That age because we
Totally. Yeah.
Looked that way in a long, long
time.
Well, we do joke about it on
occasion people's the photos they
use for their legislative
I'm like, someone hasn't gotten a
photo taken in a few decades.
That actually when I first started
covering the Capitol because I was
back then I had to study the blue
book.
So I get a blue book and like look
through all the members and look at
their photos and like try and put it
and then I come up here and like
You show up at the office and you're
like
That is not you.
Hey, we're dressed.
Yeah, there were yeah, there were
definitely some moments where it's
like, Okay man.
A little different. Like most of the
guys that just got gray or maybe
grew a beard.
Maybe got a little wider.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we are good?
We're good. Alrighty.
Like this.
Well, Greta Nubar, thanks for
joining us.
Absolutely happy to be here.
So what would you say is the big
biggest success for assembly
democrats in the last year?
We continue to fight for the people
of Wisconsin at every turn.
We know that Wisconsinites are
struggling with the cost of living.
That's groceries, housing,
health care, childcare,
and we are going to continue to push
on those issues at every possible
opportunity.
It's been tough in this legislature.
It seems like our Republican
colleagues are not very interested
in addressing those issues, but
we are continuing to push and to
build on legislation that we've
passed and work towards a future in
which we can really get those things
done.
What's the number one thing that
came out of the budget for you?
So it wasn't the budget that I would
have written, of course.
We are looking towards a different
kind of budget when we're in the
majority, but it was good to
have Senate Democrats at the table
and Governor Evers and
have them be able to push,
particularly for education
funding, for some additional
funds for special education and the
UW system for child care.
We know that the people of Wisconsin
want to send their kids to great
schools, that people are really
struggling to find a place for their
kids while they go to work, when
those kids are young.
So it's really important that that
funding was put into the state
budget.
Looking at the special education
increases, we've already heard that
the percentages that were estimated
are not gonna hit that mark.
Is that just speaks to the need
that's out there in these communities?
Absolutely. So the legislature set
forward a goal but didn't fund it.
And so that is unfortunate because
school districts, of course, were
hoping and planning to get a certain
level of reimbursement for special
education, which again is much lower
than what they actually deserve and
what kids need.
So we are going to continue to work
on that issue to push the state
to keep its commitment to our local
districts.
People need to see more support
from the state for their local
schools, or they are gonna continue
to have to go to referendum and
raise their property taxes, and
that's just wrong.
One of the big headlines that's come
out of the assembly recently is the
failure to expand postpartum
coverage for for for new mothers.
Walk me through the process of what
happened there and why it came to
be, especially since it did so well
in the Senate.
Sure. So for many years,
we have known that it is essential
for us to pass postpartum
healthcare expansion for those new
moms. Right now in Wisconsin, you
can have a baby and be off of your
health care in 60 days.
That's not good for the mom, and
that's not good for the baby.
And there are people each year whose
health is really put at risk because
they don't have access to that
essential care after they give
birth. So we have been pushing on
this issue for a long time.
There are enough co-sponsors by far
in the state assembly to get this
bill done, but it does not get
brought to the floor.
And that, of course, is Speaker
Voss's decision.
We attempted to pull a petition
that would have forced a vote on
this issue, and the speaker did move
the bill in a procedural
sort of maneuver into another
committee so that we have to restart
that process.
But really the question that I have
is why the authors of this bill,
Pat Snyder, Jesse Rodriguez,
people who say that this is an
important issue for them are not
able to get this bill to the floor.
And what they're gonna say to those
new moms in their district who lose
access to health care, they're
governing, they're authors of this
bill, they should be able to get it
done.
Other than that legislation, what's
the most important thing you'd like
to try and get done next year where
there's still a few months of session?
It's going to be on affordability.
As I said, this is what we hear
about from our constituents.
Assembly Democrats are continuing
to do listening sessions and knock
on doors. We, of course, run into
our constituents at parades and
holiday festivals.
And we hear over and over that
people are struggling with the cost
of groceries, again, prescription
drugs and health care and
housing.
There's been a little bit of
progress on housing in a bipartisan
fashion in the last two sessions.
That's good to see, but we have not
done enough. And so we're really
going to be continuing to push on
those issues and making sure that
the state keeps its commitment to
our kids in our public schools and
gets some funding into the general
aids so that we don't see property
taxes go up for people across
the state to support their schools.
You've been in the assembly for a
while. Would you say that this was a
quieter year than past
sessions in terms of the amount of
legislation coming forward that
actually can get passed?
You know, it's been a bit quieter.
Yeah. I would say, especially given
what we see people going through in
our state, we see significant
impacts of the federal government's
actions on Wisconsinites, and
we see the legislature really doing
very little to address those
impacts. We're about to see people's
health care premiums skyrocket.
If you're on the marketplace in
Wisconsin, the average increase is
going to be $664
a month. And legislative Republicans
really have no answer to that.
The Senate Republicans in particular
have met very few times this year.
So it does seem like they've kind of
run out of ideas and they're not
really interested in addressing the
problems that the people of
Wisconsin are facing.
Well that obviously leads us into
next year and the elections.
How much will Democrats be able to
convince the public, hey, that the
legislature hasn't done anything,
it's time for new leadership?
Well, Republicans have been in
control in Wisconsin for a while.
They have had this chamber for
15 years, the state assembly.
And we have seen them
attempt to
enact their vision on the state of
Wisconsin, and we've got local
schools across the state that
are at risk of closing.
We've got local governments really
struggling to fund essential
services, including public safety
and and health.
We are in a tough place
in this state, and we know that
people are frustrated with
government and with politics, and
they just wanna see their elected
officials care about what they're
going through and work hard across
the aisle to get things done.
We just have not seen that from
legislative Republicans, and so I
think we have a huge opportunity
next year to communicate directly
with the people of Wisconsin about
what we're gonna do when we are in
control as Democrats in the state
house and how it's gonna make their
lives better.
Obviously you gained a lot of seats
in the twenty four elections, but
you fell short of regaining
the majority.
There were some close elections, I'm
sure you know what seats you're
gonna target.
What will be different in twenty
six?
Yeah, so we worked to pick
up 15 seats last year, and that
of course was a big lift.
That's in addition to protecting our
incumbents in close seats, including
some that Trump wins.
So we have five seats
now left to go to flip control
of the state assembly.
That's a close number.
We're looking at a good environment
next year because people are pretty
unhappy with Federal Republicans
and state Republicans.
And so we're gonna have great
candidates who are gonna work hard
throughout the next year to connect
directly with voters and communicate
their vision for the state.
These are parents
and teachers, coaches, local
elected officials, small business
owners, farmers, DNR
wardens, right?
Just fantastic folks who
are gonna do the work of
communicating that things can be
better in this state and that they
want to go to Madison and really
represent them.
So we're really excited about the
elections next year.
We're thrilled with the candidates
who are stepping up to run, and
we are just gonna work every day
to talk directly to those folks
who will need to win over for next
year.
There was some public discord within
the Democratic caucus this year.
Are you a unified group going
forward? Could you envision
primaries within your own party to
try and make sure that everyone's on
the same page?
Yeah, so we're feeling
really good going into next year.
We've been working for a long time
to be in a position to win a
majority in the state assembly.
And I think our caucus is unified
in looking towards that
reality.
So we are hoping
to be able to focus most on
protecting our incumbents
in close seats and then targeting
those really close purple districts
that we hope to flip next year.
Do you plan on getting involved in
the gubernatorial primary?
Not at this point.
I generally don't get involved in
democratic primaries, but we have a
really fantastic field.
I think many people who could be
great governors.
And you've got former members of the
assembly, current members of the
assembly.
What what does that say about people
coming out of this chamber and and
running for higher office?
Yeah, a lot of the candidates on the
Democratic side have come out of the
legislature. And of course that's
exciting to us because they
understand what it's like and they
respect this branch of government
and the role that it plays.
I also think it's pretty clear that
the state assembly and state senate
are the the grounds for
people to become democratic
politicians in this state at the at
the federal level and at the
gubernatorial and and attorney
general level as well.
We've got, you know, Senator Tammy
Baldwin and and Congress people
Mark Bocan and and Gwen
Moore. We're really proud of
the people who come out of the state
legislature and go on to do great
things.
All right, new bar, thanks for your
time.
Thank you for having me.
Great.
All right.