The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original
production. >> Wisconsin's US senators
are of two minds over military incursions in
Venezuela. Following a vote on a resolution saying
President Trump exceeded his authority.
[MUSIC] I'm Frederica Freyberg.
Tonight on "Here& Now", Zac Schultz speaks with
Assembly leadership on what to expect in 2026. State
public defenders sound the alarm over juvenile justice
practices and how the federal hemp ban will
impact a growing Wisconsin industry. It's "Here& Now"
for January 9th. [MUSIC]
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
>> The shooting death of a 37 year old mother by an
Ice agent in Minneapolis this week leaves a
devastated family and cities roiled in protest,
alongside defense of the Homeland Security sweep and
its officers. It also brings response and
reaction from the streets to the highest office.
Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin said,
this is a tragedy, and I'm thinking of our neighbors
to the West. We need an investigation into this
incident and accountability. But this we do know Trump
is sending in mass agents into our neighborhoods, is
causing chaos and is not making our communities any
safer. Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson said on
late this week. It's a tragedy all the way around.
I think what I would like to see is that the elected
officials stop inciting people to impede lawful
operations. Don't obstruct justice. Don't put yourself
at risk. It didn't have to happen. While 2026 is just
underway, the legislative session at the Capitol is
almost over. The Republican floor calendar says the
final days for general business are in March, with
members shifting their focus to the fall elections
after that. Here and now, senior political reporter
Zac Schultz sat down with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos
and Minority Leader Greta Neubauer to talk about what
they hope to accomplish. Now, these are condensed
versions of those interviews. You can find
the full length interviews on our web page under the
news tab at PBS Wisconsin. >> Greta Neubauer, thanks
for joining us. >> Absolutely happy to be
here. that's come out of the
Assembly recently is the failure to expand
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.
we have known that it is essential for us to pass
postpartum health care 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 Vos'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 going to say to those new moms in their
district who lose access to health care. They're
governing their 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, whether it's
still a few months of session?
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 and our public schools and get
some funding into the general aides 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 that
the legislature has done anything? It's time for new
leadership. >> 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 want to 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
going to do when we are in control as Democrats in the
state House, and how it's going to make their lives
better. >> Obviously, you gained a
lot of seats in the 24 elections, but you fell
short of regaining the majority. There were some
close elections. I'm sure you know what seats you're
going to target. What will be different in 26?
>> Yeah. So we work to pick up 15 seats last year. And
that, of course, was a big lift. That's in addition to
protecting our incumbents and 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
going to have great candidates who are going to
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 going to 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
going to work every day to talk directly to those
folks who will need to win over for 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.
>> Speaker Vos, thanks for your time again. One of the
more recent headlines out of the Assembly had to do
with expanding health care for women through Medicaid.
That's got a lot of support in the Senate. There are
Republican co-sponsors. Walk me through your
process for your caucus of when there are Republicans
that support it, but it doesn't come to the floor.
>> Sure. So we have a rule that by and large, things
get to the floor as long as they have 50 Republican
votes. We work really hard to get there. The vast
majority of things do. Sometimes it takes a little
longer to find out what changes have to be made, or
how do we address the issues that people have
concerns with. One of the concerns that I have is
putting more people onto welfare is not something
that is sustainable for taxpayers in the long run.
We have done a very good job over the course of the
past decade, as other states have seen increases
in their welfare spending. We've kept ours flat. We've
found other ways to address healthcare challenges.
Remember, in the budget, we had a bipartisan agreement
on a hospital assessment that actually brings in
almost $1 billion into Wisconsin to help lower
health care costs. I would much rather focus on
lowering health care costs for everyone, as opposed to
putting a few more people onto welfare that all of us
are going to pay for. >> There has been some
success over the last few years of actually working
with Governor Evers to pass some bigger bills. Do you
think there's room for one more?
>> I'm always open to compromise in finding an
answer. I mean, we're working together on this
idea of Snap benefits right now. We believe that, you
know, kind of like what's happened in almost a dozen
other states around the country. It's crazy to have
taxpayers paying for junk food when you're on food
stamps. We think we should be able to restrict those
to healthier options. He'd like to have more money
going into helping administer the program
under the big Beautiful bill. There were some
changes in how we administered it. We like
the work requirements in the bill, so if we can do
that in a way that reduces fraud, hopefully that's an
area we can find consensus. My hope is we can do that
in the spring. But you're right, there are other
areas that we are more than willing to sit at the table
and find that consensus, but we're not going to give
up our principles. And I respect the fact he doesn't
want to either. have already shifted to
looking at the election next year. What's the
recruitment process look like when you've got a lot
of competitive seats out there?
>> Yeah, I mean, it's really no different than
it's been for the past 30 or 40 years. We've always
had a competitive map in Wisconsin. We've been
successful because we are locally based, and they
focus on the issues that matter to Wisconsinites. As
I look at what's happening in the governor's race, I
watch the Democrats go farther and farther to the
left. Their entire campaign is focused on one person,
not the average mom or dad in Wausau or Rhinelander or
Eau Claire, but they're focused on Donald Trump.
And I think most people are sick and tired of having an
argument about one person. They want to see results.
So I think our candidates are going to talk about
affordability. How do we make things better for the
average family? We're going to bring up a bill this
spring that focuses on putting more money back
into the pockets of Wisconsinites. We're going
to focus on property taxes because they're way too
high. And ultimately, we're going to try to make sure
we have good programs that can build a social safety
net, but in a way that encourages people to get
off of it and doesn't become a hammock.
>> Do you plan on running again?
that process. My wife and I talked about it already, so
I'll make a decision sometime, like I normally
do in January or February. >> Do you plan on getting
involved in the governor's primary at all? On the
Republican side. >> Now we have two good
candidates at this point. There certainly could be
more that enter in. I feel like either one of the two
candidates that we already have are exceptionally good
leaders. They both have to focus on what matters to
Wisconsinites, and that is affordability, cost of
housing, making sure that we have reasonable taxes
and ultimately deliver The Democrats are kind of
running to the far left, the candidates that they
have, a bunch of people who've run before and lost.
I don't know if that's the most successful way for
them to win, but I guess only time will tell.
>> Do you think that the average voter will be
focused more on what's happening in Washington and
the federal impacts, or do you think they will be
focused on what the state legislature can do for them?
>> Well, it's one of the rare times where the only
race on the ballot are state races. Besides our
congressional seats, which are up every two years, a
lot of times you'll have a congressional race, a
gubernatorial at the same time. So federal issues
really overwhelm us. This time around. We get to talk
about more of Wisconsin issues, and I think we have
done a really good job of addressing issues that
people in Wisconsin care about. We had a bipartisan
housing package. We are going to be bringing up
some issues dealing with utility costs in the spring,
which I know are a big hassle for people. We're
going to focus on property taxes. We've dealt with
crime in many ways, so I think we've done a good job,
but there's always more >> All right. Speaker Vos,
thanks for your time. state mandated deadline to
close them has long since passed and been extended.
They're to be replaced with a new youth prison in
Milwaukee, set to open this year, and county based
secure residential care centers. The footage you're
about to see could be disturbing. Just after the
first such care center opened in Racine County
last spring, the state public defender's office
learned of an incident shown on camera. Where a 15
year old housed in the Jonathan Delagrave Youth
Development and Care Center was punched repeatedly by
adult security workers. Staff was asking the boy to
return to his room and he can be heard saying, don't
touch me. The boy's family has retained a civil
attorney and the office of Representative Angelina
Cruz told us she is working to learn more about the
incident, with the possible intention of having the
governor's office investigate the facility.
For its part. In a statement to the
Administrator of Youth Rehabilitation Services for
Racine County, said situations like this are
complex and unfold quickly, and said we maintain our
commitment to ensuring that staff have the training,
oversight and support needed to manage difficult
situations appropriately and professionally. The
Racine County D.A. declined to prosecute the security
staffers, but how does this kind of treatment of a
youth offender in trouble for retail theft? Square
with best practices. We turn to the youth defense
practice coordinator in the state public Defender's
office, Eileen Fredericks, and thanks very much for
being here. >> So when you first saw
this footage from cameras inside the facility, what
was your reaction? >> I was horrified. I had
known that there were these allegations, but obviously
I didn't know the extent of them. So when I saw them, I
was shocked to see that, you know, right out of the
gates, this facility opening in May and having
this happen, it was so disappointing and upsetting
to know that this is kind of the result of, you know,
the Lincoln Hills incidents and all the problems there.
Now we have this new facility opening and the
same problems seem to still be there.
>> Is this kind of incident a rarity, do you think,
behind the doors of these facilities?
>> I mean, research across the country would suggest
that it isn't that, you know, that the punitive
nature of these correctional facilities and
how they the power dynamic and these vulnerable youth,
that abuse is a major issue in these facilities. And I
do think that, you know, the culture obviously isn't
what we need it to be. It's not seen as a treatment
facility. It's a it's a jail essentially for kids.
And with that attitude, I think the staff thinks of
it that way and they're not necessarily trained in a
treatment mindset. They're not trained to de-escalate
situations. They're not trained to recognize in
themselves when they're becoming, you know,
dysregulated and struggling obviously seem to be the
case in in this situation. >> Because this facility,
when it talks about itself, it talks about that kind of
care and support, but it looks just like a
correctional facility. >> Yes. And I think that,
you know, when they built this, they, you know, had
all this beautiful ideas about what it was going to
look like, but they did not really, I think, have a
treatment focus like they could have. I think that
they had already they already had a facility in
Racine that was housing kids long term, and they
had that just kind of moved to this nice new building
in hopes that it would kind of just carry itself. But
the culture and the staff and the ideas that the
workers are coming with are really what drive how how
the kids respond, right, that they have that they
have the support that they need, that they're building
relationships, that they want to help the kids, that
they see the kids as kids and not as criminals or
inmates. >> You've touched on this a
little bit, but why does this kind of volatile
violence inside these facilities persist?
>> I do think it's a cultural thing, and I think
that they they just are not basically coming from a
treatment model to begin with that they're kind of
like, this is a correctional facility. This
is a prison for kids. They call the school. But you
know, everything about it kind of screams like it's
more we're just controlling these kids, not we're
actually trying to rehabilitate them. And so
there are residential treatment centers in the
state that actually are built around a model of
treatment, and they are much more, I think, working
on, you know, rehabilitating and building
relationships and providing therapy and doing
assessments and seeing what needs the kids have and
then responding to those needs. Where I think that
this is a setting where it's a much more one size
fits all. And really they don't have the, you know,
the goal of getting to the bottom of kind of what was
going on. They're more just trying to hold them for the
time that they, you know, keep them out of the
community for the time that they feel is appropriate
and is allowable under the law.
>> As additional facilities open, including the one in
Milwaukee. How might this incident in Racine inform
the treatment and care of juvenile offenders?
>> They need to really look at these best practices.
They need to be very careful about how they're
staffing these places. They need to have a leadership
that is empathetic, that is, you know, positive in their
mindset toward these kids and really be focused on
making sure that they hire people who have who kind of
demonstrate a positive culture in the facility.
That does not seem to happen in Racine. And I
think that, you know, just even that there was four
people involved in this incident. I mean, I work
with those kids every day and like, they are, you
know, 95% of the time, absolutely regulated and
can be very calm. I mean, there are some extreme
examples where kids are really out of control, you
know, but these kids do not need to be treated like
animals. It needs to be that everybody kind of is
like, you know, eyes on and expecting of each other
that they're treating these kids with care and
compassion. >> All right. We leave it
there. Eileen Fredericks, thanks very much.
>> Thank you. >> In other news, Wisconsin
is one of just ten states where marijuana is illegal
for both medical and recreational use. But since
2018, a federal loophole allowed cannabis products
to become an industry worth millions of dollars in the
state. That is, until the federal government closed
the legal loophole at the end of the government
shutdown. Here and now, student journalist Elijah
Pines tells us how business owners are scrambling
before the ban takes effect in November.
>> We were still planning on growing. We were
actually already making adjustments for next year.
>> Joni and Jeff Sayers were among the first hemp
farmers in Wisconsin after the 2018 farm bill made
hemp legal to grow for industrial use. A technical
loophole in the bill invited a new kind of
industry to take hold. >> A small, farm,
sustainable crop that would be great to grow.
>> For the past seven years, the pair have been growing
hemp and making it into products containing THC,
the chemical that causes a high. They sell gummies,
lip balms, tinctures and topicals at the farmers
market. They just finished this year's harvest and
were about to board a plane when they heard the news.
The bill that ended the government shutdown closed
the hemp loophole and will soon make their products
illegal. >> Devastated, right? I
mean, it was just had the wind knocked out of us for
a minute. But our first thought was, well, we live,
eat and breathe hemp. This is our life.
>> The 2018 farm Bill defined hemp as a cannabis
plant, having less than 0.3% of delta nine THC, a
specific kind of THC. Since then, delta nine
derivatives have blossomed into an industry worth
billions. The new, stricter rules effectively ban all
forms of THC for consumption.
>> We upgraded two more new greenhouses last year, and
we were debating whether we should do it this year, but
I think everything at this point will probably be on
hold for a few months. >> In Wisconsin, it's
estimated hemp is a $700 million industry, providing
3500 jobs. Businesses like Hemp Haven Farms are now on
a one year countdown before their THC goods are banned,
and have to figure out what to do next.
>> We sell our farm. >> I was considering myself
semi-retired. Obviously I take myself out of
retirement to go back into building and home
remodeling. >> Hemp has also expanded
into other industries in Wisconsin. Eagle Park has
been a staple of Milwaukee's brewing scene
for years. In 2023, the company's president, Max
Borgardt, and his partners decided to make the jump to
THC drinks. >> We've always been pro
THC in all industries and. We had our customers start
asking and, you know, figuring out, are we going
to jump into this industry? And it made sense for us to
do it at that time. >> THC drinks are now a
significant chunk of their profit.
something like 16% this year. But it's, you know,
it's nowhere. When we started out, it was a very
small percentage. But I think the thing is it's
growing like crazy. It's growing so fast.
>> The provision to ban hemp was slipped into the
bill that ended the government shutdown. It
happened so fast. Not everyone heard about it.
>> We thought, oh, that won't happen, but not in a
not on this federal level. No.
>> And we also didn't have any idea that it was
something that they were going to attach to this,
you know, reopening and funding the government bill.
But here it is. >> It's billions of dollars
on the line, and the public didn't know, the companies
didn't know, and they did it within two days. So when
it went through the Senate, it immediately went to the
House. And that window was two days. There's not
enough time to react and not enough time to do
anything. Agard has to figure out
what to do if the ban sticks.
>> Next year. It could have been an incredible year for
us just because of how the segment has been doing.
>> Nice critics consider products with under 0.3%
levels of THC to effectively be legal.
Marijuana. In Wisconsin, hemp products are
unregulated. >> The opportunity for
states and the federal government to make tax
revenue, they can tax it. I mean, we're taxed on the
alcohol that we produce and the spirits that we produce.
There's an excise tax on those. We welcome an excise
tax if that's what needs to happen to have regulation
in place. >> We are opposed to a ban.
Obviously regulation is is is good, right. There
should be an age restriction. There should
be truth and accuracy in labeling.
everything hemp is off the table, it becomes under the
table. >> If this happens, the
Black market will grow. So that is unregulated. So I
worry about the safety of products that might be out
there that are unregulated. >> Both Hemp Haven and
Eagle Park have their products tested by labs and
sell only to those over 21. Prior to the federal ban,
state lawmakers proposed their own bill to close the
loophole. Other bills would legalize and regulate THC
and hemp, but without new state laws on the books. In
one year, the federal ban will take effect. For
Wisconsin. Time is running out for hemp.
>> I'll tell you. I had about three three times the
online orders this week than I normally do. People
are panicking, I'm sure. >> Reporting from Deerfield.
I'm Elijah Pines for "Here& Now".
>> At the state Capitol this week, advocates urge
the legislature to take up and pass Cole's Act, a bill
that attempts to clamp down on industry practices that
they say hurt patients by increasing drug prices and
decreasing access to medications.
>> We need the legislature to get this done this
session. Patients can't wait any longer. These
copay accumulator policies are preventing patients
from getting access to needed medications, and
that has to stop. Insurance plans are rapidly adopting
these policies, and they are becoming increasingly
common. As a result, more and more patients are
reaching out to us with stories about going to the
pharmacy counter to pick up their medications and being
told they will have to pay thousands of dollars out of
their own pockets in order to receive their
medications. >> You can learn more about
drug prices and benefits in Rx Uncovered, a special
series of reports about why patients can't afford life
saving medication despite having health coverage.
Watch the full special episode by visiting our
website at PBS Wisconsin. Org, and then clicking on
the news tab. That's our program for tonight, I'm
Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus
Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin.