8/20/2008 10:28:00 AM Candidates sound off at 47th Assembly debate
Meghann Olson Regional Reporter
All seven candidates competing for Wisconsin Assembly District 47 Representative gathered in front of a packed crowd for a public forum held at the Windsor Town Hall, Thursday, Aug 14. The ballot will be loaded for the Tuesday, Sept. 9 primary with four Republican Party candidates, two Democratic Party candidates, and one Independent Party candidate.
Tim McCumber, Steven Pate, Keith Ripp, and Erich Ruth will be competing for the Republicans, Paul Fisk and Trish O'Neil for the Democrats, and Dennis Hruby is competing as the lone Independent.
The forum was sponsored by the Women's League of Voters, and was the first opportunity for the public to interact with all seven candidates in one place. The candidates were each allotted two minutes to answer questions posed by members of the public.
What are some solutions to fix the state budget deficit and how do you feel about the state taking from the transportation fund to fund other programs?
All seven candidates agreed the deficit and the state's budget process are disappointing.
Fisk said the state should examine every tax exemption and evaluate if they still serve a public purpose. If not, Fisk said the exemptions should be eliminated to allow everyone to contribute a fair share.
Hruby said the focus should be on attracting and keeping businesses in the state, because that will provide jobs and encourage consumer spending which will ultimately benefit state revenues.
"We need to create a state that is business-friendly," Hruby said.
McCumber said the state needs to evaluate the entire budget, and realize that in times of economic down turn and less revenue, the state will not be able to fund everything.
"There are ways to streamline spending," McCumber said, "and we need to get serious about what we can afford to cut back on."
O'Neil said the way to solve the deficit is to look at the tax system and make sure every person and business is paying its fair share of taxes.
Pate said one solution to the deficit is to evaluate the current state agencies and locate duplication between agencies.
"There is so much bureaucracy and so many agencies that we have to find what is being duplicated, and consolidate," Pate said. "So many dollars are lost on administrative costs that could be reduced."
Ripp said because of harder economic times, the state projections on revenues for this year will be considerably higher than what the state will actually bring in
"They won't collect as much gas tax, sales tax, and other things as they planned on," Ripp said. "Everybody is conserving and cutting back on spending and now is the time for the state to do the same."
Ruth provided three solutions to reform the state's budget process.
"First, the whole Legislature needs to agree on the same set of generally accepted accounting principles," Ruth said. "Right now the Republicans have one set of books and the Democrats have another so we need to get everyone on the same page. Second, the Legislature needs to encourage honest debate and fighting it out until the budget is worked out. Third, we need to get rid of the $88 per diem that Legislators get for food and lodging once the budget is overdue, and not allow legislators to conduct any campaign fundraising when the budget is overdue."
Six of the candidates agreed that the state should not take money from any segregated fund, including the transportation fund, to fund programs other than what the money is designated for, with O'Neil being the candidate to differ.
"Sometimes we have to take money from one fund to make sure higher priorities are taken care of," O'Neil said. "And while we don't like to do that, sometimes those are the choices we have to make because budgets are about priorities."
Fisk said the segregated funds that are set up for a specific purpose should only be used for that purpose.
Hruby said funds should be segregated for the highest state priorities, which he said are healthcare, education, and infrastructure
McCumber said numerous roads are neglected in the district, and raiding the transportation fund hurts the communities that need road projects.
Pate said the funds should be spent on what they are designated for, although the Legislators need to consider what transportation projects are of highest priority because the state needs to control spending.
Ripp said infrastructure drives economic development so the state should not raid the transportation fund.
"Solid infrastructure will encourage businesses considering to relocate here to do it," Ripp said. "We need to quit raiding the transportation fund and take care of the roads and highways that are problematic.
Ruth said he considers it illegal for the state to rob the transportation fund to pay for other activities.
Would you support an independent commission to redistrict the Legislative and Congressional system after the next census?
Six of the candidates said the only way to re-establish district boundaries is to create an independent commission to do so, with Hruby asking why it was even necessary to redistrict.
"I see a wide range of Republican and Democratic values across the district," Hruby said. "So if we do have to redistrict, then it should be done by an independent commission, but I think there are better ways to spend our time and money than re-doing district boundaries."
McCumber explained why he disagrees with the rest of the candidates and does not think a separate commission is necessary.
"While it is an unpleasant task at times, the Legislature is there to make decisions and work things out," McCumber said. "The only thing I see that would come from creating another bureaucracy is now we have an independent commission and now we fight over who sits on that commission. It just creates another layer to the problem. If the Legislature can't decide, it will go to the federal court which ultimately is the unbiased commission."
I am concerned about the rising cost of healthcare. I do not like what I am hearing about universal healthcare because I do not want my husband's business to be taxed. How do you think healthcare should be fixed?
Fisk said universal healthcare plans like Healthy Wisconsin are just a starting point to the debate and it will be examined and changed in the future. He said he will judge any plan based on two criteria: accessibility and affordability.
"If we have the best healthcare in the world but nobody can access it, what good is it," Fisk said. "It has to be affordable to the families and employers. Those are the two things I will judge any plan by."
Hruby said the way to reduce cost is to take the profit out of healthcare.
"30 percent of what we pay goes to the profit of share-holders and insurance companies that make millions a year in salary," Hruby said. "When we
take private profit out, the costs will go down."
Hruby also said cost should be reformed so the patient is made fully aware of what services cost, and only pays for exactly the services used. Hruby said reforming doctors' malpractice insurance would allow doctors to charge less and would be another way to reduce costs.
McCumber said he will not support Healthy Wisconsin because he said it would double the tax burden and the program would be assigned to a 16-person appointed commission that would have no accountability to tax payers.
"Instead, we need to have open disclosure of costs so people can shop around and get a quote, just like we do with auto insurance and auto repair," McCumber said.
O'Neil said she supports expanding healthcare insurance to make sure everyone is covered, but said it can be done in a way that is affordable to everyone.
"There are insurance companies that take up 30 percent of our healthcare dollars," O'Neil said. "If we take out the middlemen, we can cut out all the administrative costs which will reduce overall costs."
Pate said his main concern is reducing cost. He said the way to reduce cost is by creating a catastrophic pool. The pool would include teachers, farmers, or business owners and as a pool, they would bid out their catastrophic insurance.
"The pool would be able to find the most competitive price and distribute it out across the pool," Pate said. "The pool could also bid out pharmaceuticals and find rates a lot lower than shopping individually."
Pate said the pool would not exclude older individuals or individuals with pre-existing conditions, people who typically have a difficult time finding affordable insurance.
Ripp said the way to reduce costs is to require healthcare providers to have an open disclosure of costs, so patients can shop around and know ahead of time what they will be expected to pay.
Ripp does not support a government-controlled healthcare proposal.
"It will cut family wages by 14.5 percent," Ripp said. "And I am not willing to give up 14.5 percent of my wages."
Ripp said there is not a quick solution, but that he supports keeping families in charge of their healthcare, not government.
Ruth said the state should find free-market solutions to healthcare.
"I own my own business and I know first-hand, when there is competition, costs go down," Ruth said.
Ruth said the state also needs to repeal the minimum mark-up law.
"The minimum mark-up law bans retailers from selling products at lower prices and hurts the individuals who need pharmaceuticals the most," Ruth said.
The UW System is losing talented professors and tuition has increased. What do you propose to keep college affordable while at the same time maintaining the high quality of education?
Fisk said the state needs to invest in the university system, because the university is responsible for research on contemporary issues that could be commercialized into jobs and economic growth.
"The history of the university system is putting great ideas into our communities," Fisk said, "and there are people there now working on items that are critical to the next generation. Ideas like energy issues, agriculture, engineering, and the sciences, and it takes state funding to advance that quality research.
Hruby agreed that the university system produces valuable research that is critical to the state but said the state should use discretion in determining what research is a priority to fund.
Hruby specifically addressed the issue of retaining high-quality instructors by questioning the university's method of hiring a new chancellor.
"There are a lot of qualified individuals on that campus and we need to give the highly qualified individuals within our institution aspirations for promotion from within," Hruby said. "Why did we pay a chancellor $125,000 to come to our university from another institution when we could have promoted someone already there and just as qualified."
McCumber said the state's future workforce is fed of wonderful training from the university system, and so it is critical to support that training. But McCumber said it does the state no good if the state cannot provide jobs for graduating students.
"We need to give our students incentive to stay in Wisconsin by lowering our tax rates," McCumber said. "By doing that, we create more jobs, provide services and when they are here working, even though the individual is paying less in taxes, more will stay so there are more in the pool contributing to the tax base overall."
O'Neil said that budget choices made by the Legislature have hurt the university system.
"We need to make education a priority because it drives our economy," O'Neil said. "Budgets are about priorities and so we made a choice of how to fund our university system and what is happening is we are losing our exemplary staff to other states who understand the importance of education. We need to invest in our university system."
Pate said that not only is education a priority, it should be the top priority.
"When we prioritize good education, we create a highly-educated workforce," Pate said. "But the state also needs to keep those students in the state by providing more job options and higher-paying job options. If they stay here and work, they will be putting money into Wisconsin's economy, Wisconsin's revenues will go up, and the additional revenue can be reinvested in the education system, so it is a circle that we are in and we need to keep it moving."
Ripp said tuition can be reduced by evaluating how tuition dollars are spent.
"There are some wastes that can be cut down and ways to keep tuition dollars from being bumped up in administrative costs," Ripp said.
Ripp said the state should invest in its university system. An organization for which he is a board member does research through the university and another organization Ripp is involved with makes investsments that benefit university research, so Ripp said he has first-hand experience in commercializing the research that comes from the university system.
Ruth said funding the university system is a priority because valuable research being done within the university would have a profound impact on communities if it were commercialized.
Do you believe there should be Legislative changes to give townships equal power to villages?
Six of the candidates agreed that the current system is working.
McCumber differed from the rest of the pack, and said he did not have enough time to explain why he thinks there has been a subtle movement to erode the power of township government.
"In 2003, they made a law that made it easier for a property owner to annex into a city but they left off the word contiguous," McCumber said.
The omission of the word contiguous means that a property owner who is not adjacent to a city or village can still be annexed by that city of village.
"The bottom line is the towns are getting authority taken away and townships are the last place in the country where our citizens have a chance to vote on things like a budget. In any city, the common council or city council votes on things like budget. I think we should give our townships every chance to thrive."
What is your position on abortion?
Candidates McCumber, Pate, Ripp and Ruth needed only two words to describe their positions on abortion: pro-life.
Hruby said he is against partial-birth abortion and abortion in general and said he would like to see abortion abolished eventually.
"If we can take care of our children, educate them, provide them healthcare with their families, and bring them up to be productive members of society, then perhaps we can abolish abortion," Hruby said. "Until then, the woman has to choose if she can properly care for that child, and she is going to live with that child for the rest of her life, or live with the choice that she aborted that child for the rest of her life and that is her business."
Candidates Fisk and O'Neil agreed that the government should not involve itself with a woman's reproductive choices.
Even though the state has made tax exemptions for large businesses, businesses have recently left the state or laid off a significant number of employees. How then will more incentives reverse the trend and keep businesses here?
Fisk said taxes are one issue when businesses consider relocating in or out of the state.
"But they are not the most important issue," Fisk said. "An educated workforce, quality of life, infrastructure including roads, sewer and water systems, telecommunications, and energy, all rank ahead of taxes."
Fisk said providing an educated workforce, quality of life and infrastructure take investment and that requires taxes.
"We need to get fairness back into the tax system," Fisk said.
Hruby said the state needs to invest in infrastructure, quality of life, and education to bring businesses to the state, along with incentives. He said although incentives may bring them to Wisconsin initially, it is the quality of life that will keep them here.
McCumber said a high tax on businesses ends up being a higher tax on consumers.
"If the taxes go up, business owners are not going to dip into their profits, they are going to increase the cost of their product or service and push it onto the consumer," McCumber said. "We need to create a business-friendly environment by lowering corporate tax rates. Other incentives might work but for larger companies, they will come here for our low taxes.
O'Neil said businesses will come here for the quality of life but supporting that quality of life requires taxes and the state needs to re-examine fairness in the tax system. O'Neil said solving the healthcare problem will also be a great incentive for businesses to relocate to the state.
Pate said if the state raises taxes, businesses will look elsewhere.
"We need to attract industry, especially smaller industries that fit well in our small communities," Pate said. "We have a great workforce and quality of life and we need to focus on getting businesses here and once they are here, making it affordable to do business here."
Ripp said incentives might be necessary to attract businesses, but after the business is established, the state could reduce its incentives.
"One thing we have is a great work force, so once companies get going, they will want to stay. Eventually we need to pull back the incentives so everyone is contributing their fair share."
Ruth said the state has good schools and solid infrastructure, so the state needs to do everything possible to cut taxes and lure businesses to Wisconsin.
What sets you apart from the other candidates?
Fisk said what sets him apart is real experience seeking real solutions.
"Many of the issues I faced as mayor of Lodi are the types of issues facing Wisconsin," Fisk said. "I dealt with energy, healthcare, balancing budgets, and the fact that the tax levy is $300,000 less than it was 12 years ago when I took office shows I know fiscal planning. Those experiences are what I want to take to Madison to represent you."
Hruby said what sets him apart is having no party affiliation.
"Running as an independent allows me to be your voice, not the voice of a party," Hruby said. "Think of yourself being in that seat. You are my special interest group and there is no other organization backing me or financially supporting me.
Hruby said if elected, serving in the Legislature will be his only job.
"I will be focusing in your needs 50 weeks out of the year. I am going to spend full time on this because what I do on the side to make a living is very flexible. I can spend my time researching ways to fix problems for you."
McCumber said what sets him apart is his experience serving as town administrator.
"The practical experience of running a municipal government helps me understand what is going on in the Legislature and I can be the expert as far as how these laws impact on the local level."
O'Neil said what sets her apart is experience in the healthcare industry and in the education system.
"I worked for over 20 years in healthcare and eight years on the school board," O'Neil said. "The state puts Band-Aids on problems but does not find solutions and my experience has given me critical thinking and a visionary leadership style."
Pate said his leadership style and experience in the education system set him apart.
"A good Legislator has experience and I certainly bring that to the table with 23 years serving on the school board," Pate said. "But a good leader also has vision. The state has done a good job of managing, but not a good job leading. Leading is creating a vision of how to get big things done and I believe I have a vision and with 39 percent of the state budget going to education you need someone that is experienced with education."
Ripp said what sets him apart is business experience.
"I own and operate my own business, make payroll, pay my own healthcare, put together a family and a business budget, and stick to the budget," Ripp said, "and I think the government needs to run the same way. It boils down to leadership and the public has to do their research and decide who has the leadership skills."
Ruth said what sets him apart is his commitment to getting things done.
"I will work obsessively to take care of the problems you have," Ruth said. "I will be accessible and constantly listen to any concerns that you have and work my hardest to find the solutions."
In closing, summarize why voters should vote for you.
Fisk said voters should elect him because it takes experience to solve the problems currently facing the state.
"How long can we afford a 19th Century education financing system and try to provide a 21st Century education to our students," Fisk said. "The drop in the businesses cycle seems severe, but through innovation and creativity we will move forward. I want to go work on education, energy issues, and find solutions to energy issues that create new jobs. I have worked on many of those issues in my capacity as mayor and want to go work for you to create a better community in the 47th District.
Hruby said the reason he should be elected is because he will work for voters in the district and nothing else
"All the candidates are qualified in their areas but me being the independent means I will serve you only," Hruby said. "I want to leave our state, our society, and our financial status better than when I started so our future generations are not left with debt and bills we created. I am optimistic that we can create a better state.
McCumber said when he became the administrator of the Town of Merrimac, the town's mill rate was $1.21 per $1000 of valuation.
"Now it is $.76/1000 because we have not increased our general levy," McCumber said. "We were able to find solutions through strong solid leadership and proving that quality can be done by paying attention to what makes the bottom line work."
McCumber cited an example of improving quality while benefiting the peoples' bottom line.
"A few years ago, the school district almost closed Merrimac Elementary because enrollment was low and it was to expensive to operate the school," McCumber said. "We decided to charter the school and in the first year, cut the cost of operating from $15,000 down to $8,000 per student. We are now a school of choice, our kids' education has improved, our parents are very involved, and we are anticipating growth next year to 79 students in the school. And it is proof that raising tax dollars is not the way to get to the solution."
O'Neil said because of concern about rising healthcare costs, voters should vote for someone with healthcare experience.
"I can bring insight to healthcare problems facing all of us," O'Neil said. "I am running to be your voice at the capital and would like to bring back to the state a reputation of clean government. If you give me your support I will be honored to represent you."
Pate said the only reason he is running is to create new opportunities for Wisconsinites through solid leadership and a vision for a better future.
"I am running to be your voice," Pate said. "I am not going to Madison with a whole set of my own issues I want to work on. My philosophy is to leave the place better than I found it and I think I can do that for you. I will be able to listen to folks, and even if we disagree, work together and make the steps to move ahead. Listing to your views is very important to me and that is why I want to be your representative in the state of Wisconsin."
Ripp explained the main reason why he is running is to represent a $51.5 billion industry in the state--agriculture.
"Agriculture is the largest industry in the state and accounts for 12 percent of all jobs," Ripp said. "I am very involved in agriculture and with my strong agricultural background, I know how to create jobs in the state. I have created jobs, and they are in this district and in this state. Government should run like a business and I know what it takes to be your representative at the capital. We need to work together to create a future for our sons, daughters, and our grandchildren so they can look forward to excelling in the future. I ask for your support on Sept. 9 and I believe we can make a difference."
Ruth said the number one concern he has heard from voters is worry about jobs and the economy and voters should elect him because his main priority is creating jobs.
"I want to create jobs and cut taxes," Ruth said. "The state government is large enough and I want to do whatever I can to keep more money in your hands."
For more information, visit the candidates' Web sites:
• www.paulfisk.org;
• www.dennishruby.com;
• www.timmccumber.com;
• www.trishforassembly.org;
• www.stevepateforassembly.com;
• www.keithripp.com; and
• www.ruthforassembly.org.
Watch Hometown News Group newspapers for continuing coverage of the Wisconsin Assembly District 47 election.
