"I consider myself to be a strong labor Democrat," says State Rep. Christine Sinicki
Colon and five others — Rep. Christine Sinicki, Rep. Tony Staskunas, Rep. Barbara Toles, Rep. Annette “Polly” Williams and Rep. Leon Young — are being challenged by decidedly non-Democratic opponents in the Sept. 9 primary election. These opponents — one Democratic party official characterized them as “conservatives, if not outright Republicans” — appear to be backed by Clean Sweep Wisconsin (CSW), a political action committee that aims (see www.cleansweepwisconsin.com) to “facilitate a grassroots movement to take state government back from the career politicians, lobbyists and special interest groups which are running state government for their own self interest.”
CSW candidates sign a contract to “fully support and implement” the reforms outlined in CSW’s platform, which include “reestablishing consumerism in health care” by expanding the use of high-deductible policies with matching health savings accounts; and “halting all increases of taxes and fees” and beginning a “moratorium on new laws interfering with the lives of Wisconsin citizens and Wisconsin businesses.”
Just who/what is CSW? A line at the bottom of CSW’s home page reads: “Authorized and paid for by Clean Sweep Political Action Committee ... Tom Reynolds, Treasurer.” The antithesis of a working families’ advocate, Reynolds is the former Republican state senator who lost his re-election bid to AFSCME-backed Jim Sullivan in 2006.
“You can describe them as ‘tax cutters’ or whatever it is you want, but the reality is these people are not for working families,” says Colon, who has represented the 8th Assembly District since 1998. “They may be calling themselves ‘Democrats’ but they, I’m proud to say, don’t have the same ideals as people like Chris Sinicki, Barbara Toles and Leon Young who have really stood up for shared revenue, and for working families.”
Colon referred to Sinicki, Toles et. al as his “crew.” They’re ours, too. Colon, Sinicki, Staskunas, Toles, Williams and Young all have been endorsed by AFSCME District Council 48 and the 4th Congressional District PEOPLE committee. Here, in part, is why:
State Rep. Pedro Colon, 8th Assembly District. A graduate of Milwaukee’s Thomas More High School, Colon earned his B.A. from Marquette University in 1991, and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994. He is married and has two daughters.
Elected to the Assembly 1998, he’s been reelected every two years since. He’s served on a range of Assembly committees. Among them: Corrections and Courts, Children and Families, Criminal Justice, Health, Judiciary, Migrant Labor Council, Urban and Local Affairs, Highway Safety and the powerful Joint Committee on Finance.
“Affordable, accessible health care is critical — not only for working families but for employers, as well,” Colon says. “That’s something were going to have to address. ... I think ‘Healthy Wisconsin’ is a good starting point. Every member [of the Legislature], if you asked them, might want to change something about it. But the reality is this is the term to do it. That’s why I’m working so hard to get [re-]elected.”
Colon’s also concerned about shared revenue, or the lack of it. (“It’s been largely underfunded and it’s something we’ve got to address.”) Ditto for school funding. (“It needs to be increased so we don’t have to cough up extra money from the property tax.”)
Colon says he’s proud of his labor voting record (“I think it’s been 100 percent 10 years in a row”), and of his opportunity to work on the behalf of “people who work hard.”
“I really enjoy this job. Hopefully, they’ll send me back,” he says. “This is the year to participate.”
He hopes his constituents will participate come primary election time, as well: “I would hate for working families in Milwaukee to forget about Sept. 9 because we’re so excited about November. This is really an important election.”
Rep. Christine Sinicki, 20th Assembly District. A graduate of Bay View High School and a former small business manager, Rep. Sinicki is married and has two children. She was elected to the Assembly in 1998 and, like Colon, has been re-elected four times since. She chaired the Assembly Democratic Task Force on Working Families in 2003, and the State Assembly Milwaukee Caucus in 2003 and 2005. She also served on the Milwaukee School board from 1991-1998.
Sinicki’s Assembly standing committee memberships have included Homeland Security and State Preparedness, State Affairs, on Workforce Development, and Consumer Protection and Personal Privacy. She also serves on the Special Committee on Charter Schools. No stranger to AFSCME activists — “I consider myself to be a strong labor Democrat; the old-fashioned labor Democrat,” she says — Sinicki led the petition drive to support the Congressional Employee Free Choice Act.
“I’ve always been out there for my unions,” she says, adding that she’s marched with Midwest Airlines’ represented employees. “I’m hoping this session to be put back on the [Assembly] Labor Committee.”
She’s also passed new legal standards for voucher schools and authored protections for patients’ rights (so they can have their legal prescriptions filled). Sinicki also continues to work to pass the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, a proposal that would allow for compensatory and punitive damages in cases of workplace discrimination.
“I’m doing doors, saying, ‘I’m the real Democrat,’” Sinicki says.
She’s also saying it online, as her campaign Web site attests: www.electarealdem.com.
* Maximum reimbursement rates. The state will use the results of the Market Rate Survey to adjust maximum reimbursement rates. Subject to the availability of funds, the state will set the maximum reimbursement rate at the 75th percentile of the licensed private child care market rates.
* Collaborative problem-solving. The parties will use informal problem-solving methods in regular collaborative meetings to resolve problems regarding the application, meaning or interpretation of the agreement. Union members may submit problems covered by the agreement to the collaborative problem-solving process. If the issue is not resolved through the informal process, a formal grievance may be submitted to a Grievance Mediation Committee (including a neutral party) for a final and binding decision.
Rep. Tony Staskunas, 15th Assembly District. Born and raised in West Allis, Rep. Staskunas is a practicing attorney who’s serving his sixth Assembly term. He and his wife have two sons and one daughter. He graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 1983, and earned a law degree from UW-Madison in 1986. Prior to his election to the Assembly, he was an West Allis alderman from 1988 through 1997.
Staskunas’ 2007-2008 Assembly committee assignments include Judiciary and Ethics (Ranking Minority Member); Energy & Utilities; Criminal Justice; and Rules. In addition, he’s currently serving as the Assembly Democratic Caucus Chairperson.
“Assembly Democrats have a real great chance to take back the majority. With Gov. Doyle and Democrats already in the majority in the Senate, we could pass some of our agenda,” Staskunas says. “Democrats in Wisconsin have not had that opportunity in over 20 years.”
And that agenda is one that’ll “work very well on the kitchen table issues,” as he puts it. “For the past 20 years, it’s been, ‘How can we protect big business in Wisconsin?’ rather than the working person.”
Take the issue of tax fairness: “Nobody likes paying taxes, but the fact is that, in terms of property taxes, [home]owners have gone from paying 51 percent to over 71 percent [of the total],” he says. “And there are corporations in Wisconsin that don’t pay a nickel. Assembly Democrats aren’t out to raise taxes — we’re just looking for a bit more equity when it comes to who’s paying them.”
Like every other elected official, Staskunas also continues to hear the “When are you guys going to do something about health care cost?” question from constituents. “We need to find a way to stop the increases that come at us every year — possibly through ‘Healthy Wisconsin or some other single-payer plan,” he says. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of Assembly Republicans who are in denial. They don’t believe the health care system is in a crisis state.”
Education, too, is near and dear to Staskunas’ heart. He attended public schools in West Allis, and the UW system.
“To me, a good public education is the key to somebody being able to improve their life — it’s the great equalizer,” he says. “So, one of my main issues is to improve the public education system, both K-12 and the UW system. If we don’t support it, we’re really removing a large part of what the American dream is — that if you work hard, study hard, you can improve your life.”
Rep. Barbara Toles, 17th Assembly Democrat. Elected to the Assembly in a January 2004 special election, Rep. Toles was re-elected the following November and again in November 2006. A graduate of Milwaukee’s West Division High School, Toles earned her B.A. from UW-Madison and her master’s (education) from Marquette University. Her slate of Assembly standing committees: Jobs and The Economy, State Affairs, Ways and Means, and Workforce Development. She also serves on the Special Committee on Regional Transportation Authority.
A former adjunct faculty, community outreach coordinator and advisor at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Toles has the union label sewn into her soul: She’s served as an executive board member with the American Federation of Teachers Local 212, so she’s lived — and still lives — the issues working families face daily.
“At the risk of sounding like a politician, it’s all about people being able to meet their basic needs,” says Toles, who took a significant pay cut to serve in the Legislature. “And people need jobs, first and foremost. When they have that, they need affordable health care. But in order to get that good job, as in a family-supporting job, you need to have a good education or the training to get the skills you need.”
There’s also the need to get to that job.
“We need transportation,” she says. “If people don’t have a car, we need to have a transportation system to take people from Milwaukee’s central city or to the south side to wherever the job is. We also have a lot of single mothers who are heads of the household — they need child care. Many don’t make enough to afford it. Meanwhile, we all need relief at the pump.”
Tackling those issues will be a tall order, but Toles believes she’s up to the task. For one thing, she already deals with them daily at work and at home. (“I’m back to living paycheck to paycheck.”) But she’s also a public servant who takes her job seriously. When addressing legislation — from tax fairness to shared revenue to workforce development to health care reform — Toles focuses on the basic-needs angle: What do people need? What are they willing to pay for? In this time of budget deficits, what are they willing to give up?
“Those are critical questions and this is really a critical time,” she says. “I want the AFSCME members to know that I understand what’s important in life.”
Rep. Annette Polly Williams, 10th Assembly Democrat. Elected to the Assembly since 1980, Rep. Williams is the longest-serving woman legislator in either house. Her Assembly standing committees: Education Reform, Elections and Constitutional Law, and Housing. She’s also a member of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
Williams, best known as the author of the nation’s first parents education choice legislation, isn’t exactly accustomed to being challenged in a primary election. But she says she’s ready to fight in her inimitable style to retain her seat. And it affords her an opportunity to remind people what she’s all about. For example, she notes, she’s been about as labor-friendly as any state legislator’s been during the past 28 years.
“My record of voting on labor issues, I think, is pretty good,” Williams notes, correctly. “It’s all about jobs — it’s about people working. A job is key to the health and welfare of any community.”
Conversely, a dearth of jobs puts communities at risk, which Williams unfortunately has witnessed far too frequently in her district.
“Because of a lack of jobs, the crime rate is high,” she says. “Everything is tied to that job.”
And everything Williams does as a legislator is connected to it, as well.
“That’s what we do in the Legislature — deal with legislation that would try to make up for the lack of employment and jobs, and to provide necessary services and resources,” she says. “We also fight to make sure certain pieces of legislation don’t get passed.”
Of course, education reform remains a passion.
“We need good schools — some of our children are not making it,” she says. “There has to be some kind of reform in the way we are educating our children. If they are not making it, we have to try something else. As long as we keep doing the same things, we’ll get the same result. So, we are still trying to find what will work.”
That applies to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, as well.
“It was supposed to allow parents more options to do what was best for their children,” she says. “Right now, it has moved away from parents to more of the schools making the decisions, in some instances. That needs to be addressed.”
So, too, does the Sept. 9 primary.
“It’s been almost 28 years that I haven’t had an opponent,” she says, adding that she’s ready, willing and able to compete to retain her seat. “I‘m not a yellow dog Democrat — a yellow dog is a Democrat no matter what. I’m one of those blue dogs, more to the center. But I’m a Democrat.”
Unlike her Clean Sweep opponent.
Rep. Leon Young, 16th Assembly District. A graduate of Milwaukee’s Rufus King High School, Young has served in the Assembly and fought the good working-families fight since 1992. He attended UW-Milwaukee and is a former police aide and police officer. His current Assembly standing committee assignments? Housing, State Affairs, and Tourism, and Recreation and State Properties.
“As I go around knocking on doors, the biggest thing I keep hearing about is the economy — it’s tough for everybody,” he says. “The cost of gasoline, the cost to heat people’s homes and to turn on the lights is unbearable right now.”
The struggle to make ends meet contributes to crime in the 16th District (“That’s also a big issue,” he says) and, ultimately, shines the spotlight on jobs — not just the need for one, but the need for a good one.
“We need jobs that pays fair wages and good benefits,” Young says. “As elected officials, we need to fight to keep good jobs here in our state. Unfortunately, every time you look, it seems like a company is leaving. So we need to make sure, as policymakers, that we are doing what we can to keep companies here.”
On top of all that, there’s the health care cost crisis — for workers and employers alike.
“We’ve got to address it soon,” he says. “We got BadgerCare Plus so that all children are covered. Now, we want all people to be covered, and it’s got to be affordable.”
It’s just one of the fights Young vows to keep fighting.
“I’ve always voted pro-labor and will continue to vote pro-labor,” he says. “Labor is the backbone of our society and I will continue to support it.”
