Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is running in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate election. He joins Lake Effect to talk about his policy proposals and what he hopes to do if elected.
Lake Effect also reached out to Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson; however, his team did not respond with an answer on whether or not he would do the interview, despite receiving clear deadlines.
>> A non-interview with Sen. Ron Johnson: Where he stands on the issues and the questions that remain
The below conversation with Barnes has been edited for clarity.
LAKE EFFECT'S JOY POWERS: The Senate right now is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. While that might change with this election, it also might not. That could continue to create some major hurdles for enacting your priorities. How do you plan to navigate this landscape?
LT. GOV. MANDELA BARNES: Well, you know, serving as lieutenant governor, it has been a constant reminder that things aren't always as political as some folks want it to seem. The reality is, I've been able to work with Democrats and Republicans, showing up in communities all across Wisconsin to do the hard work. That’s what matters at the end of the day. Now, in my time in the Legislature, I worked across the aisle to lower the cost of chemotherapy drugs and in the Senate, I'll make sure to stand up for Wisconsin. That's what it comes down to. Now, Ron Johnson had the opportunity, but he has voted against our interests every step of the way. The bipartisan CHIPs bill, which got 16 Republican senators to vote for it — Ron Johnson decided that he wouldn’t, decided to play politics instead. We know the CHIPs act would help breathe new life into manufacturing here in Wisconsin. Ron Johnson just couldn't be concerned when it came to bipartisan legislation to keep our communities safe to prevent more devastation from gun violence. Ron Johnson cannot be found, that's because he's been propped up by $1.2 million from the gun lobby. He is prioritizing their profits over the future and the lives and safety of our children. That's unacceptable. We need leaders who are actually going to do the work and not play politics. We've experienced after 12 long years under Ron Johnson, that's why he's gotten absolutely nothing done.
POWERS: I mean, you've been experiencing that as lieutenant governor though as well, and I think it's hard to say that this disconnect between the governor's administration and the Legislature hasn't impacted your ability to do your job. What are your strategies for working across the aisle, especially in a very contentious climate?
BARNES: Well, you're absolutely right, and the reality is we have hyperpartisan elected officials, people who are putting the interests of special interests over the people of Wisconsin. They're not doing the jobs they were elected to do. We gotta get rid of them. That's the problem. These are the folks who are holding us back from progress. We could be seeing so much more in this state. We deserve more than elected officials who are going to send our jobs out of state and out of the country, like Ron Johnson has been in favor of. So, with that being said, as I’ve traveled Wisconsin and I've met with the actual people during my time as lieutenant governor and during this campaign, the common refrain is that we need people who are actually going to look out for us. People are tired of the bickering. People are tired of the back and forth because while that's happening, they have only seen their quality of life decline. They've only experienced rising costs at the gas pump and at the grocery store because of it. And we have a responsibility as elected leaders to do much more. And in spite of the opposition, in spite of a lot of polarization and hyperpartisanship that exists in the state capitol, we still have been able to deliver on historic investments in broadband. Our schools went from number 18 to number eight in the country. For the very first time, Wisconsin has a clean power plan that's going to get us to 100% renewable energy and create tens of thousands of good paying jobs in the process. That’s because we've been able to work directly with the people, even if we've had opposition from out-of-touch legislators.
POWERS: Public safety has become a major issue in this election cycle. You've really focused on neighborhood investment more than cracking down on criminality. Why is that?
BARNES: Well, the thing is we have always worked in the interest of keeping communities safe. Well, look, we can all agree that people who commit dangerous crimes should, you know, take consequences for those crimes. But we also can all agree that if we can prevent crime from happening in the first place, it makes us all better off in the long run. We prevent people from becoming criminals. We prevent people from being victims of crime, and I think that is something everybody can agree on. Now, when my granddad moved to Milwaukee after World War Two, he got a good job in a safe city and at that time, opportunity and jobs weren't abundant. When we saw factories close their doors, move their operations out of state or overseas, is when we saw the decline in opportunity which led to a rise in crime and violence. We need to make sure that our schools have the support they need. We need to make sure that we have good paying jobs in communities. We also need to make sure that folks have access to health care, especially mental health care. They're going through some very difficult times, and we see or when you look at or, you know, visit communities or spend time in communities that don't see a higher crime rates; it's because most of those other needs are met. And it's important we make sure that every community is a safe community. Like, you know, proper investments on the front end. We also make sure law enforcement have the resources they need. But when I talk to law enforcement officers, they say that, "Yeah, this is great, but too often we have to carry a heavier burden than we should." They're often asked to perform tasks that they shouldn't have to. In places like Janesville, Superior and Eau Claire, they use additional resources, additional funding to hire social workers, they have people to answer crisis calls and this is about making communities safer in every aspect in every sense of the word, and that's what we all want at the end of the day.
POWERS: With that in mind, you've specifically said you don't support defunding the police. But you have, as you mentioned, supported funding other departments that deal with public safety in different ways and part of that funding seems to come from redistributing money from police departments and giving them to these other departments, effectively removing funds from police departments. Do you still support this approach and why don't you consider that defunding the police?
BARNES: Well, I don't support defunding the police. I support seeking a holistic approach to making communities safer. I think when people are making decisions with budgets, there's often you know, too often, there's never an outcry, you know when schools lose funding or lose support, when programs, enrichment programs, libraries, social services. When those programs are cut, it seems like there are not enough elected officials who step up and say, you know, “Enough is enough” and that's why I wanna make sure that we take a front-end and back-end approach to community safety. It's the prudent strategy. It's what we know what works, but for whatever reason, too many people are ignoring this and only want to wait until it's too late. Once crimes have been committed, it is so late in the process. We want to stop people from having to experience the worst situations in their lives. When people in communities across this country, across this state, when they have access to the resources that will help them live happy, healthy and productive lives, they are much less likely to go out and commit crimes.
POWERS: You've mentioned this, that inflation has become a problem for many communities. Of course, it's impacting every community around the world. It's a global issue, but the federal government does have a major role in combating its domestic impact. What are the policies that you're proposing to deal with inflation?
BARNES: Well, absolutely, it's a global issue, and I'm really glad you brought that up for the listeners because you let people like Ron Johnson tell us this is a homegrown problem. Now, what we need to do is build things here and Wisconsin and America these are supply chain issues, and also drive down costs for folks. I know what it's like to struggle to pay the bills. I know the challenges. And I was raised in a working-class household. The parents that gave, excuse me, the job that gave my parents a ticket to the middle class are the opportunities that don't really exist at the same degree anymore. And that's why it's important for me to keep fighting to make sure that every person has at least the same opportunities my parents are able to give me. Now, we need to give working class families some relief. We need a middle-class tax cut to make, we can pay for it by making sure that the wealthy pay their fair share. Ron Johnson’s business had not paid state income taxes since 2013 because the rules are rigged against working people in favor of the most wealthy people in this country. They're able to write their own rules while the rest of us get left behind and we have to bring some balance here. We have to even the playing field. And that's why also, not just fight for the middle-class tax cut, but also make sure we work to bring manufacturing back home for working people first. Undo the unfair trade deals that have hurt Wisconsin workers, that have hurt our small businesses, that have hurt our family farmers. We deserve so much better than Ron Johnson, who spent his time in Washington making himself richer. And at the same time, he wants to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block, which would make a bad situation even worse for people who have worked their entire lives and deserve to retire with some respect and some dignity. Now, $215 million in tax deductions for his biggest donors did nothing to help inflation. In fact, the 2017 tax bill being a $2 trillion hole into the deficit, when you want to put money in the pockets of working people, Ron Johnson says that, or even minimum wage is price fixing. Now, this is a person who supported tax breaks for companies that outsource. When communities lose good paying jobs and end up driving costs up on working people, and also leads to the rise in crime and violence. And Ron Johnson’s a person who can't be, you know, we can't count on him to keep our community safe. He supported a violent insurrection that left 140 officers injured. He’s not serious about this issue. He's just gonna point fingers. But he won't lift a single finger to help, whether it's making communities safer by stopping crime or driving down costs for working people.
POWERS: Lieutenant Governor, thanks so much for being here.
BARNES: Well, hey Joy, I want to thank you so much for having me and. Hope your listeners all come out to vote.
Wisconsin's midterm elections are Tuesday, November 8, 2022. If you have a question about voting or the races, submit it below or check out WUWM's voter guide.
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