you draw the line between vaccine mandates or requirements and personal health care choices that some people make of whether or not to vaccinate themselves or their children?

Tammy Baldwin:
Well, first of all, I feel that it would be incredibly unwise to start having a patchwork quilt of state regulations on these. We need to follow the science, and there is rock solid science that like the measles vaccine work and they prevent outbreaks like we’ve seen not only in Wisconsin but in Texas, where two children have died unnecessarily. And so I think that these decisions do have to be made by parents in consultation with their doctors. But science needs to be in the lead here. And RFK, Jr. has spent his career prior to getting nominated as Health and Human Services secretary, peddling in these conspiracy theories about vaccines. And so it’s very dangerous to have him at the helm right now.

Zac Schultz:
Switching from health care. Earlier this week, the president of the Milwaukee Police Union said he’d be okay with Donald Trump deploying National Guard troops to Milwaukee. Two Republicans running for governor of Wisconsin have joined that call. Would you support troops in Milwaukee?

Tammy Baldwin:
Look, what I support is safety and cracking down on crime. And I think that, you know, the National Guard are totally unsuited. They sign up for guard duty because of a different mission entirely. And we should be spending those resources helping cities like Milwaukee or other communities have the adequate policing staff that they need.

Zac Schultz:
There are a lot of Democratic voters around the state that are frustrated with Democrats in Washington saying they haven’t done enough to stand up to Donald Trump. What would you tell them? What, what is being done that maybe they aren’t seeing? Or is there more that could be done?

Tammy Baldwin:
Look, I think that we have seen in this president somebody who is willing to violate the Constitution, violate the law, and where the president is breaking the law and violating the Constitution, we’re bringing this up in court. And frankly, we’re winning a lot of those cases. The justice system is working in many of these instances. And then lastly, it’s us standing with our constituents and fighting back through, through, you know, preparing for elections in the ballot box, but also to stand up as citizens and speak out against the overreaches and abuses.

Zac Schultz:
All right. Senator Tammy Baldwin, thanks for your time.

Tammy Baldwin:
Thank you.

Zac Schultz:
A major compromise included in the new state budget says the state will provide 90% of the funding for high-cost special education students. To detail how this will impact schools, we are joined by two members of the Waunakee School District. Steve Summers is the executive director of business operations, and Tiffany Loken is the director of special education. Thank you both for joining us.

Steve Summers:
Thank you.

Tiffany Loken:
Thanks for having us.

Zac Schultz:
Tiffany, let’s start with you. Give me the quick definition of high-cost special education student and how many do you have in Waunakee?

Tiffany Loken:
When we look at high cost, it’s any student that their services meet the threshold of $30,000 or more for that individual student. So in our district, we have between 60 and 70 students that would meet that threshold, at least for this last year, they met about 60 to 70 students.

Zac Schultz:
Ok, Steve, what’s the financial impact of going to 90% from, you know, mid-low 30%?

Steve Summers:
Sure. The reimbursement level that we received in 24-25 was about $300,000. We expect that’s going to increase by about $400,000 this year and another $350,000 the following year. So very significant investment from the state into this program.

Zac Schultz:
And so what is the plan for how that money will be spent? Where will it be redirected in the budget?

Tiffany Loken:
We did decide. We took to the school board a proposal to begin a new program, an alternative program for elementary-aged students that need a little more intensive support than what we can provide in a regular education classroom. And the board was really supportive because of this additional funding, because we could speak to using the high-cost funds to fund the program. And it’s starting, starting this week.

Zac Schultz:
Is there an obligation for districts to keep that money in special education, because some districts have had to pull from general ed to fund special education?

Steve Summers:
Yeah, the increased funding does go into our special education fund. In some district case that may reduce the transfer that is needed from the general education fund to the special ed fund. In our district, we will partner together between the business office and the special ed office to improve or increase our investment in students who have IEPs, whether it’s the program that Tiffany’s referencing or whether when we need to add an additional one-on-one paraeducator for students who move in. But we tend to utilize the funds to increase the services for students with IEPs.

Zac Schultz:
So, Tiffany, there are already skeptics saying that schools are going to push more kids into this category to try and grab more state dollars. Should we expect to see an increase in the number of kids that have this definition applied to their IEP?

Tiffany Loken:
I don’t think you’ll see an increase in the number of students. I think what you’re going to see in future years is an increase in the number of districts that are applying for high cost, special education aid. Now that the percentage is increasing, there’s more of an incentive for districts to apply for that aid. So I don’t think you’re going to see a student increase, but definitely additional districts applying for those funds.

Zac Schultz:
So were there districts before that weren’t providing all the services that potentially they could have to some of these students because they couldn’t afford it or what was the rationale there?

Steve Summers:
So in the last fiscal year, there were about 270 organizations or school districts that applied for this funding. And there’s more than 400 school districts in Wisconsin. So, for many of them, they determine that the reimbursement level that was coming back wasn’t significant enough for the investment in the time to go through and file the claim. For others, they may not have identified students that were $30,000 or more and above. Tiffany and I are partnering with our professional organizations this year to help provide professional development across the state. We do expect more schools to learn about this system, how it works, and because of the increased investment from the state, we are expecting more districts are going to be willing to spend the time necessary to really apply for and manage these funds.

Zac Schultz:
So the state budget also included a jump in the reimbursement rate for regular special education from 32% to 42%. Is that a bigger number overall for most schools than this high cost?

Steve Summers:
Yes, it’s a significantly bigger number for most schools than the high cost. And our case is an example. It’s an over $800,000 increase in additional funding for special ed students in 25-26, and it’s the largest increase I’ve seen in my career. So it’s significant and what it’s going to allow most schools to do is to benefit all students. I think it’s important to note that an increase in funding for special education students benefits the entire school system. Students, both with and without IEPs, because when a school special education fund is not funded correctly, the Fund 10 or the general fund has to reimburse, which removes opportunities for students who don’t have IEPs. So it truly benefits all kids for special ed funding to be at a more appropriate level.

Zac Schultz:
And Tiffany, working with these kids can be very rewarding, but it can also be very challenging. And there’s a lot of turnover in some of these paid staffing positions. Could you see an increase in funding for wages to try and keep more consistency there?

Tiffany Loken:
Yeah, I think that, I think that could be a possibility. I think it — increasing wages definitely helps you to recruit people and be able to keep them. I mean, just example, for our district alone, we had 12 full-time positions open this summer and we’re very close to being full staffed. But it’s definitely difficult to keep people, especially in our paraprofessional positions, who are really working with some of our highest needs students.

Zac Schultz:
All right. Steve Summers, Tiffany Loken from the Waunakee School District, thank you for your time.

Steve Summers:
Thank you.

Tiffany Loken:
Thank you. Appreciate it.

Zac Schultz:
Labor Day marks the unofficial end to the 2025 boating season in Wisconsin. But what isn’t ending is the controversy over whether wake surfing and wake boats should be allowed on some lakes. Tonight, Murv Seymour tells us why this battle is likely to carry over into next season.

Murv Seymour:
Rain or shine, big and small, Wisconsin lakes are a state and national treasure.

Jeff Meessmann:
It’s a critical resource to the state of Wisconsin.

Murv Seymour:
Especially during summer.

Jeff Meessmann:
When I came up here, I fell in love with the place.

Murv Seymour:
This place Jeff Meessmann speaks of is Natural Lakes, a 380-home lake community in the Northwoods of Vilas County.

Jeff Meessmann:
It has one of the highest concentrations of freshwater lakes in the world.

Murv Seymour:
He proudly lives on one of them, 220-acre McCullough Lake in Presque Isle, where street names reflect some of the rich wildlife seen along these winding rural roads.

Jeff Meessmann:
We see bear here. We see wolves here, coyotes.

Murv Seymour:
Jeff Meessmann loves McCullough Lake and the lakes of Wisconsin. It’s why he moved here.

Jeff Meessmann:
We’re an advocate for the protection of our lakes.

Murv Seymour:
Guided by his boat with a bucket of gadgets…

Jeff Meessmann:
Normally, what we do is we take samples in the deep hole.

Murv Seymour:
… Jeff prepares to head 300ft from shore to the deepest part of McCullough Lake.

Jeff Meessmann:
I’m putting the anchor in and we should be about 26ft.

Murv Seymour:
Once there, as he does on three other lakes, he voluntarily grabs water samples on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources. He tells me the lake data dates back more than 20 years.

Jeff Meessmann:
So I’m going to be recording the temperature.

Murv Seymour:
He checks the temperature and depth of the water.

Jeff Meessmann:
You can see from the top of the surface of the water, all the way down to 15ft was very consistent.

Murv Seymour:
He also checks water clarity with this black and white patterned tool called a Secchi disk.

Jeff Meessmann:
So I’m going to pull it up to where I can just see it, which is right there.

Murv Seymour:
Finally, using a six-foot pole made of PVC, he pulls a water sample from six feet under. It’s then sent to the DNR for testing. While you’ll see loons, bald eagles and massive fish on McCullough Lake. One thing you won’t see is wake surfers and most likely wake boats.

Jeff Meessmann:
They’re wrecking our lakes and wake surfing needs to be regulated to the proper size lake.

Murv Seymour:
Jeff Meessmann and other like-minded lake stewards believe wake surfing wrecks water quality, produces too big of a wake, and they believe the boats destroy the bottom of smaller lakes and erodes shorelines. Most importantly to Jeff, he believes wake boats increase the risks and spread of invasive species from lake to lake. Meessmann has led the way, banning wake surfing on McCullough and more than 60 other lake communities statewide.

Jeff Meessmann:
It’s going to stop a lot of paddlers and kayakers and just people on pleasure cruises, on pontoon boats from enjoying the lakes. We saw one wake boat on our lake four years ago, and I took it into action right away and we stopped it. Now, Presque Isle for the last year has had an ordinance in place and it doesn’t ban wake boats. It bans the activity of wake surfing.

Murv Seymour:
240 miles away in southern Wisconsin, you’ll find Redline Watersports.

Man on phone:
Redline Watersports. This is Mars.

Murv Seymour:
And a totally different opinion.

Paul Vitucci:
There’s two sides of the story.

Murv Seymour:
When you step into Redline, owner Paul Vitucci says

Paul Vitucci:
You’re going to get slapped in the face with the active water sports lifestyle. We’ve got gear, water skis, wake boards. We also sell pontoons.

Murv Seymour:
More importantly than all of that, Paul Vitucci tells me he sells bringing families together through water sports. Inside his office, he has family pictures in the window, on the wall, on his desk. He even has a family picture stuck to his computer. But for him, one particular picture says it all.

Paul Vitucci:
I think I was probably three or four years old. It was my father and I. It was the first family boat. It’s been in my blood ever since.

Murv Seymour:
Like Jeff Meessmann, Paul Vitucci loves Wisconsin lakes and fun on the water.

Paul Vitucci:
It’s what my family did growing up. God gave us these beautiful lakes, and if we don’t enjoy them, it’s our fault. And if we don’t take care of them, it’s our fault.

Murv Seymour:
We met at the Marshall Park boat launch in Middleton. Once he arrives in the desired spot with a couple of touches to the screen, this high-powered boat transforms itself, sucking in as much as 3,300 pounds of lake water into its ballast system.

Johnny Zdeblick:
Ready?

Paul Vitucci:
Here we go. For the sport of wake boarding, we just use the center plate and that kind of helps us get up on top of the water.

Murv Seymour:
Paul Vitucci tows three generations of water sports enthusiasts on this afternoon run on Lake Mendota.

Paul Vitucci:
Johnny Z. over here, mid-30s, outstanding athlete.

Murv Seymour:
There’s 18-year-old Kyle Polster, who has been on the water with family for a long time.

Kyle Polster:
Ever since I was like six months old, I’ve been out on the water. I learned to ski when I was two or three.

Paul Vitucci:
And then Joe D’Amato, who is on the other end of things.

Joe D’Amato:
Actually started a little later in life on the water sports.

Paul Vitucci:
To be able to do this well into your 60s and 70s.

Murv Seymour:
One by one, they ski, water board and wake surf, which requires the boat to produce the largest wake artificially.

Paul Vitucci:
So right now, through all the engineering, we’ve just created this beautiful wake from the running surface of the boat and the devices, and we’re going about 11.3 miles an hour and just cruising down a lake.

Murv Seymour:
What’s it like to glide on water?

Joe D’Amato:
I’m going to say freedom. Hopefully, the camera picked up the big smile on my face and I wanted to shout out, to be honest with you, but it just felt so good. For my age at 67, it’s just, it’s just a great sport.

Murv Seymour:
Unlike Jeff Meessmann, Paul Vitucci and his crew believe banning wake surfing wrongfully punishes families because of a few bad boaters.

Joe D’Amato:
It’s so easy just to say, “that’s bad, that’s bad” without really getting all the facts and understanding who you’re affecting.

Kyle Polster:
It was more the fact that it was something that we could all do. I want to have the opportunity to do this my whole life, and I want to be able to have my grandkids or even great grandkids out on the water.

Johnny Zdeblick:
If it hurts the access for people who might own a house there, or if that’s where they grew up vacationing, or it’s the closest lake that they have available to them.

Murv Seymour:
While most only see the beauty in the surface of the lake, Jeff Meessmann cares about what’s happening all the way to the bottom, which is why he worries about the potential damage wake boats can do. Both sides believe it’s time for state lawmakers or the Department of Natural Resources to step in to create a statewide standard on where wake surfing is allowed. Paul Vitucci believes 200 to 250ft from shore, in a minimum of 20ft of water, is far and deep enough to protect the environment and others on the water. Jeff Meessmann wants three times that distance in a minimum of 30ft of water, on lakes 1500 acres and larger. In a written statement, the DNR tells me the department is actively reviewing the latest science and will continue to review and consider any new information. They recommend that all interested stakeholders keep up with upcoming meetings of the Natural Resources Board for future updates. Back on the water, both sides believe their scientists and not the others.

Jeff Meessmann:
Wake surfing is scientifically proven to damage the bottom, to beyond 20ft deep, damage the shorelines, make the lake dangerous for everyone else to use.

Paul Vitucci:
The scientists whom I’ve spoken with all are under the same belief that if we operate these boats in a little deeper water, we’re fine. Every boat that runs around the lake is going to create a wake, and it’s going to disturb the lake and make it rougher.

Murv Seymour:
The battle over wake boats and wake surfing reminds Paul Vitucci of another battle on the water. He thinks both sides can find a compromise if they simply talk and not go off the deep end with each other.

Paul Vitucci:
Years and years ago, jet skis came out, and one of the big issues with them is that they didn’t have good muffler systems on, so they were very rah-rah-rah-rah. You can hear them halfway across the lake.

Jeff Meessmann:
I’m a fisherman. I water ski. I enjoy all the water sports. I’m not after trying to stop somebody from fishing or enjoying the activities. The only activity that I don’t agree with is wake surfing.

Murv Seymour:
Which represents family and community to so many of those who do it.

Kyle Polster:
I don’t know if I’d come out on the water if I wasn’t able to wake surf and wake board.

Murv Seymour:
Reporting from Presque Isle and Dane County, I’m Murv Seymour for “Here & Now.”

Zac Schultz:
Monday was Labor Day, and while most families used the holiday as a vacation, it’s a good time to check in on the state of the average worker. And for that, we turn to Laura Dresser, associate director of UW Madison’s High Road Strategy Center and the author of the State of Working Wisconsin Report. Thanks for being here.

Laura Dresser:
I’m so glad to be here. Thank you.

Zac Schultz:
So your most recent report says the median wage has reached an all-time high of $25 an hour. But obviously, federal policies are creating some chaos, as you say, and the most recent jobs report shows that it’s not looking good.

Laura Dresser:
Yeah, that’s right. It’s a very — there was, there’s been a very strong recovery from the pandemic shutdowns five years ago. But we were really beginning to see, especially in those monthly job numbers, troubling signs about the economy, because I think of the federal uncertainty, tariffs and immigration policies.

Zac Schultz:
So the numbers show that June was revised down to nothing and slight, very low anemic job reports since then, right?

Laura Dresser:
Yeah. The 2025 job growth month over month is, and revised down, like you said to a negative in June, a weak, a weak July. Those numbers are running less than half the 2024 jobs production numbers. So this is substantial cooling. A really troubling sign in the labor market, both at the national level and most of that showing up in Wisconsin, too.

Zac Schultz:
So for a few months this year, it felt like we couldn’t figure out what tariffs were actually in place or just being threatened. They were always on pause or hold. Can we relate some of the slowdowns to tariffs? Are those already being felt?

Laura Dresser:
I mean, there’s two aspects to what, what’s going on with tariffs right now. There’s a lot of uncertainty. Like you said, it’s hard to tell. And I think it’s hard for businesses, domestic businesses and international businesses, to plan when the regime is not clear. When what is our tariff policy going to be still emerging? Chaotic giant leaps. So partly the uncertainty cools off business investment decisions as it puts people back on their heels and at producer levels. And then also when the tariffs land and they’re beginning to land, they increase prices. They do. They’re a tax on imported goods and that means imported and the domestic goods in those markets, prices will go up. And so I think there’s real concerns, I think, very — some signs that tariffs are beginning to hit but more like concern and the uncertainty really dominating the news right now.

Zac Schultz:
So the Pew Research Center recently estimated the number of immigrants in the workforce went down by 1.2 million nationally in just the first six months of the year. What impact does that have on the workforce? We saw unemployment tick up as well.

Laura Dresser:
Yeah, I think what we see a cooling labor market, but we also know that in, especially in, specific industries and some very important industries in Wisconsin, agriculture, hotels, food service, immigrants are a big — construction — immigrants are a big share of the workforce. And the fact that they are often staying home or nervous or not coming to the country. Again, this tightens the ability of businesses to grow and is another kind of wet blanket on the economy.

Zac Schultz:
We’ve only got a few seconds left, but historically, fewer workers typically means rising wages, competition. Will that happen this time?

Laura Dresser:
It, it may. I mean there’s a lot to see what, what washes out. We’ve got that kind of impact although there’s also — so yeah, we’ll just have to wait and see. There’s a lot going on: price changes because of tariffs, labor impact demand because of the immigration systems. And what’s going on in the broader economy will probably dominate.

Zac Schultz:
And finally, just — sorry, last few seconds. Union membership in Wisconsin is dropping. Act 10, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is going to take a look at it. Will we see a change if they overturn Act 10?

Laura Dresser:
Changes will be slow. I think — it — unemployment. I’m sorry. Unionization rates fell in half from 2011 to 2024 in the state of Wisconsin. They won’t double in a day or two. To get back to where we were, or even to get back to the national average, will take years. But Act 10 and what we call — what is so-called “right to work,” you know, the policy around private sector unionization would have to go to get really large gains in the state as well.

Zac Schultz:
All right. Laura Dresser, thank you so much for your time.

Laura Dresser:
Thanks for having me.

Zac Schultz:
For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBSWisconsin.org and then click on the news tab. That is our program for tonight. I’m Zac Schultz. Frederica will be back next week. Have a great weekend.

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