Assembly District 95 Survey

Biography:

Representative Jill Billings, Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair, has served in the Wisconsin State Assembly since winning a special election in 2011. She is the ranking member of the Committee on Children and Families, and Committee on Substance Abuse and Prevention.  She also serves on the Building Commission where she is Chair of the Higher Education Sub-committee and she is a member of the Joint Legislative Council.

Billings’ Legislative appointments include: Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board; State Council on Alcohol and Othe Drug Abuse; WI Historical Society Board of Curators; and the Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission. Rep. Billings has been recognized as a Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (BILLD) Fellow 2012, Toll Fellow 2014; and National Conference of State Legislatures Early Learning Fellow.

During her legislative career, Billings has focused on working in a bi-partisan manner on the tourism industry; children’s issues including human trafficking and childcare; environmental protection including clean water; the economy including supporting local small businesses; addressing the opioid and overdose crisis and higher education.

She is a former teacher of English and Citizenship to Hmong Adults and was previously elected to the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors for 8 years. Jill raised her two kids in the coulee region and has lived in La Crosse for 32 years. She represents the 95th District which comprises the City of La Crosse, Town of Campbell and parts of the Town of Shelby

Age: 36

Hometown: I live in La Crosse, WI  (grew up in Wisconsin Rapids)

Family: Married – 1 Child

Job: HRIS Analyst at Kwik Trip Inc

Prior elected office: La Crosse City Council Member since 2021

Other public service: Washburn Neighborhood Association- Chair since 2020

Education: Western Tech- Entry Level Firefighter 1&2

Email: [email protected]

Website: chriswoodardforassembly.com

I am pro life and believe in exceptions for rape, incest and in cases where the mother’s life is in jeopardy. I believe there is always room for improvement. This is what will guide me as a Representative of the Assembly.

Wisconsin’s archaic 1849 law criminalizes abortion except in case of death of the mother. I have co-sponsored legislation to repeal this extreme law that doesn’t even make exception for rape or incest. The decision to have an abortion is a difficult one and people can feel conflicted. I believe this difficult decision should be between an individual, their health care provider, and partner and faith leader if they have one. I do not believe that politicians should be inserted in that private decision.

We have an historic surplus and our rainy-day fund is full. The Legislature should have acted on the Governor’s proposal to return funds this past summer. The budget surplus belongs to the tax paying people of Wisconsin and should be returned to the hardworking families in our state who could use a bit of relief from the effects of inflation and gas prices. I believe that the legislature could also invest some surplus funds in helping create and support healthy families. I know from my work in the legislature and county government that some of the best return on investment is in early intervention. It is far more cost effective to support families and children early than it is to address trauma in the form of substance abuse or incarceration later down the road.

Legislature should focus on sending at least a portion back to the taxpayers, but also focus on cutting income taxes for middle class families and look at eliminating personal property taxes. With this being said, its time Wisconsin ends reckless government spending.

Absolutely, we work for the people and need to remind elected officials of that. As long as there are pressing issues, officials should be working together to resolve these issues.

Yes, I would support a requirement to make lawmakers spend a specific amount of time on the job, although that would be difficult to measure and enforce. Ultimately, voters have the final say on whether individual legislators deserve their seat. I consider myself a workhorse in the legislature. I’m in caucus leadership and have consistently carried a large number of committees, boards and commissions that meet throughout the term in office without hiatus. I also work hard to stay in contact with my constituents and my office has a great reputation for constituent responsiveness and outreach. In fact, I was honored to be recognized by the local LeaderEthics organization for leaders who are truthful, transparent with public information, unifiers and committed to serving their entire constituency.

Inflation is a worldwide problem and really has to be dealt with on the federal level, that is the only long-term fix to our current economic climate. On a state level however, a return of some of the budget surplus to the citizens of Wisconsin is an important step to help alleviate some of the burden of current inflation.

I believe this goes along with a previous question, cutting income taxes for middle class families and eliminating personal property taxes would be a great start.

I believe this goes along with a previous question, cutting income taxes for middle class families and eliminating personal property taxes would be a great start.

From my early days in elected office on the La Crosse County Board, I have valued bringing all voices to the table to have open and honest debate. The complete dismissal of Governor Evers’ special sessions by the Republican majority has been a huge disappointment. When we have been asked to consider issues Wisconsinites care deeply about, it is our duty to hear and debate the arguments on either side. When we are called into a special session or executive session, we should get to Madison and do our jobs.

As someone who comes from a family with a hunting tradition, I believe we can have both gun safety and Second Amendment rights. Wisconsin needs common sense gun safety reform. I support extreme risk protection orders and universal background checks. Both initiatives have been proven to make communities safer and are important safety measures which don’t restrict responsible gun ownership.

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.

I don’t believe we need more restrictions on gun ownership but rather we need to look into our mental health services.

By continuing to fund K-12 schools in appropriate manners, I support funding our schools as the children are our future.

The legislature must adequately fund our public school system by fulfilling its agreement of two-thirds funding of public schools. All Wisconsin children deserve a quality education. As more school districts rely on referendums to shore up budget deficits, there are winners and losers. The result is equal, quality education being at risk for some children.

The Legislature should pass the CLEAR Act that I co-sponsored which provides funding and state support for communities dealing with PFAS contamination by creating stricter standards for PFAS levels in drinking water, providing funding for testing, and establishing grant and loan programs to help communities mitigate and clean up contamination. I’ve been a strong, vocal advocate for French Island and other communities who have suffered from PFAS contamination and will continue to fight for the legislature to address this issue, as they should.

The Legislature should be working much harder to secure State and Federal funding to help the people on French Island, by either installing filtration systems for the wells or providing a municipal water source connection to these homes.