Wisconsin. PBS Wisconsin Original
production. 2024 election coverage. 37
tornadoes and historic power outages underscored the extent
of the storms across Wisconsin. And damage they caused. I'm
Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on "Here& Now, state Attorney
General Josh Kaul on the millions in funding from the
opioid settlement and outbreak of whooping cough in green Bay
could be fatal for exposed infants and the draining
reserves of Social Security spells uncertainty for future
retirees. It's "Here& Now" for May 24th.
>> Funding for Here and Now is provided by the Focus Fund for
Wisconsin. journalism and friends of PBS.
the opioid settlement funds will million of Wisconsin's share of
start to be dispersed for the year. Wisconsin will receive a
total of $750 million over several years from settlements
reached in national lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies
that made opioid drugs, according to the CDC. Wisconsin
saw a 4% decrease in overdose deaths in 2023, down to a still
staggering 1754 deaths. Fentanyl and drugs laced with it account
for most of the deaths. Here to talk about how the settlement
money is being put to work, state Attorney General Josh
Collin, thanks very much for being here.
>> So is it too early to say whether programs funded to date
with settlement funds are helping drive down these deaths?
>> Well, it's hard to know exactly how they link up to
those kinds of numbers, but what I can say with a lot of
confidence is that those dollars are making a difference, so when
we prepared to get funds allocated for the upcoming
fiscal year, the Department of Health Services secretary
designee and I met with stakeholders from around the
state. We held roundtable events, and we asked people on
the front lines of the fight against the opioid epidemic to
tell us what's been working and where do we need more resources.
One of the things we consistently heard from folks is
that these funds are making a difference. They're filling gaps
where they're needed, and I'll give you an example, Medicaid
reimburses certain aspects of treatment for people who are
struggling with substance use disorder, but there are parts
that aren't covered that can be critical, like housing. So
getting those kinds of funds can help keep people in treatment
and can help make them more successful. Now let's be clear
there are never going to be enough funds to address all the
needs that we have. But the more dollars we can get to
communities, the more that we can help keep people safe and
save lives. >> Because how hard is it to
release and reverse the grip of the opioid epidemic on this
population? >> It's been an enormous
challenge for communities across the country. There has been some
meaningful progress made, and it's important to note that
things like the Pdmp and efforts to discourage overprescription
of opioids, those have made a difference. And I think you're
seeing a reversal in the trend of opioid prescriptions, which
had gone up dramatically over a few decades. On the other hand,
we're dealing with the impacts of the pandemic and social
isolation and more concerning, we're dealing with the impacts
of fentanyl, which is now laced in all sorts of drugs and is
incredibly dangerous. >> Just the flow of fentanyl
just keep coming. And can law enforcement keep up?
>> Well, right now the volume coming in is enormous and it's
mixed in all sorts of different types of drugs. So we've got to
be doing a variety of things to keep people safe. One is we've
got to make sure we are investigating and prosecuting
shipping these incredibly communities. That's one of the
things we do at DOJ. But we've also got to recognize that
people are overdosing sometimes not even realizing that they're
using opioids. And so having harm reduction measures in place
like fentanyl test strips and like Narcan, which are going to
be funded through some of these opioid settlement funds, is also
helping to save lives. >> How angry does the role of
opioid manufacturers in this scourge make you?
>> It makes me really upset. You know, this problem would not
have happened if it wasn't for the pumping up of opioid
prescriptions through efforts of pharmaceutics companies. When we
filed our suit against Purdue Pharma, just months after I took
office as AG, we laid out in our complaint our allegations about
how this whole thing started. You know, if you go back
decades. Opioid prescriptions were incredibly low in
Wisconsin, in Wisconsin and nationwide. But through efforts
of companies like Purdue Pharma to really push opioids, to
promote studies that were not actually valid, to encourage
doctors to prescribe opioids, there's been a major addiction
epidemic that's happened. And the impacts that we're seeing
are still to this day in significant part, being driven
by that in Wisconsin. >> Do any of the settlement
monies go to individuals impact impacted the way the settlements
were structured is that they are focused on abating future harm.
>> So there have been some separate legal actions involving
the individuals who were impacted. But these funds, based
on the terms of the settlement, are meant to be forward looking
in terms of preventing harm. So certainly if there are people
who are struggling with substance use disorder who were
impacted previously, this might help them get the kind of
support that they need. But it's separate from providing the kind
of compensation for somebody who is injured on another score.
>> As you well know, Arizona this week arraigned false
Republican electors alleged to be part of a falsely electoral,
you know, falsifying electoral documents. What about
Wisconsin's false electors who settled a civil suit? Will you
be criminally charging them? >> Well, I can say a few things.
So first, I think it is vitally important that anybody who
committed a crime with the goal of overturning the results of an
election be held accountable, and there have been significant
steps towards accountability through the federal prosecution
of former President Trump. That's ongoing right now. A
number of states have now brought charges at the
Department of Justice. We don't confirm or deny the existence of
ongoing investigations and charging decisions that that Das
ultimately make are only announced when they're happening
. But again, it's critical that anybody who committed a crime to
overturn an election is held accountable.
heading into the November elections about a repeat of the
aftermath of the 2020 election? >> I think it's something we
need to be vigilant about in 2020. We knew that there were a
number of threats to the security of our elections, and
so we made sure to make clear to people that if there was voter
intimidation at the polls or voter fraud, that people needed
to expect to be held accountable. And fortunately, in
2020, election Day went smoothly, I think a lot more
smoothly than people anticipated . And of course, we then saw
significant litigation in the aftermath of that election. I
expect that we will see litigation again in the
aftermath of this election in 2020. We defended the state's
voters and their choice for president, and we won every
single case. But one of those cases was 4 to 3 in our state
Supreme Court. Now, this year, I, you know, the composition of
the Supreme Court has changed a bit, and we're going to be
prepared to defend the results and ensure that the will of the
voters is upheld. We succeeded in 2020, and I'm confident we
will again in 2024. But we're also not going in with with any
any misunderstanding that that we're not going to potentially
be in for a challenge again. All right.
>> Attorney General Josh Kaul, thanks very much.
>> Thanks for having me. >> Storms pummeled the Midwest
this week. The National Weather Service confirmed seven
tornadoes in Western, central and northeast Wisconsin with
wind speeds ranging from 90 to 105mph statewide. Severe storms
and strong winds left more than 40,000 without power, with the
largest number being in Dane County. Madison Gas and Electric
called the outages historic, with hundreds of lines down
Madison Public Schools were closed due to unsafe conditions,
though quick progress has been made. Full restoration could
take days as cleanup of structural damage, downed lines
and uprooted trees continues. The green Bay area is seeing a
whooping cough outbreak, with the county health department
investigating more than 65 cases of the bacterial disease
pertussis since the beginning of April. It can be especially
dangerous in infants. Vaccines for pertussis are part of the
regular schedule for children, with boosters for adults, but
rates for required vaccinations have been dropping, state data
shows. In the last school year, 10% of school students were not
meeting requirements. Joining us with more is Katrina Nordyke,
Brown County deputy public health officer. And thanks very
much for being here. >> Thanks for having me.
>> So what kind of an increase in cases in Brown County is this
of pertussis compared to normal years?
>> Well, so for example, here in Brown County we have 13
confirmed cases, mostly situated in the month of April. And for
last year we had one for the entire year. So we did see an
outbreak this season, as you mentioned, we have investigated
over 65 cases. So that means that we reach out to those with
suspected cases, and do contact tracing, contact investigation,
work with confirmed cases. And for example institutions to
provide education on what to expect and how to encourage
people to seek treatment or stay home if they're feeling ill.
>> Because how dangerous is whooping cough, especially for
babies? >> Well, Lubar cough is also
known as pertussis. It's caused by the bacteria. It's very
contagious. It's spread through the air. When a person with
whooping cough coughs, sneezes, talks, sings and, it's
especially dangerous for infants as they have underdeveloped
airways, potentially haven't been vaccinated, and about a
third to a half of those incidents can be hospitalized
due to complications from the pertussis, we also see, dangers
when you are looking at people who have immunocompromised or
pregnant, persons. >> As we've discussed,
vaccinations for whooping cough are required starting in infancy
with boosters, even for adults. What are you seeing in terms of
a drop off in people getting these required vaccinations?
>> Well, we have seen a slight, decrease statewide in, vaccine
completion and uptake anywhere from around 2 to 5. But here in
Brown County, we are meeting our general benchmarks and also have
been across the state strategizing around how to catch
people up. So people may have felt behind in their vaccination
during Covid, and so we are strategically planning how to
catch people up. We have targeted vaccination clinics,
education and promotion, and we're working with community
partners to also have vaccination clinics out in the
population. >> Is there any sense that lower
rates of vaccinations follow critical messaging around the
Covid vaccine? In recent years? >> Well, we have to wonder how
much of that, small decline in uptake is due to, the Covid 19
pandemic, people not being able to go in to their providers,
people falling behind on just general appointments, and also
maybe some questions remaining about the actual Covid 19
vaccination. But we encourage people, please reach out to your
medical provider, and ask any questions you have. You can ask
them where your vaccination status is at for you or your
loved ones. You can also check online on the Wisconsin
Immunization Registry to see what vaccines you have, and talk
to your provider about vaccines. You may need.
>> Meanwhile, there are new child vaccine requirements from
the state Department of Health for meningitis and chickenpox.
Do you expect that to be controversial, in in any way,
those recommendations actually last year by the CDC. They were
suspended until recently. And those recommendations are for,
children entering child care. They're required to demonstrate
that they have had the chicken pox, by a clinical provider.
RFK, Jr. So it used to be that parents could, could testify
that their child had actually had chicken pox. And now the
requirement for child care is that a clinical provider needs
to, include that in their statement. But then when you're
talking about the, new school requirements for meningococcal,
those require that, students entering the seventh grade
receive that vaccination. And then again, another booster when
they're entering the 12th year. So, CDC has recommended those
DHS review those and have implemented those into the
requirements for school. >> So what are other disease
outbreaks of concern in unvaccinated or undervaccinated
populations right now? >> Sure. Well we have recently
heard about, some measles concerns and even some cases
reported, cases have been reported nationally. And we did
have one case reported in, Wisconsin, what we know about
measles is that it's highly, highly contagious. It's one of
the most contagious diseases. And so therefore we're very
concerned about about the spread. We also know that the
vaccine is, highly effective. So if you don't have the measles
vaccine, talk to your health care provider. If you think you
may have symptoms of the measles, reach out to your
health care provider immediately. And if you think
you've been in contact, potentially with somebody with
measles, you can contact your health provider immediately and
they can follow, or they can provide recommendations on next
steps for you. >> All right. Well, Katrina
Nordyke, thank you for your work running all this down and
providing the public with the information and education.
>> Thank you. the solvency of Social Security
forecasts, the retirement and disability programs will be
involved in 2035. It's not that the program won't have money to
pay any benefits, but it's when the Social Security Trust Fund
reserves of $2.78 trillion will be depleted. What that means is
that without action by Congress, the program will only have
enough money in 2035 to pay 83% of benefits, not 100. Now, that
eventuality has advocates for seniors sounding the alarm. Alex
Brower is executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance for
Retired Americans. He joins us now. Thanks a lot for being
here. having me, Frederica. I
appreciate it. of retirement age in 2035 and
beyond, the prospect of paying into Social Security for their
whole working lives and not getting their full benefit seems
unfair to. >> It's completely unfair.
Honestly we believe that. And actually the Wisconsin Alliance
and other advocacy not only should people receive
the benefits they're entitled to, but they should be receiving
more benefits and that Social Security should be expanded and
the agency modernized and remain solvent for decades and decades
to come. >> And so you believe that
current beneficiaries should be receiving more in their Social
Security benefits? >> That's correct. Yeah.
Organization is supporting a bill in Congress right now, the
Social Security Fairness Act that's been introduced by
Senator Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, that actually expands by
$200 per month benefits received to benefit Ceres and also
protects the solvency of Social Security by eliminating
something called the contribution and benefits base,
which is basically the cap on which income is taxed for Social
Security purposes. To have the richest Americans pay their fair
share to help keep the program solvent.
effectively become a tax increase, though? And how well
would that go over? >> Well, it is what we're
advocating for. Yes, it will increase taxes on the wealthiest
Americans who we, need to have who need to contribute more to
pay their fair share. Basically, millionaires and billionaires in
this country exist because of all the work that we've all done
to contribute to their success. Right? Everybody buys something
on Amazon or on Walmart or any of the department stores and our
roads that we pay for with taxes contribute to the millionaires
and billionaires being able to get their goods to people's
homes. So no millionaire or billionaire is created in a
vacuum. And so those individuals owe to our collective success.
And that means that everybody who is a worker currently has a
full and dignified retirement, so we are asking, yes, we are
asking the richest Americans to pay their fair share. But really
, it's pennies compared to the wealth that we've created for
them by being American consumers, because that cap on
the withdrawal of kind of FICA taxes is $168,000 is added.
>> Anything over that those people do not pay in?
>> That's correct. Yeah. So when you receive a paycheck like your
like your viewers are know when you receive a paycheck, there's
a line called FICA and that contribution that deduction
stops at $168,600. So if you make more than that, you don't
receive a FICA tax on that money. So it's pretty much a
regressive income tax where the poorest Americans, pay 100% of
their income is taxed for that. And then the richest Americans
don't. The Social Security Fairness Act, keeps that cap in
place, but raises it and lifts it for those making above
$400,000 a year. So we know there are also discussions of
raising the retirement age to shore up the program.
>> And that's been done once. I understand. But doesn't that
effectively short people also? >> That is correct. Yeah. And
there's a study that just came out that showed that actually
the raising of the retirement age back in the 80s and the
Reagan presidency actually shortened the life expectancy of
seniors. So not only does that limit the number of years
they're eligible to receive benefits, but it actually limits
their life expectancy, because, as we all know, you know,
there's a point in your life when you should be able to rest
and retire from working, right? And that is and that is a right
that every American should have, no matter what kind of job they
had or what profession they worked in. We think everybody is
eligible and do that. So raising the retirement age would only
hurt retired Americans and senior Americans.
>> How important is Social Security to the majority of
retirees, including all of those in Wisconsin?
>> Extremely important, every single retiree that I personally
know depends on their Social Security check every single
month and every retired American who's a member of the Wisconsin
Alliance for Retired Americans, depends on it fully. It drives
our economy. It's what keeps so many seniors out of poverty.
We're arguing that Social Security is one of the largest
anti-poverty programs that's States, we have a lot of choices
in this country. I mean, all of this is a political choice,
right? We could choose to roll back the clock and go back to
the days before Social Security existed. But we would have
seniors in poverty living on the streets. And we don't want that.
We want everybody who's worked hard and contributed to this
country to live a full and dignified retirement.
>> Alex Brower, thanks very much. Thanks for joining us.
>> Thanks for covering this important issue, Fredricka.
>> This week, a new Amtrak passenger train made its debut
in. Wisconsin. The Amtrak borealis now runs round trip
daily between Chicago and Minneapolis, with eight stops
along the way. In Wisconsin, it joins existing but slower Amtrak
Empire Builder along the same route through the state.
>> It's been 22 years since we've expanded passenger rail in
Wisconsin, and this long awaited train will provide more
convenience and flexibility for commuters, families, students
and tourists to get where they need to go.
>> Finally, tonight, we end with an excerpt of an interview.
Special projects journalist Murv Seymour conducted with the famed
white House photographer Pete Souza. Souza lived in Madison
following his time covering the Obama administration, and was
back in Wisconsin when he sat down in our studio for this in
Focus with Murv Seymour interview.
>> This is this is the day of the bin laden raid, and this
would have been when, Seal team was making the raid on
bin Laden's. >> You've got the most
powerful people in the executive branch of our
government decision makers in that room. But for those
40 minutes, they were, there was nothing they could do to
affect the outcome. Right? It was completely up to those guys
on the ground when you're framing this photograph, are you
thinking, I'm going to take a photograph that shows how
powerless, powerless they are, I mean, I guess I wasn't
inherently thinking that thought at the time. What I was thinking
is, what's what's what's the mood that I, I see in front of
me? What's and trying to trying to capture that in a single
frame. period of time, or is that just
a moment in that space, no. That that that mood lasted for the I
think the entire 40 minutes we were in that room. And so
when I'm going through my photographs, trying to
choose the best one, obviously photography in
many ways is subjective medium, right. But it was, I
think initially myself and a photo editor. We zeroed in on
maybe four frames from the 40 minutes in this room, and we
just try to compare one to another. Tries like, which do
you think is the best? And this just seemed to work the best,
the way everybody's faces, sort of expressed what I felt. I
think what they all felt. >> Yeah. Next photo here. I
think this gets into the transition, what was that like
for you in terms of not, not just a different president
coming in, but for your, you know, position to kind of I was
concerned that the country had voted this guy in, you know, I
didn't feel he understood what it meant to respect the office
of the presidency, and so I've got to kind of put those
feelings aside. But I'm also a human being. And so, I, you
know, I tried to, as best I could, take the high road as
President Obama had taken by inviting him to the white House
two days after the election, because he wanted to try to
like, you know, calm people down as best he could. But it was
very unsettling feeling for me that this is the guy that was
going to succeed Barack Obama, and this we didn't make this
picture public, but I thought it was a good picture to include in
my book as, you know, not having to necessarily show his face.
You know who that is? Just by looking at him?
>> What's he peeking? What? >> So this is just, there's a
little hallway, off the Oval Office that leads into the
private dining room. And to the left is like what's called the
presidential study, which President Obama hardly ever
used. That little room. So it had mostly mementos in there.
There was a little desk with a computer, but it was mostly
pictures of the family on the wall. And it was a picture of
Thurgood Marshall on the wall. And he was just giving President
Obama actually inside the study. And he's just showing, the
president elect, you know, the study, the dining room. And so
this was on their little tour. >> So President Obama is
actually doing the tour. Yeah, yeah.
>> Now, what's this one here? >> And then this is on January
20th, 2017, I'm inside the helicopter tour just before
President Obama and Michelle board the helicopter, and he's
saying goodbye to, to now, President Trump. This would have
been right after the swearing in ceremony. Wow
>> You can find the in focus interviews on our website, along
with other issues facing Wisconsin. Go to PBS Wisconsin
org and then click on the news tab. That's our program for
tonight. I'm Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.
>> Funding for Here and Now is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS.