Rep. Greta Neubauer on a 2026 Agenda for Wisconsin Democrats

Zac Schultz:
Greta Neubauer, thanks for joining us.

Greta Neubauer:
Absolutely, happy to be here.

Zac Schultz:
So, what would you say is the biggest success for Assembly Democrats in the last year?

Greta Neubauer:
We continue to fight for the people of Wisconsin at every turn. We know that Wisconsinites are struggling with the cost of living that’s groceries, housing, health care, child care. And we are going to continue to push on those issues at every possible opportunity. It’s been tough in this Legislature. It seems like our Republican colleagues are not very interested in addressing those issues, but we are continuing to push and to build on legislation that we’ve passed and work towards a future in which we can really get those things done.

Zac Schultz:
What’s the number one thing that came out of the budget for you?

Greta Neubauer:
So it wasn’t the budget that I would’ve written, of course. We are looking towards a different kind of budget when we’re in the majority. But it was good to have Senate Democrats at the table and Gov. Evers, and have them be able to push particularly for education funding, for some additional funds for special education and the UW system, for child care. We know that the people of Wisconsin want to send their kids to great schools, that people are really struggling to find a place for their kids while they go to work when those kids are young. So it’s really important that that funding was put into the state budget.

Zac Schultz:
Looking at the special education increases, we’ve already heard that the percentages that were estimated are not going to hit that mark. Is that just speaks to the need that’s out there in these communities?

Greta Neubauer:
Absolutely. The Legislature set forward a goal but didn’t fund it, and so that is unfortunate because school districts, of course, were hoping and planning to get a certain level of reimbursement for special education, which, again, is much lower than what they actually deserve and what kids need. So we are going to continue to work on that issue, to push the state to keep its commitment to our local districts. People need to see more support from the state for their local schools, or they are going to continue to have to go to referendum and raise their property taxes, and that’s just wrong.

Zac Schultz:
One of the big headlines that’s come out of the Assembly recently is the failure to expand postpartum coverage for new mothers. Walk me through the process of what happened there and why it came to be, especially since it did so well in the Senate.

Greta Neubauer:
Sure. So for many years, we have known that it is essential for us to pass postpartum health care expansion for those new moms. Right now in Wisconsin, you can have a baby and be off of your health care in 60 days. That’s not good for the mom and that’s not good for the baby. And there are people each year whose health is really put at risk because they don’t have access to that essential care after they give birth. So we have been pushing on this issue for a long time. There are enough co-sponsors by far in the state Assembly to get this bill done, but it does not get brought to the floor. And that, of course, is Speaker Vos’ decision. We attempted to pull a petition that would’ve forced a vote on this issue, and the speaker did move the bill in a procedural sort of maneuver into another committee so that we have to restart that process. But really, the question that I have is why the authors of this bill Pat Snyder, Jessie Rodriguez people who say that this is an important issue for them, are not able to get this bill to the floor, and what they’re going to say to those new moms in their district who lose access to health care. They’re governing, they’re authors of this bill, they should be able to get it done.

Zac Schultz:
Other than that legislation, what’s the most important thing you’d like to try and get done next year while there’s still a few months of session?

Greta Neubauer:
It’s going to be unaffordability. As I said, this is what we hear about from our constituents. Assembly Democrats are continuing to do listening sessions and knock on doors. We, of course, run into our constituents at parades and holiday festivals, and we hear over and over that people are struggling with the cost of groceries, again, prescription drugs and health care and housing. There’s been a little bit of progress on housing in a bipartisan fashion in the last two sessions. That’s good to see, but we have not done enough, and so we’re really going to be continuing to push on those issues and making sure that the state keeps its commitment to our kids and our public schools and gets some funding into the general aids so that we don’t see property taxes go up for people across the state to support their schools.

Zac Schultz:
You’ve been in the Assembly for a while. Would you say that this was a quieter year than past sessions in terms of the amount of legislation coming forward that actually can get passed?

Greta Neubauer:
You know, it’s been a bit quieter. Yeah, I would say, especially given what we see people going through in our state, we see significant impacts of the federal government’s actions on Wisconsinites, and we see the Legislature really doing very little to address those impacts. We’re about to see people’s health care premiums skyrocket. If you’re on the Marketplace in Wisconsin, the average increase is going to be $664 a month. And legislative Republicans really have no answer to that. The Senate Republicans, in particular, have met very few times this year, so it does seem like they’ve kind of run out of ideas and they’re not really interested in addressing the problems that the people of Wisconsin are facing.

Zac Schultz:
Well, that obviously leads us into next year on the elections. How much will Democrats be able to convince the public, hey, if the Legislature hasn’t done anything, it’s time for new leadership?

Greta Neubauer:
Republicans have been in control in Wisconsin for a while. They have had this chamber for 15 years the state Assembly. And we have seen them attempt to enact their vision on the state of Wisconsin. We’ve got local schools across the state that are at risk of closing. We’ve got local governments really struggling to fund essential services, including public safety and health. We are in a tough place in this state, and we know that people are frustrated with government and with politics, and they just want to see their elected officials care about what they’re going through and work hard across the aisle to get things done. We just have not seen that from legislative Republicans, and so I think we have a huge opportunity next year to communicate directly with the people of Wisconsin about what we’re going to do when we are in control as Democrats in the statehouse and how it’s going to make their lives better.

Zac Schultz:
Obviously, you gained a lot of seats in the ’24 elections, but you fell short of regaining the majority. There were some close elections. I’m sure you know what seats you’re going to target. What will be different in ’26?

Greta Neubauer:
Yeah, so we worked to pick up 15 seats last year, and that, of course, was a big lift. That’s in addition to protecting our incumbents in close seats, including some that Trump wins. So, we have five seats now left to go to flip control of the state Assembly. That’s a close number. We’re looking at a good environment next year because people are pretty unhappy with federal Republicans and state Republicans. And so we’re going to have great candidates who are going to work hard throughout the next year to connect directly with voters and communicate their vision for the state. These are parents and teachers, coaches, local elected officials, small business owners, farmers, DNR wardens, right? Just fantastic folks who are going to do the work of communicating that things can be better in this state and that they want to go to Madison and really represent them. We’re really excited about the elections next year. We’re thrilled with the candidates who are stepping up to run, and we are just going to work every day to talk directly to those folks who we’ll need to win over for next year.

Zac Schultz:
There was some public discord within the Democratic caucus this year. Are you a unified group going forward? Could you envision primaries within your own party to try and make sure that everyone’s on the same page?

Greta Neubauer:
Yeah, so we’re feeling really good going into next year. We’ve been working for a long time to be in a position to win a majority in the state Assembly, and I think our caucus is unified in looking towards that reality. We are hoping to be able to focus most on protecting our incumbents in close seats, and then targeting those really close purple districts that we hope to flip next year.

Zac Schultz:
Do you plan on getting involved in the gubernatorial primary?

Greta Neubauer:
Not at this point. I generally don’t get involved in Democratic primaries, but we have a really fantastic field I think, many people who could be great governors.

Zac Schultz:
You’ve got former members of the Assembly, current members of the Assembly. What does that say about people coming out of this chamber and running for higher office?

Greta Neubauer:
Yeah, a lot of the candidates on the Democratic side have come out of the Legislature, and, of course, that’s exciting to us because they understand what it’s like and they respect this branch of government and the role that it plays. I also think it’s pretty clear that the state Assembly and state Senate are the grounds for people to become Democratic politicians in the state at the federal level, and at the gubernatorial and attorney general level, as well. We’ve got, you know, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Congresspeople Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore. We’re really proud of the people who come out of the state Legislature and go on to do great things.

Zac Schultz:
All right, Greta Neubauer, thanks for your time.

Greta Neubauer:
Thank you for having me.