MADISON, WI – This morning, Trevor Jung, Senate candidate for SD-21, and Charly Ray, candidate for SD-25, appeared on Civic Media’s ‘DayBreak’ and Pat Kreitlow’s ‘UpNorth’ live stream, respectively. Trevor touted the Affordable Wisconsin Legislative Packages put forth by Senate Democrats last month, while Charly Ray spoke on the issues facing residents of Northwest Wisconsin.

Trevor Jung on Daybreak with Brian and Jamie

On the Affordable Wisconsin Legislative Packages:

  • “Affordability isn’t a one-issue problem. Something like this has to be addressed comprehensively, and as the State Senate democratic caucus is working together, we’re looking at healthcare, utility bills, grocery bills, the cost of housing, and rent. These things don’t live in silos, so I think that Senate democrats are focused on affordability, and packaging them together shows the electorate that we’re serious about solving the issue that’s on top of everybody’s mind, which is making life more affordable for folks.

On the lack of Republican support for common-sense efforts to cut costs:

  • “It really should be a non-partisan issue. Whether you are in the reddest districts in the state or the bluest districts in the state, I think everybody is struggling right now to afford the basics, and so elected officials really need to step up, step in, and solve these issues . I can’t answer why folks on the other side of the aisle haven’t moved on these, but I know that legislative democrats are ready on day one.”

On the cost of groceries:

  • “Grocery prices impact everybody, but especially if you have families and young children. So, making sure lunch and breakfast is available at school for your kids is step one in reducing the impact of that. Legislative democrats have a solution; there are bills drafted, and we are ready to pass them with a majority vote and send it to a democratic governor. It makes no sense to me that this is controversial. Feeding kids, making sure everyone has access to food, is not something that I thought we would have to debate.”

On the cost of childcare:

  • “It is more expensive now to send your kids to childcare than a university education in the state of Wisconsin. So, making the child tax credit refundable so you can use that money that’s put back into your pocket to send on childcare while parents are going to work. That’s also something we want to work on to pass.”

Charly Ray on Pat Kreitlow’s livestream

On electing a democratic trifecta:

  • “I think it’s important if people really want to see some change in the state, because as you know, when you have divided leadership, and you have people who don’t really want to represent and come to the table or compromise on things, you get nothing done. We’ve seen most of the last 30 years being dominated by a Republican controlled legislature, and a lot of that time the governorship as well. There’s been very little bipartisan action on anything, and when the Republicans have controlled everything, their focus has been on dismantling and defending our government. I think people are ready to see a government that’s delivering for them, and the best way to do that is to have the power to actually make those changes. We are talking right now about what kind of changes we’re going to bring forth and really deliver some results for the people of the state.”

On municipal funding and unfunded mandates:

  • “I served on town government for a decade, and one of the responsibilities of the town chairman is providing EMS. With population decline and aging demographics, it has really changed our ability to provide EMS services. We’ve got one community here that’s basically scheduled to close its EMS program in July because of the retirement of a community leader. That’s something the state could be stepping up on. The state mandates it and then doesn’t provide any funding for it.”

On the underfunding of the Department of Natural Resources:

  • “Something I hear as I travel around the district is people talking about the decline of the DNR over the past 30 years. It’s sad that a state that was such a huge leader in conservation, we’re the state of Old Leopold, of Gaylord Nelson, and Governor Knowles. The legacy is just defunding the DNR to the point where it’s kind of become a shadow of its former self.”

On fish hatchery closures:

  • “Thats an issue that is a great concern of mine. It spans the district. You talked about the hatchery in Brule, but the other one on the chopping block is in Osceola, on the other end of the district. Both of those hatcheries, interestingly, have natural spring-fed systems. One of the challenges with these fish hatcheries is how you pay for the wells and the energy to pump the water to keep the habitat going for the fish. Well, these are two places where we have natural, spring-fed, high-quality water coming right out of the ground. The retired DNR folks I’ve been talking with, they talk about the low caring cost for those. Thats the kind of thing that seems like a common-sense thing that we should be addressing in Madison.”