Chippewa Valley Democrats Share Legislative Priorities Ahead of Election

Local state lawmakers gathered outside the Eau Claire County Government Center on Thursday morning to share their legislative priorities if they achieve a Democratic trifecta in Madison following the midterm election.

The event sought to rally supporters to get to the polls with early voting now officially underway and less than two weeks until Election Day. Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler also attended the event, seeking to remind voters that Republicans have been in control of the State Legislature for the last 16 years.

"We have 12 more days in Wisconsin to undo the damage of 16 years of Republican domination of the State Legislature," he said. "Everything Wisconsinites are frustrated about, every law that they wish weren't on the books, every cut, every attack that has come out of Madison for the last 16 years, has had to come through the Republican controlled state legislature. And this is the first chance that voters have to end the Republican domination of the legislature and usher in a new day for Wisconsin."

State Representative Christian Phelps, one of four Democrats on the Assembly's Education Committee, also spoke at the event. Asked about previous comments made by Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany on fully funding the state's public education system and lowering property taxes if elected Governor next month, State Representative Phelps highlighted a lack of specifics on how achieving that goal would be possible and highlighted Congressman Tiffany's previous budget work as a state lawmaker on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee.

"During that time, do people feel that their property taxes went up or down," he said. "Do they feel their public schools got stronger or weaker? I mean he's been the architect of this sort of Republican plan to hollow out state funding of public schools, which then pushes the burden almost entirely onto property taxpayers through more referendums and just a higher levy for property taxpayers. So until he can articulate a plan to use the progressive income tax structure to fund public schools from the state level so that my neighbors are not footing the bill anymore, I don't take seriously his assertion that he has a plan to lower property taxes."

State Senator Jeff Smith, State Representative Jodi Emerson, 92nd Assembly District candidate Jeremiah Fredrickson, and Planned Parenthood Wisconsin President and CEO Tanya Atkinson also spoke at the event, highlighting issues like affordability, healthcare accessibility, and protecting the state's natural resources.