Newcomer challenges August in the 32nd

By Tracy Ouellette

SLN Staff

State Rep. Tyler August (R-Lake Geneva) is being challenged by newcomer Christine Welcher (D-East Troy) in the 32nd State Assembly race.

The 32nd Assembly District includes parts of Walworth, Kenosha and Racine counties, with the cities of Lake Geneva and Delavan, the villages of East Troy and Genoa City, and the townships of Bloomfield, Delavan, East Troy, Geneva, Lafayette, Linn and Springfield.

August has served the district as its representative for six years and is running for his fourth term on Tuesday. He is the speaker pro tempore of the State Assembly.

Welcher is the farm manager and student program director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy who said it was the 2015-17 biennial state budget that pushed her to seeking office.

“I just saw all the different areas that I enjoy about Wisconsin being threatened in the budget,” Welcher said. “Regulations being lessened – regulations on air quality, water quality; cuts in the state parks budget and other legislation that went through that affected everything from small family farms to the school system – from grade school to university.

“When I saw the budget and saw all the cuts being made to all these areas while more tax breaks went to some of the largest manufactures in Wisconsin as well as additional positions being created in the administrative branch, I knew something had to be done.”

Welcher said she contacted August’s office three times in 2015 about these issues, but didn’t receive a response.

“I didn’t get so much as a ‘Thank you for your email,’” she said.

“That’s what really prompted me to get involved,” she continued. “I contacted the Democratic Party in Walworth County, just to see what they were doing. I was actually hoping to find somebody to support, someone who was running.

“They didn’t really have anyone, so, here I am.”

When asked about this August said the legislature had some difficult decisions to make during the budget process and he stood behind his choices. For him, education funding was vital and that’s what they needed to focus on.

“We did make cuts to the budget so we could put aside a half a billion toward education – University of Wisconsin and K12,” August said. “If I’m given the choice between cutting staff at state parks or cutting education (funding), I’m going to support education every time.

“For us, that became a priority. I will make that decision every time if it’s between state schools and state parks – it’s not even a question of what we should do.”

Challenges facing the district

August said transportation spending and economic development were two of the biggest issues facing the district as well as the state and they were tied together in Walworth County.

August said Interstate 43 and the main highways in and out of the area all needed major work, along with several bridges, and it was imperative to the economic growth of the region.

“We need to have the transportation structure in place to move product in and out of the area,” he said.

Welcher agreed that economic development was a priority.

“Walworth County is still trying to get on its feet from the recession,” she said. “This is a fairly rural district and we don’t have the major employers in the area like a cannery or a mill or factories like some rural places in the state.”

August said one way to encourage more business growth in the district was to make sure the tax climate in the state was friendly to businesses.

“We’re primed to take off we just need to give businesses looking to come here a bit of certainty on taxes and the regulatory climate in the state,” August said.

Welcher said the state as a whole needed to look at supply and demand and recognize that manufacturing isn’t the area’s future with job growth.

“Wisconsin is 50th in the nation in startups and entrepreneurship,” she said. “It’s time to take partisanship and throw it out the door and work together. Take brightest and best ideas and try to do something to put ourselves in a better position for the future.”

Working across the aisle

Both Welcher and August said they were more than willing to work with anyone who had a good idea, regardless of what party they were affiliated with.

“We need everybody to work together to solve these problems,” Welcher said. “Conservatives bring efficiency, cost management and attention to budgetary spending and liberals bring an obsession with social welfare and common good. We need both those sides attacking the problem to come up with a solution.”

August cited his work in the assembly and as speaker pro tempore as an example of how often he has been willing to cross party lines to get the job done.

“A couple of the biggest bills I’ve worked on have been with democrats,” August said. “I’ve worked with Cory Mason in Racine, Chris Taylor and Fred Kessler from Milwaukee – three of the most progressive, liberal democrats there are – but we worked across those lines which is what people expect me to do.”

Welcher said the problem with partisan politics was one of her reasons for running for the assembly.

“The whole reason to have a government is to protect and serve the people,” Welcher said. “And if they’re just sitting in Madison and just bickering amongst themselves and not getting anything done it’s the people who are losing out.”

Plans for the future

August said he wants to continue the work he’s done in the assembly over the past three terms and he was very humbled that the voters have given him the opportunity to represent them.

One of the issues he wants to tackle should he be elected to another term is the drug abuse problem in the area.

“This session we worked in a bipartisan fashion to pass a number of bills aimed at fighting heroin and other opioid abuse. Our work is not finished. While continuing to fight the spread of heroin, the legislature needs to work to combat the spread of other drugs like meth,” he said.

He also wants to find a way to lessen the tax burden on seniors.

“One thing Illinois does not – that we do – is to tax retirement income,” August said. “They are our community volunteers, but the more uncompetitive our tax code is with states like Florida and Arizona the more we’re going to continue to lose our seniors.”

Welcher said one of the first things she’s going to do if elected is establish a citizen advisory board in the county to advise her.

“I want a good representation of the communities in the area with all demographics – public and private,” she said. “We’re going to sit down four times a year, so it’s not a huge commitment, so I can remain really tied to the community and what needs to be done here.

“We need to sit down and actually start talking about this stuff and come up with sustainable solutions,” she said. “I truly believe legislation should come from the people in our district. The people should be bringing that to the legislature, not the lobbyist from out of state.”