Wisconsin Assembly, District 65/Asamblea de Wisconsin, Distrito 65
Wisconsin Legislative BranchWisconsin’s legislature makes state laws. The legislature has two houses: the Wisconsin Senate and the Wisconsin Assembly. Proposed laws (bills) can originate from either the state senate or assembly. Both houses must approve the bill before it is passed on to the governor for signature or veto. The legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds majority vote in each house. The legislature controls the spending of state funds through appropriation.Wisconsin AssemblyThe Wisconsin Assembly has ninety-nine representatives. Voters elect representatives to represent their assembly district for a two-year term. There is no term limit.__________Poder Legislativo de Wisconsin La legislatura de Wisconsin produce las leyes estatales. La legislatura consta de dos cámaras: el Senado de Wisconsin y la Asamblea de Wisconsin. Las propuestas de ley pueden originarse tanto en el Senado estatal como en la Asamblea. Ambas cámaras deben aprobar el proyecto de ley antes de transmitirla al gobernador para su firma o veto. La legislatura puede anular un veto con un voto mayoritario de dos tercios en cada cámara. La legislatura controla el gasto de los fondos estatales a través de las leyes de asignación. Asamblea de WisconsinLa Asamblea de Wisconsin tiene noventa y nueve representantes. Los votantes eligen representantes para representar a su asamblea de distrito por un término de dos años. No hay límite de términos.Nota: Las respuestas de los candidatos que aparecen en español se tradujeron de las respuestas originales de los candidatos en inglés.
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Ben DeSmidt
(Dem)
Valerie Kretchmer
(Rep)
Biographical Information
Please describe your priorities for your term in office and your specific qualifications to effectively address those issues.
What do you see as the most pressing housing-related issue in Wisconsin, and what policies, if any, would you support to address the issue?
What redistricting process, if any, do you believe the legislature should put in place before the next national census to ensure fair representation for voters?
What, if anything, will you do to ensure our schools have the resources to improve outcomes for its students, including those with disabilities?
What guardrails, if any, would you support to protect our environment, health, property values, and household budgets from large projects such as hyperscale data centers and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?
EducationB.A. University of Chicago, M.A., M.Phil and Ph.D. Columbia University
Personal PronounsHe, him
My priorities are to ensure access to reproductive health; to fully fund our public education system at all levels from K-12 to our colleges and universities and technical college system; to provide opportunities for small business owners to have access to capital resources and sustaining grants; to provide a public option for BadgerCare and the WI retirement system; to ensure regulation and consumer protections for data centers. I have gained experience in these areas through my years as a small business owner and in the Legislature through my service on the Colleges and Universities; Science, Technology, and AI; and Consumer Protection committees.
Affordability of housing and the volume of reasonably priced units and starter homes are very pressing issues. We need to provide loan opportunities through WHEDA for the creation of more housing developments and housing tax credits for developers, along with giving WHEDA a greater ability to offer financing.
I supported Gov. Evers attempt to pass a constitutional amendment to forbid partisan gerrymandering. I support passing legislation to create an independent redistricting commission such as is supported by the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition.
The school funding formula needs to be completely reworked. We need to tie increases in school funding to inflation. If this were still the way funding increases were calculated, we would not be in the situation we are now. Special education needs to be fully funded, and vouchers need to be drastically curtailed and ultimately phased out.
The DNR needs to take greater control of CAFOs and institute a clearer process with stricter penalties. We need to pass state regulation for data centers. I know from my experience serving on the Science, Technology, and AI committee that clear regulations are needed to offer broad protections. While we focus mostly on water and power, data centers impact our communities much more broadly and require careful scrutiny.
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