By Press Times Staff
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – After defeating challenger Andi Rich in the primary, Republican incumbent John Nygren now faces Democrat Karl Jaeger for the 89th Assembly District.
Nygren was first elected to the Assembly in 2006 and currently serves as the chair of the Committee of Finance and co-chair of the Joint Committee of Finance.
In 2018, Nygren beat Democratic challenger Ken Holdorf by receiving nearly 67 percent of the vote.
Jaeger is a Marinette County board supervisor and an IT analyst with a degree from Northern Michigan University.
The Press Times emailed each candidate the same questions and gave them 100 words to respond to each.
The 89th District stretches from Marinette to parts of Howard and Suamico.
John Nygren
What’s the biggest issue in District 89?
I hear a lot about investing in worker training and education, keeping taxes low, and expanding the availability of affordable housing.
This session, I delivered on all of these items.
Funding for schools increased for the fourth consecutive budget (over $500 million) and we invested in worker training programs.
We stopped Gov. Evers’ push to raise taxes by over $1 billion and cut income taxes by over $300 million.
Wisconsin’s tax burden is the lowest it has been in 50 years.
Finally, I worked to create a rural workforce housing program to expand access to affordable housing in rural communities.
What should be done on the state level to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?
President Donald Trump has often said the response to COVID-19 is locally driven with support from the state and federal governments.
I worked with Gov. Evers and my colleagues to pass legislation giving Gov. Evers the flexibilities he requested to respond to the pandemic.
We also utilized federal resources to improve the availability of PPE and ventilators.
I voted for additional funding for schools and child care centers to ensure workers are protected and parents can return to work knowing their children are cared for.
The state should continue to support local health departments to control COVID-19.
How should state lawmakers regulate the use of force by police? Should uniform standards be implemented statewide?
These conversations need all stakeholders, and we should not rush to pass laws just to pass laws.
We need meaningful reforms that will make a difference.
I voted for legislation creating statewide training standards for police and to better track candidates’ job history during the hiring process.
I do not believe the only way to fund social services is by cutting law enforcement budgets.
This session, we increased funding for social services programs by over $30 million.
This was the largest increase in social services in the last decade.
We can fund police and social services at the same time.
What changes should be made to the state funding formula for public school districts to place less of a burden on property taxpayers and to avoid referendums?
Our current funding formula is nationally recognized as one of the best and most equitable school funding formulas in the country.
Over the last several years, I have worked to strengthen and improve the formula, instead of tearing it apart.
Funding for public education has increased every year since 2012.
State funding increased by over $500 million in the last two years alone.
I also led the effort to direct more resources to historically low-spending schools.
Every school in the 89th district benefited from this change which increased funding for our schools in the district by millions of dollars.
How should lawmakers in Wisconsin work better together with less partisanship?
We need less name-calling and more legislators who are willing to sit down and talk through issues to find common ground.
The HOPE Agenda, our work to combat substance abuse, is a great playbook for bipartisanship.
Each of the more than 30 bills has passed nearly unanimously, despite some fierce opposition from conservatives and liberals. I worked with Dave Hansen, a liberal Democrat, to introduce legislation to protect our water from PFAS.
In both of these instances, instead of name-calling or highlighting differences, I sat down with Republicans and Democrats to advance legislation that improves quality of life in Wisconsin.
Karl Jaeger
What’s the biggest issue in District 89?
Dealing with PFAS contamination needs to be a top priority.
I strongly support the CLEAR Act, which would direct the DNR to set HALs for PFAS in our water; expand the number of PFAS compounds regulated by the state; and give the DNR additional resources.
I’ll also support legislation to reinstate stronger environmental protections for metallic sulfide mining.
Every Wisconsin resident should have access to high-quality, affordable health care when they need it.
Expanding Medicaid would save Wisconsin approximately $2.5 billion over the next decade. When I am in office, I will fight to protect and expand health care coverage.
What should be done on the state level to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?
The Legislature could start by showing up to do the job we elected them to do.
Instead, they’ve threatened once to meet simply to overturn a public health order.
The basic function of state government is to protect citizens’ health and safety.
They’ve filed more lawsuits this year than they have passed bills to help Wisconsin workers, families, farmers, and small businesses during this pandemic.
We deserve representatives who show up to work.
They should be dealing with this pandemic on a state level, not leaving it up to local governments.
They should also immediately pass the Healthcare Heroes Act.
How should state lawmakers regulate the use of force by police? Should uniform standards be implemented statewide?
Our communities are strongest when all individuals are treated fairly and have equal justice under the law.
Wisconsin lags behind neighboring states such as Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan in criminal justice reform.
Wisconsin has led the nation in both Black and Native American incarceration for the last decade.
On June 19, 2020, Gov. Evers and Lt. Gov. Barnes introduced a package of bills to address policing reform, transparency, and accountability in Wisconsin – including establishing statewide use of force standards, prohibiting no-knock warrants, and investing $1 million in community programing.
I would support that package of bills.
What changes should be made to the state funding formula for public school districts to place less of a burden on property taxpayers and to avoid referendums?
Our local public schools are the heart of our communities.
It is imperative that we invest in public education by honoring the state’s commitment to fund at least two-thirds of K-12 costs.
Fully funding special education and mental health services will help to meet the basic needs of marginalized students and close the achievement gap.
Accepting the federal Medicaid Expansion will insure thousands of people who have lost their employer-based health care due to COVID-19, as well as save the state over $180-million per year – money that can be invested right back into our schools.
How should lawmakers in Wisconsin work better together with less partisanship?
A clean environment, affordable health care, great schools and good job should be non-partisan issues.
Personally, I want to live in a place my children will want to stay and raise their own families.
Politics shouldn’t be an us-against-them team sport – our economy and our people can’t afford more of these party-line political games.
We need leaders who collaborate with their colleagues to solve the problems at hand.
We need our elected leaders to put people before party and to put the health and safety of our people first.
I will be accountable to the people who elected me.