Assembly District 94 Survey

Bio:

Ryan Huebsch is a lifelong resident of La Crosse County. Ryan was born in Onalaska and raised in West Salem. He is dedicated to being a strong voice for his friends and neighbors in the Coulee Region. Ryan graduated from West Salem High School where he learned the value of hard work at a young age. He enjoyed sports and engaged in community service. As a senior, he organized a fundraising event for the Freedom Honor Flight.

Ryan went on to attend Western Technical College before transferring to UW-La Crosse, where he graduated with honors with a degree in Political Science and Public Administration.

Since graduating from UW-L, Ryan served for three years as a legislative aide to two state Senators, Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Senator Eric Wimberger in the state Capital in Madison. His experience will give Ryan the ability to hit the ground running as our representative in Madison. But Ryan’s time as campaign manager to former Senator Dan Kapanke in 2020 gave him a deeper understanding and appreciation of the people and beauty of God’s Country.

Ryan lives in Onalaska and is an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He is the son of Mike and Valerie Huebsch and has a brother, Brett. Ryan’s dad, Mike served this same district in the State Assembly for 16 years. Ryan’s background and experience will serve us well.

People want to be heard. They want their opinions considered and respected.

Unfortunately in Madison, party politics and special interests dictate policy. We need to change that. It’s time for the legislature to move away from petty politics and focus on the issues that matter — jobs, education, health care, repairing our roads, and keeping our communities safe and strong. Too many people in our area lack or cannot afford health insurance. Rather than working to provide affordable coverage for our state’s residents, politicians have listened to special interest groups. Prescription drug costs are too high and not enough is being done to reign in those costs.

We also need to restore investments in local schools, technical colleges and UW campuses in order to strengthen communities and remain competitive in the global economy. In too many parts of our area, our roads are in disrepair. Not only is this costly, it’s dangerous. Poor roads make it more difficult for our farmers and manufacturers to get their goods to market, while raising public safety concerns for our residents.

We need to step up and fix our broken transportation funding system so we can get to work repairing our local roads, bridges and highways.

BIO:

I have been a resident of La Crosse County for my entire life, and I am a product of our local school system and public university. I learned the value of hard work and financial responsibility at a young age from my parents, Pat and Elaine, who worked hard while raising six children.

After graduating from Law School in 1986 I was elected to the La Crosse County Board, at age 28, becoming the youngest member at the time. It was then that I began my nearly thirty-year tenure as board member, holding the County Board Chairman position from 2002 until my election to the State Assembly.

As well as serving on the County Board, I am also a small business owner, educator, and published author. My wife, Gloria, and I partnered in 1988 to create a successful law firm in La Crosse while at the same time starting a family. It was also at this time that I began my entry into the world of academia. I began my teaching career in the UW-La Crosse Department of Political Science teaching State and Local Government, as well as American Legal System. It is my belief that education is a critical investment for the future. I am thankful for having the chance to participate in the expansion of my students’ minds. It has allowed me to foster many relationships with young professionals around the state.

During my time as a public servant, I have come to the realization that government can be an instrument for good or bad depending upon how it is done. That is why I wholeheartedly believe that the key to achieving goals is through cooperation, collaboration, and innovation. My tenure as County Board Chair has focused on this approach, whether it is the County working with another county, or with one of our municipalities or with the private sector. We know that what our state needs now is jobs, lower taxes, and higher quality services. My work in La Crosse County has convinced me that our state government will never be completely successful in meeting these needs until our state officials likewise learn the lessons of cooperation, collaboration, and innovation.

As a State Representative, I have embodied these bipartisan ideals throughout my time in the legislature. I have been appointed to six committees including the Committee on Financial Institutions, the Committee on Insurance, the Committee on Family Law, the Committee on Jobs and the Economy, the Speaker’s Task Force on Adoption and the Speaker’s Task Force on Suicide Prevention.

I am honored to serve you in the State Assembly and will continue to work for the betterment of Wisconsin.

A woman’s choice whether or not to have a family is an incredibly complex and personal one and one that should be made between her, her family, and her medical providers. What’s more, any law that was written when slavery was still legal and women couldn’t vote should be reexamined.

The decision to abort a child should be very rare. I support the current law which allows for an abortion when the life of the mother is in danger, and I would add the exceptions of pregnancy caused by the crimes of rape and incest. I realize that is different than many in the Republican party today. But in those very rare circumstances when a pregnancy has occurred through a crime as horrible as rape or incest, the pregnant woman should have all of the support and counseling possible and should have the choice to terminate that pregnancy.

Other than those exceptions I believe that although there are certainly unwanted pregnancies, there are no unwanted children. The number of families seeking to adopt children proves that. But the long, tedious and expensive process of adoption must be changed. I would support funding and law changes that make adoption in Wisconsin safe for the child and affordable for the parents.

Finally, let me be clear that the extreme stance of the Democratic party and my opponent, Steve Doyle,

is something I will never support. The idea that abortion should be an option for birth control, sex selection or to prevent a child with disabilities from being born is wrong. Yet Doyle’s Democrats have advocated for any abortion at any time and for any reason. A recent Democrat Governor said they would actually allow the baby to be born and then the mother and physician “would have a conversation” on whether or not to abort that child. That stance is too extreme for Wisconsin and hopefully for most Americans

The Wisconsin legislature has a long history of adjourning before campaign season begins to avoid passing policies or spending money in an effort to buy votes. President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program is one in a long line of examples of politics over good policy.

Governor Evers would happily spend the $2 billion on K-12 education here in September just before the election. President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program could’ve been passed at any time in the last 18 months. Do you think it is a coincidence it was proposed 60 days before the election?

I believe the legislature could stay in session longer in an election year without getting too close to the

temptations of election season. But I also know that legislators continue some work through the summer and fall of the election year on task forces and committees that bring in the public to help develop policies and legislation for the next session.

Yes. However, it is important that elected officials accurately represent the communities they represent so I would want to make sure that the standard of work would be replicable by folks from all walks of life. Personally, I feel that I should be working if I am being paid. That is why I signed up to serve on a summer study committee that meets regularly.

We have a $5 billion dollar surplus and we should put that money to work for Wisconsinites right now. A significant amount of that money should go back into the pockets of those in the middle class through tax cuts. We should also focus on fixing our roads, and ensuring our schools have the resources they need.

A certain level of surplus, or “rainy day” fund is required by law and provides the state with a favorable bond rating that keeps the interest taxpayers pay on bonds lower. However, the surplus currently in Madison far exceeds the level required and should be used in the best interest of the taxpayers who provided it.

The legislature did attempt to act on what should happen with the surplus when it passed legislation that required the Governor to work with the legislature when deciding how the taxpayer money received from Washington D.C. should be spent. Governor Evers vetoed that legislation, opting to be the sole decision maker on how billions of dollars will be spent or returned to taxpayers.

The most important thing to remember about the surplus is that it is one-time money, not an ongoing pot that is filled up again. Once it is spent, it is gone. For that reason, this money should not be spent in such a way that it increases the obligation of the state taxpayers to continue funding that program. Governor Evers’ latest proposal would spend $2 billion on K-12 education. That may sound good now, but what do we do in the next budget when we’ve increased spending but have spent the money? Returning the money to the taxpayers in a reduction in taxes or rebate, especially during this challenging economy, paying down state debt or establishing program funding that ends when the dollars allocated are gone are just a few of the ways to return this enormous surplus.

Although gas prices have leveled out recently, I don’t think I would describe them as falling. In some places in the state gas prices have doubled or are even higher than they were at the end of 2020. While the state legislature is limited on the influence it can have on gas prices, they can push back against the devastating policies coming out of Washington and supported by Democrat leadership in Madison.

The economic impact of Covid lockdown policies coupled with Covid payments to individuals was predicted as it was happening. If you shut down production in the economy, supply chains break. Then when they flood the market with cash so people can buy the goods that are not being replaced through production, inflation must go up. Interest rates follow and everything grinds to a halt. It is as though every decision made by our leaders was steering us toward this current economic disaster. And on top of all of this, the so-called green policies that will jeopardize energy reliability and increase prices will just be fuel added to the fire of our struggling economy.

The legislature and Governor need to encourage and reward those who will work. They need to return the surplus to the pockets of the people who earned the money and stop trying to engineer the economy through tax policies and laws that reward some and penalize others. The next state budget should be limited to what the taxpayers can afford, not what Madison wants to spend. That can be done through reducing or eliminating programs, or through across the board cuts that bring spending in line with the taxpayer’s ability to pay. It can also be done by limiting the growth of programs to the amount of additional tax money the state receives through the growth in our economy. An increase in spending in a program from the previous year is an increase in spending. It is not a reduction from whatever amount the Governor or some special interest group wanted us to spend.

We have a $5 billion dollar surplus and we should put that money to work for Wisconsinites right now. A significant amount of that money should go back into the pockets of those in the middle class through tax cuts. We should also focus on fixing our roads, and ensuring our schools have the resources they need.

No. These special sessions are not being called on a whim; these are important issues impacting our state and the legislature should sit down and debate them. If we aren’t willing to even sit down together to debate the issues how can we possibly hope to solve these complex issues? It’s worth pointing out

that when the legislature did sit down and discuss the issues during the agriculture special session we did pass important bills. When we debate the issues we can accomplish good things for our communities.

The legislature is a separate branch of government who can and should do what they want as duly elected representatives of their constituents. When the legislature disagrees with a special session called by the Governor, or if they perceive it as a political stunt rather than serious public policy, there is no reason for them to go through the expense of convening the body simply to play political games. Special sessions should be called to address issues that have the support in the legislature to become law.

Polls indicate the desire of the majority of Americans to reduce gun violence in this country. Pollsters sometimes present the only solution to that violence as needing greater gun control laws. Yet if we review the gun violence in our state, the overwhelming majority is committed by people who are already banned by law from having a gun, or have such a long record of crime that gun violence could have easily been predicted.

The solution to gun violence in Wisconsin is for criminals, especially those who use firearms to be put away and prevented from committing crimes. Our law enforcement officers arrest criminals who are released by district attorneys and judges who are more interested in some misguided liberal agenda than actually protecting the public. It is foolish to think that taking gun ownership away from sportsmen and women is somehow going to slow the gun violence we see from criminals allowed to walk the streets when they should be in jail.

Yes, I believe that our state needs to reform our campaign finance and ethics systems. One of the biggest attacks on our democratic process was the decision by Madison politicians to open the floodgates and allow millionaires and corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on dark money ads to influence Wisconsin elections.

Creating a fair and transparent system is one of my top priorities. I will fight to restore Wisconsin’s tradition of fair, open and clean elections. We need to take back our democracy by closing campaign special interest loopholes. We need to improve campaign finance transparency, and put an end to undisclosed outside interest smear attacks.

Background checks on all gun sales is a good start. I think we can all agree that violent criminals should not be able to purchase guns. What’s more, recently the Federal Legislature came to a bipartisan consensus on a number of provisions related to gun safety. I think if they can do it we should be able to as well. As a hunter myself I am not supportive of more restrictions on legitimate gun ownership. That said, if we had fewer gavel-in/gavel-out sessions we may be able to come to some bipartisan agreement to ensure everyone’s second amendment rights are protected while also improving safety.

The state has a $5 billion dollar surplus. We have the money to cut taxes, fix our roads, and ensure every school district has the resources they need to ensure their student’s success. In fact, the Governor recently introduced his education budget proposal for next session where he lays out point by point what we can and should do with the money in our coffers right now.

The taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin spend more money on our K-12 schools than any other program in government. Not only is it the largest expenditure in the state budget, but the majority of our property taxes also go to our public K-12 schools. When a local district wants to spend more than what they already receive, the system is in place to allow for a referendum to determine if the local taxpayers are willing to accept higher taxes for a particular purpose, like merging Central and Logan high schools like we currently see in La Crosse.

I will continue to support our K-12 education system as the top priority in the state budget because an educated population is the only way democracy survives. But it’s important to understand that the needs of the students and their families are more important than the needs of the school districts. The money for public education should support the children being educated, not current school system. There are failing schools in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee and Madison school districts have failed countless children in providing a quality education. And the COVID policies required by our schools hurt the education of our children in ways we are only beginning to realize with mental health and learning challenges climbing.

Private school choice was invented in Milwaukee by a democrat legislator and a Republican Governor over 30 years ago. It was a reaction to the number of children that the Milwaukee Public School system had left behind. Today, the expansion of school choice across the state will not only give parents and students the choice to learn in the setting that is best for them, but will also provide some competition to the public school system, which will either improve or fall behind.

I stand with our good schools and our good teachers. And I reject the idea that our schools are threatened if parents are allowed to choose what is best for their child, and taxpayers are given greater oversight of their local school and curriculum.

If ever there is an issue that should bring everyone together and not be political, it should be safe drinking water. One side would like to say the other is not doing enough and the other side will say they’re doing too much, which is the nature of politics. But in the end, making sure we have safe water sources in our homes is one of the first responsibilities of government.

Although PFAS has been used in many of the products we have for 70 years, we only recently became aware of its potential health risk. The legislature and Governor have been addressing it for the past few sessions. French Island is affected more than surrounding areas because of PFAS in the firefighting foam used at the airport. That has gotten into the ground water and contaminated the Island. It is called the “forever chemical”

The obvious first step is to reduce or eliminate the use of PFAS in products that will pose a threat. Determining the amount of PFAS that is acceptable is the next challenge and is where the biggest debate is because the recent EPA recommendation of nearly zero presence of PFAS in our environment is not yet scientifically possible, even though filters that remove it from water have been successful. The problem still exists, however, of what to do with it after it has been removed. Handling it the wrong way just puts it back in the environment.

An important step that the legislature can engage in is supporting the science seeking to eliminate, or break down the chemical components of PFAS. Just last month, Northwestern University chemists announced in the journal Science (https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/08/forever-chemicals-destroyed-by-simple-new-method/) that they have developed a process that breaks down the compounds in two major classed of PFAS, leaving only benign end products. There is much more work to do, as there are thousands of PFAS classes, but it’s promising news as we do all we can to get control of this challenging problem.

Unfortunately, some in our state don’t see PFAS as a serious issue. I am not one of those people. This past session I and a number of my colleagues introduced the Chemical Level Enforcement and Remediation Act, or CLEAR Act. This bill used a number of tactics to get our PFAS problem under control. Tactics like setting water and air quality standards, creating a municipal grant program, creating a well-testing program, creating long term studies to study the effects of and the quantities of PFAS, and so much more.