On Nov3, Greta Neubauer will defend her seat against Will Leverson of Racine. We asked the same questions of both candidates. Looking to learn more about Leverson, click here.
Here are Neubauer’s answers
Where do you live?
Racine, WI
How long have you lived in the community?
Born and raised in Racine.
What is your educational background?
B.A. in History, Middlebury College, 2015
What civic organizations do you belong to?
Racine Hospitality Center (Board Chair); Racine Interfaith Coalition; NAACP-Racine Branch; Great Lakes Legislative Caucus; National Caucus of Environmental Legislators; Planned Parenthood; Democratic Party of Racine County.
What position are you running for?
State Assembly, District 66
Have you ever held elected office before?
Yes.
If so, what positions were you elected to?
In thinking about your election bid, what top three issues need to be addressed? *
1. Supporting Racine residents to get through the COVID-19 public health crisis and economic recession
2. Fighting racial injustice and increasing equity in Wisconsin
3. Increasing access to quality and affordable healthcare for everyone, including accepting the Medicaid expansion
How would you plan to address those issues?
Wisconsin is a national hotspot for COVID-19 and people in Racine are struggling to weather this storm. We need leaders who make science-based decisions, prioritizing public health, and ensuring everyone has a place to sleep and enough food to put on the table. I have proposed and advocated for a series of bills that would support small businesses and essential workers, cut red tape in our unemployment system, and more, but Republicans have refused to call us into session since April.
I will continue to advocate for these bills and work to ensure that the next state budget invests in our communities, our schools, and our healthcare. Since I was elected in 2018, I have proposed and advocated for bills addressing everything from disparities in maternal health and infant health to invest in our public schools to criminal justice reform. Racine continues to be a place where people of color do not have equal opportunities to succeed, and that needs to change. We need to take up these critical bills in the legislature.
I will continue to build on my work to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin. Accepting these federal healthcare dollars would lower healthcare costs on the private market and increase access to care for struggling Wisconsinites. We have seen popular, bi-partisan legislation stall in the legislature — from non-partisan redistricting to increasing the minimum wage — and I want to continue organizing and putting pressure on the Republicans in the Legislature to listen to their constituents.
In reference to those issues you have identified, what would success look like to you?
Success looks like a Racine, and a Wisconsin, where every member of our community is empowered to succeed and live a happy, healthy life. While we battle COVID and entrenched inequality, this is not an easy goal to achieve, but we know the steps that will help us to get there. The roadmap to success starts with investing in our foundation:
This looks like investing in full-day 4K and our public schools so that everyone gets a strong start to life, increasing the minimum wage and supporting our unions to rebuild the middle class, and fighting climate change, and creating good, sustainable jobs. This looks like everyone having access to quality, affordable healthcare, and investing more in treatment and diversion programs, instead of increasing our prison population. The best way to ensure these priorities pass the legislature starts with nonpartisan redistricting for fair legislative maps in Wisconsin.
In 2011, the Republican-dominated Legislature partnered with former Governor Scott Walker to create some of the most politically-biased legislative maps in the country. When politicians pick their constituents instead of voters picking their representatives, the people’s priorities end up neglected or ignored. Our government should reflect our priorities as a community, and with fair, nonpartisan maps, we can stop political infighting and pass the policies that make life better for everyone in our community.
Why are those issues important to you?
These issues are important to me because they are the issues I’ve heard about from the people of Racine for the last two and a half years during listening sessions, when they call my office, and when I run into people at the grocery store. Growing up in Racine, I know the things that make our community great, but I also know that we have work to do to make our home a place where every person can find their place and succeed, and these issues are essential to making that happen.
I believe our government should work for everyone, but right now, special interests have too big a say in Madison. They’ve lobbied for their interests and Republicans have listened, but the door slams shut when young people show up who are scared to go to school for fear of a mass shooting. Republicans have given tax cut after tax cut to wealthy people and corporations, instead of investing in mental health services, public transit, and our tech schools and UW campuses.
As a young person who will be around long after our current Republican leadership is out of office, I refuse to sit by and watch them put their own interests over the people of Wisconsin.
At the end of your term, what would you like to have accomplished?
Right now, COVID-19 is dominating our lives, and I know that even after the pandemic ends, our recovery will take time. At the end of the next legislative term, I would like our state to be investing in a just and equitable recovery process. This includes investment in our healthcare system, from accepting the Medicaid expansion to expanding programs fighting disparities in health and maternal outcomes. It means investing in our small businesses and in creating new sustainable, family-supporting jobs. And it means investing in our kids and our education system, so every child can receive the support they need to succeed in school and beyond, despite the disruptions brought by this pandemic. I am committed to proposing and fighting to pass legislation in support of these goals, in 2020 and beyond.
In the 2021 session, Wisconsin will also undergo the once-in-a-decade redistricting process. At the end of the session, I want to have completed a redistricting process resulting in fair, non-partisan legislative maps that strengthen our democracy and allow the people of Wisconsin to choose their legislators, rather than the other way around.
Why should people vote for you?
I have worked tirelessly to listen to, collaborate with, and fight alongside the people of Racine for the last two and a half years. I have helped change what is politically possible in our city and state in the areas of healthcare, investment in our public schools, addressing climate change, and reforming policing and our criminal justice system. It has been the honor of my life to represent this community in Madison, and I hope to continue fighting hard for you in Madison next year.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know?
READ MORE: Election Guide 2020, 2020 Partisan Primary Election Voting Guide
