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Two want the chance to take on Davis

The race to face incumbent Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, starts Tuesday when voters will decided between two Monroe residents in the 80th Assembly District Democratic primary.

John Waelti, 71, was raised on a dairy farm in Green County before completing a career in economics that took him to four universities and five continents, including working for a year at the Pentagon.

Kristin Wisnefske, 55, has lived nearly the last 30 years in Green County, working in the nursing field from home care and hospice to parish nursing.

The 80th District includes Evansville, Union and Magnolia townships in Rock County, all of Green County, the southern townships in Dane County and South Wayne and Wayne Township in Lafayette County.

The candidates responded to the following questions:

Q: Why are you running, and what makes you the best candidate?

Waelti: After his career led him around the world, Waelti retired in 2005 to Green County and was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Monroe School Board.

“It was there that I decided we needed to change some things in state government,” he said.

His experience convinced him that the state needs to change the school funding formula so districts don’t have to go to referendum every few years to maintain operating expenses, he said.

He brings the combination of roots in the district, service in the military and a career in economics, he said. His broad range of experience in problem solving and working in government from the local level to Washington would make him an effective legislator, he said.

“I tend to be more of a cooperator than a competitor,” he said.

Wisnefske: Her experience in the nursing field reinforces her belief that the state needs affordable, accessible health care for all, she said.

“I just see a continued need for changes in health care,” she said. “We have a broken health care system, and people are really struggling.”

She’s advocated for change in health care for years, but nothing’s happened, she said.

Her career working in Green County offers her a better understanding of the issues that affect the district’s residents, she said.

Nurses understand health care, she said, and nursing is a trusted profession.

Wisnefske said she would be a representative for “real people working hard and still not being able to meet their needs.”

Q: What is your position on education?

Waelti: Education funding needs a statewide solution, he said.

He wants to see pressure taken off property taxes, coupled with tax reform, which “might mean corporations pay their share of the taxes,” he said.

Wisnefske: The funding formula is outdated and pits taxpayers against schools, she said.

A new school funding formula is needed that would take pressure off property taxes, she said. Coming up with an affordable health care plan for all also would benefit school district funding, she said.

Q: How about health care?

Waelti: Too many people still don’t have access to health care, and ideally that should be dealt with at the federal level, he said.

But if it’s not, “then we have an obligation at the state level to do something, make sure everyone has access.”

He said he would support like-minded legislators to get a plan on the table.

Wisnefske: Real solutions are needed to provide affordable, accessible health care for everyone, she said. Changing how people with pre-existing conditions are treated and providing choices among plans are options to consider, she said.

A bigger focus needs to be on prevention, she said.

Q: And the state budget?

Waelti: On the revenue side, he would like to close loopholes that allow “large operations … to avoid taxes,” he said. On expenditures, the state needs to look at its policies on incarceration, he said. He points to Rock County Sheriff Bob Spoden’s innovative efforts to reduce jail populations.

“Does it really make sense to incarcerate first time, non-violent offenders?” he said.

The state needs to “resist temptation to cut funds in higher education,” he said, because it is a source of future economic growth.

Wisnefske: First, the state needs a Senate and Assembly that can work together, she said.

Funding priorities need to be set, which Wisnefske said should be health care and education.

Money should be spent on health care prevention, and good schools will bring good workers and taxpayers, she said.

“I think we have to look at priorities and figure out best as a legislature how to meet those needs,” she said.