We reached out to each gubernatorial candidate’s campaign to schedule an interview for this issue. We were able to schedule a phone interview with Mary Burke and didn’t hear back from Governor Walker’s campaign. We decided to ask the candidates about issues in the governor’s race that matter to Madison College students. All stances on issues presented here are from either the candidate’s website, direct quotes from other interviews, or quotes from our interview.

College Tuition

Mary Burke:  “I want to bring down the cost of higher education by increasing the amount of financial aid. Making tuition and fees tax deductible…bring down the interest rate of student loans. I believe that pursuing higher education and getting the skills of education should be dependent on your dreams and your hard work and not on the size of your family’s paycheck and unfortunately that’s what’s happening right now. If we’re going to hold down the cost of tuition, which I would like to do, it needs to be offset, or at least partially offset, by an increase of state aid. Otherwise you are just strangling technical colleges or universities. What is needed is to prioritize it and be able to put greater funding into the state budget.”

Gov. Scott Walker: Walker has frozen the UW tuition for 2 years at the beginning of 2014 and has said that upon reelection he will push for another tuition freeze in 2016 that will keep college affordable for students. “I’m the first governor ever to freeze tuition two years in a row, and we’re going to freeze it again going forward,” said Walker at a campaign stop in Appleton. “We want to work with them not only on the tuition freeze, which we’re committed to, but also on some economic development efforts,” said Walker, “Much like we’re going to make target investments in our technical colleges.”

Jobs

Burke: “We need to have a growing economy that’s going to create good paying jobs.” Burke acknowledges the growing concern among students who are wondering what sort of jobs will be available after they graduate. Burke pointed to Wisconsin’s disputed job created numbers and said, “That really hurts young people coming out of college who may not have the deep resumes of experience, but certainly have a lot of motivation and dreams of what they want to do.”

Walker: His website outlines his plan to create more jobs. He will do so by “cutting taxes on small businesses, curbing frivolous lawsuits that drove costs up, eliminating the state tax on health savings accounts, (and)…curtailing wasteful spending at all levels of state government. I think we can have that sort of transformational difference,” according to a quote from Walker on his website, “From government providing all the answers to where it empowered a partnership with employers, particularly small businesses, and created an environment for more jobs.”

Public Education

Burke: “We have to put aside the divisive battles between charter and voucher and public schools, and realize this is the landscape. What we need to do is build on successful models and have accountability for all schools taking taxpayer dollars.” Burke said she would stop the expansion of the school voucher program and invest in public schools.

Walker: After expanding, “The groundbreaking Milwaukee Parental Choice Program to policies aimed at expanding the role of charter schools in communities across the state, Wisconsin was viewed as a pioneer in educational innovation and creativity,” according to the Governor’s website. Walker has said he plans to continue the expansion of the voucher program. Walker hopes to restore Wisconsin’s place as a national leader in education by, “Improving transparency, improving accountability, and creating choice.”

Minimum Wage

Burke: “I want to make sure that people who are working full time are able to support themselves without reliance on government assistance and right now we have people who are working fulltime and living in poverty. That’s just not right and it also doesn’t help our economy. By raising the minimum wage that actually gives people more money that they spend immediately in our local businesses and communities.” Burke indicated she favors a three step increase in the minimum wage over a period of time.

Walker: In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Walker said, “The jobs I focus on, the programs we put in place, the training we put in place, is not for people to get minimum wage jobs. It’s the training—whether it’s in apprenticeships, whether it’s our tech colleges, whether’s it our [University of Wisconsin] system—it’s to try and provide the training, the skills, the talents, the expertise that people need to create careers that pay many, many times over.”

Veterans

Burke: “The fact is, unemployment rates among veterans in Wisconsin is higher than among the general population and that just shouldn’t be.” Burke said she wants to work with employers and the education system to find out what is standing in the way of accessing needed skills and education for veterans.

Walker: During his term as Governor, Walker worked to restore the G.I. Bill. “Ensuring veterans have access to a great higher education is a step in helping them enter into a career they are passionate about following their brave service,” Governor Walker said. “We recognize the sacrifice made by Wisconsin’s bravest men and women and we are committed to serving them.”

Environmental Issues

Burke: “Under Gov. Walker our environmental protections have been weakened. …What we need to do is balance job creation with protecting natural resources” On her website Burke says she wants to “preserve farmland, protect water, and restore local control to communities so they can make decisions about things like frac sand mining.”

Walker: In a debate, Gov. Walker was asked about weighing the environmental and health concerns of local residents and the economic benefit of frac sand mining Walker responded by saying: “Thanks to the gods and the glaciers, we have some of the best frack sands in the world. In many of our rural parts they’ve been a tremendous economic boom creating jobs and opportunities that many haven’t seen in parts of the state of Wisconsin. From the West to the Northwest we want to continue to do that going forward.” Speaking on environmental issues with the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board in mid-October, Walker said, “The best way to be green is to make green or save green.”

Healthcare

Burke: Burke said that Walker’s refusal of federal funding of $206 million dollars will have a large impact on BadgerCare and Wisconsin taxpayers. “When people lose their insurance, it’s not as if they don’t get sick, it’s just that were not getting the funding to help pay for it. Which then actually makes healthcare more expensive for everyone else.” According to Burke’s website, “Mary Burke believes that the last person who should be making health care decisions for Wisconsin women are Madison politicians. She strongly supports a woman’s freedom to make her own health care decisions in consultation with her doctor and in accordance with her faith.”

Walker: Gov. Walker’s website says “Health care costs are the fastest rising part of a family’s and employer’s budget. I am focused on getting patients the treatment they need, when they need it by eliminating government red tape that increases cost and by giving families more control of their health care.” It also states that, “Instead of using one time stimulus funds like the previous administration and liberal Democrats, I am working to provide a long term solution to the viability of the healthcare safety net for the over one million low income families, seniors and people with disabilities throughout Wisconsin.” Walker invested $1.2 billion dollars in state funds for Medicaid and his website says, “Nearly all of the new revenue that the State of Wisconsin brings in over the next two years will go to fund the programs and care that is needed by so many Wisconsin families.”