After the results of this fall’s elections in places like Virginia and New Jersey, national consultants have argued 2026 campaigns should be focused on just one thing — affordability.
Minority Leader Greta Neubauer told WisPolitics in a new interview that will be Assembly Dems’ main focus during the spring floor period. And then they’ll take the same message to voters next fall.
“We know that people are being squeezed, and the Legislature should be doing more,” Neubauer said in an interview that’s part of a series of WisPolitics conversations with legislative leaders this month.
On the floor, that means Assembly Dems will continue pushing bills that would provide free school lunches to Wisconsin students, expand the homestead tax credit to help the elderly with their property tax bills and lower the cost of prescription drugs through measures such as eliminating cost-sharing payments for medications under the Medical Assistance program.
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Dems started calling for the measures in January, and Neubauer said there will be a new proposal next month that would seek to allow importing prescription drugs at a lower cost.
Housing will also be part of that affordability call, though Republicans have questioned how Dems can claim they want to reduce such costs when they’re simultaneously calling for a repeal of Act 10. The 2011 law took collective bargaining powers away from most public employees and along with longstanding calls from Dems to repeal the law, a challenge to its constitutionality is currently pending before the 2nd District Court of Appeals after a Dane County judge struck down a string of provisions. The case is eventually expected to end up before the state Supreme Court, and Republicans have argued that repealing that restriction would lead to significant property tax hikes.
Neubauer said the counter to that is to adequately fund public schools, something she accused GOP lawmakers of failing to do. She also rejected the GOP suggestion that increases in property tax bills that will hit homeowners mailboxes later this month are the fault of Dem Gov. Tony Evers.
The guv in the 2023-25 state budget used his veto pen to extend by four centuries an annual increase in a cap on how much school districts can spend between state aid and property taxes. The 2025-27 state budget didn’t put any additional money into that formula, allowing districts to raise property taxes up to the additional increase of $325 per student.
“Well, the governor is not going to be on the ballot, but the Republicans who refuse to fund general aids are and they’ve been in control in the legislature for 15 years,” Neubauer said of Dems’ planned messaging on property taxes. “They’re going to have to answer for why their best proposal on education is to support consolidation of school districts and close local schools.”
Neubauer also said in the interview:
*Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, is trying to kill legislation that would require health insurance policies to cover diagnostic breast examinations and supplemental screenings for those at increased risk for breast cancer. Like the postpartum bill, SB 264 cleared the Senate 32-1. Vos has long opposed extending the postpartum coverage to 12 months rather than the current 60 days, calling it an expansion of welfare. Assembly Dems last month sought to use a procedural move to go around Vos’ opposition, but were thwarted when GOP leaders moved the bill to the Assembly Organization Committee. It’s one of three pieces of legislation now before Org — the Assembly and Senate versions of the postpartum legislation, the screening for breast cancer and a Dem resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s pardons for those in the Jan. 6, 2021, violent protest at the U.S. Capitol. Neubauer said she’s at a loss as to why Vos opposes the postpartum expansion and enhanced screening for breast cancer.
“Everyone in the state knows someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Neubauer said. “We’ve got it in my family, really important for people to get those early screenings. We know that it saves lives and difficult to understand why Republican leadership would be unwilling to even have a vote on that bill.”
*She won’t endorse in the Dem guv primary, which has now grown to nine candidates, including state Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison. The field also includes state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and Milwaukee County Exec David Crowley, both of whom previously served in the Assembly. She called the chamber the “training grounds” for the Dem bench.
“We’re all big fans of Francesca, and she’s been a great member of this caucus and a personal friend, and so, of course, you know, we support her, but have other friends running too, and we’ll see what the voters think,” Neubauer said.
*She won’t run for the 1st CD in 2026. The three Dem candidates looking to challenge U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, have yet to raise significant funds, and Neubauer at times has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the seat. The push to find a top challenger to Steil could take on new importance for Dems if either of the lawsuits challenging the state’s congressional maps now before three-judge panels produce new lines ahead of 2026.
Along with winning the governors’ offices in Virginia and New Jersey in November, Dems picked up legislative seats, which some have taken as a sign of the environment brewing this year. Republicans head into 2026 with a 54-45 majority.
“I’ve been here for about eight years and been working consistently to get to the point where we could win a majority and have a Democratic trifecta that can really change the trajectory of our state and pass the bills we’ve been working on for so many years,” Neubauer said. “So I certainly appreciate the thought, but I am going to stay focused on the state Assembly.”
