Key Questions to Ask

Does your candidate support equal pay for equal work? Does your candidate believe there should be protections for pregnant women in the workplace? Does your candidate believe that access to birth control is key to women's health and economic security?

We know the questions below do not include everything you'd like to ask your candidates about but we hope this list provides some good examples. Just be sure to ASK about the views of your candidates and know how they feel about certain issues important to you before they are elected into office and are taking votes on your behalf!

ASK these questions when attending a candidate forum, ASK when calling their campaign offices, or ASK on their social media feeds. No matter how you do it - be sure to ASK so that you can be an informed voter.

Key Questions to Ask Related to Your Family

ISSUE: Paid Sick Days
Everyone gets sick. But not everyone gets paid sick days. In fact, millions of hardworking Americans lack access to any form of paid leave. Those hit the hardest are women, low-wage workers, those in part-time or temp jobs, and those in the service, retail and hospitality industries. In other words, those who can least afford it, are the least likely to get a single paid day off if they or someone in their family gets sick.

ISSUE: Paid Family and Medical Leave
Almost everyone eventually has to take time off of work in order to care for a new child, a sick family member, or for themselves if they become seriously ill. Even though women now make up almost half of the workforce, they still perform a disproportionate share of care for new children or for sick family members, even in relationships where both partners work. Most workers do not have access to paid family and medical leave at their work. While many workers do have access to unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, many workers cannot afford to take unpaid leave. Sadly, the United States is only one of three countries in the world that does not provide paid maternity leave to new mothers.

Several states have begun to proactively address this issue by creating a state family and medical leave insurance fund into which workers pay a very small amount of money in order to have access to paid family and medical leave. Similar legislation has been proposed in Wisconsin, which is called the Wisconsin Family Insurance Act.

ISSUE: Breastfeeding Accommodation
Medical and public health professionals have documented the many health benefits of breastfeeding for both infants and new moms. Unfortunately, one of the most significant barriers that exist for new mothers to start or continue breastfeeding is a lack of supportive workplace breastfeeding policies and laws. Bipartisan legislation was recently introduced in Wisconsin that would provide working women who choose to breastfeed a reasonable work accommodation so that they have an adequate break time and private space in order to express milk.

Key Question:
Do you support ensuring Wisconsin women have paid sick leave? Why or why not?

Key Question:
Will you support the Wisconsin Family Insurance Act so that workers in Wisconsin can have access to paid family and medical leave? Why or why not?

Key Question:
Will you support legislation that would provide nursing mothers with a reasonable work accommodation so that they have an adequate break time and private space in order to express milk? Why or why not?

Key Questions to Ask Related to Your Health

ISSUE: Medicaid Expansion
In the last state budget, the Governor and legislature decided against accepting federal funding under the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) to expand the state Medicaid program (BadgerCare) to cover all adults who earn 138% or less of the federal poverty line. Expanding BadgerCare under the ACA would provide health care to an additional 83,000 additional Wisconsinites and save the state approximately $834 million through 2021. Despite the state’s ongoing refusal to expand BadgerCare, Wisconsin still has the ability to opt-in to Medicaid Expansion and cover more people with enhanced federal funding at any time in the future.

Key Question:
Do you support taking advantage of the federal funding to expand Medicaid and cover more people under BadgerCare?

ISSUE: Physician Patient Relationship
In recent legislative session, several laws have been passed that dictate how health care professionals can provide comprehensive reproductive health care to women who are their patients. Many of these new laws were opposed by the medical community because they interfere with the health care provider-patient relationship and are inconsistent with accepted standards of care.

Key Question:
What role do you believe the government should play in regard to the relationship a woman has with her health care provider? Do you think reproductive health care services should be singled out for increased scrutiny from the government? Why or why not?

ISSUE: Sexual Assault Victim Services (SAVS)
The funding stream for SAVS was shifted to a more stable source in recent years so that victim services providers can count on more consistent funding from the state. However, the SAVS funding amount is still is not sufficient to meet the demand for sexual assault services across Wisconsin. The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 Wisconsin women have experienced rape at some point in their lives. In 2010 alone, over 13,000 victims of sexual assault sought services at sexual assault programs in Wisconsin.

Key Question:
Do you support increased state funding for sexual assault victim services?

ISSUE: Birth Control
More than 99% of women aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method. Birth control has played an important role in the advancement of women in the workplace by allowing them to invest in their careers and plan for their futures. In fact, research shows the pill is responsible for a third of women's wages increases relative to men.

ISSUE: Family Planning Defunding
Two pieces of legislation were recently passed that could potentially undermine the budgets of many family planning clinics around the state of Wisconsin. The first would require the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to apply for federal Title X family planning funding. If DHS is awarded the money, they would be prevented from distributing the money to any family planning clinic that is affiliated with an organization that provides abortions, which would cut funding to 18 family planning clinics in the state. The second bill will drastically reduce the prescription drug reimbursement rate paid to some family planning clinics to unsustainable levels.

These new laws have the potential to close family planning clinics around the state of Wisconsin that serve tens-of-thousands of women and men who rely on these clinics to access preventive, reproductive health care.

Key Question:
Do you support policies that will increase women's access to FDA approved contraceptives, including emergency contraception?

Key Question:
Will you oppose further legislative attempts to undermine access to family planning clinics in Wisconsin? Will you support proactive legislation that would help make family planning services more accessible to Wisconsin women?

Key Questions to Ask Related to Your Finances

ISSUE: Equal Pay
Wisconsin families lose more than $11,000 per year due to unequal pay between women and men. Wisconsin women earn approximately 81 cents on the dollar compared to men. Wisconsin’s Pay Equity Enforcement Act was signed into law in 2009 to make it easier for working families who are denied fair pay due to wage discrimination based on race and gender to have their day in court. This law was repealed in 2012.

Key Question:
Do you support legislation that would help ensure women can enforce their right to equal pay?

ISSUE: Minimum Wage
Millions of workers struggle to make ends meet on minimum wage salaries. A woman working full-time, year round at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour earns just $14,500 – more than $5,500 below the poverty line for a family of 3. The federal minimum cash wage for tipped workers is $2.13 per hour. Women are nearly three-quarters of workers in tipped occupations and are approximately 62% of minimum wage workers. Raising the minimum wage would boost earnings for millions of workers-- the majority of whom are women--and help close the gender wage gap.

ISSUE: Earned Income Tax Credit
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a federal and state tax credit that is available to low- to moderate-income people who work. The EITC is especially beneficial for working families with dependent children. Your eligibility for and the size of your tax credit depends on your income, number of children, and marital status. Both the federal and Wisconsin EITC are refundable, so if the amount of the credit for which a family is eligible exceeds their tax liability, the difference will be refunded to the family. Unfortunately, the 2011-2013 Wisconsin state budget reduced the state EITC. This past legislative session, legislation was introduced to expand the state EITC.

ISSUE: Private Sector Retirement Security
Wisconsin currently has a pension fund for public employees--the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS)--that is viewed as a national model because it is adequately funded, well managed, and has low overhead costs. Private sector employees do not have access to such a consumer-friendly system where they can pool their personal retirement resources. This is particularly important for women, who typically have fewer retirement savings than men and must stretch their savings over a longer lifespan. The Private Security Retirement Act was introduced in the last legislative session, which would require the state to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of the state creating a participant-funded Wisconsin Private Retirement Security Board for private sector workers that is modeled on the current WRS.

ISSUE: Collective Bargaining
In recent years, Wisconsin labor laws have undergone significant changes that dramatically undermine the ability of both private and public sector workers to form unions in order to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions. Unionized workplaces provide women with tangible benefits, ranging from a significant decrease in the gender pay gap to much more family-friendly workplace policies such as paid sick days and family leave. Union representation helps many women achieve tremendous progress in their workplaces that would not otherwise be possible without the ability to collectively bargain for better pay and benefits.

ISSUE: Student Loan Debt
Seven in 10 college seniors (70%) who graduated in 2017 had student loan debt, with an average of $37,172 per borrower. From 2008 to 2012, debt at graduation (federal and private loans combined) increased an average of 6% each year. Rising student debt isn't just a problem for former college students falling behind on load payments, it's also a burden on the state's economy with many Wisconsinites putting off buying new cars or buying homes because of heavy student loans.

Key Question:
What is your stance on Wisconsin's minimum wage? Are you in favor of an increase? If so, how much of an increase would you like to see, and do you believe the rate should be indexed to the cost of inflation? If you are not in favor of a statewide increase, why?

Key Question:
Will you support legislation that would expand the state Earned Income Tax Credit in order to help reduce the tax burden for low- and moderate-income working families in Wisconsin?

Key Question:
Will you support the Private Security Retirement Act, which would provide private sector workers with a retirement system in which they can invest their savings that is similar to the one currently enjoyed by public sector workers?

Key Question:
Would you support legislation that would fully restore the rights of public and private sector workers to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions?

Key Question:
Would you support legislation that would create a state Student Loan Refinancing Authority allowing student loan borrowers to refinance those loans at lower interest rates just as homeowners do with mortgages?

Key Questions to Ask Related to Your Education

ISSUE: Comprehensive, medically accurate sex ed programs
According to a study conducted by the CDC in 2008, 1 in 4 teenage girls in the U.S. will contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Wisconsin is no exception; Milwaukee currently has the second highest rate of Chlamydia infection in the country. In addition, the teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. continues to be one of the highest among developed countries. Providing comprehensive, age-appropriate sexual education equips young adults with the tools they need to make safe, healthy choices.

ISSUE: Higher Education Funding
The 2015-2017 state budget cut funding for the University of Wisconsin System by approximately $250 million. Tuition for in-state students will remain frozen at all UW-System campuses except one until 2019. As a result, the UW-System faces an immediate budget shortfall and was forced to absorb the cuts in the form of staff layoffs, reductions in services and other budget cuts that undermine their educational mission.
Overall, the 2015-2017 budget froze state support for the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). During the previous decade, actual state support for technical colleges has dropped by one third while the number of students enrolled in the system has increased by about 4%.

Key Question:
Do you support legislation that would require human growth and development programs in schools to be age appropriate, medically accurate, and include information about contraception as a means of preventing teen pregnancy and transmission of STIs?

Key Question:
Will you support sufficient increased state funding to the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Technical College System to ensure that public universities and technical colleges can provide adequate levels of service to students at an affordable price?

Key Questions to Ask Related to Your Community

ISSUE: Enforcing Environmental Laws
Access to clean air and water are the basis of health for women and our families. In recent years, enforcement actions against illegal polluters has dropped 55% and there has been an astounding 68% drop in the number of cases against illegal polluters referred for prosecution to the Department of Justice. When the government fails to prioritize enforcing the laws meant to protect us, our families risk exposure to more pollution from factory farms, frac sand mines, and other industrial operations.

ISSUE: Public K-12 Education
The state budget continues the trend of underfunding Wisconsin’s public schools that was accelerated by the historic cuts passed in the 2011-2013 budget. As a result, public schools are being forced to provide the same quality of education with less revenue every budget cycle. Public schools are increasingly required to rely on local referenda initiatives in order to meet their most basic budgeting needs, which only further exacerbates the disparities between higher and lower income school districts that cannot equally afford to adequately fund their schools in the face of insufficient state revenue supports.

The lack of state resources being allocated to public schools is compounded by an ever-increasing amount of taxpayer dollars that are being funneled away from public schools to private voucher schools.

The effects of underfunding our public schools are felt even more acutely by lower-income students, who constitute approximately 40% of Wisconsin’s public K-12 students. Since Wisconsin’s school funding formula does not adjust for income levels, many of the districts with disproportionate number of low-income students lose out.

Key Question:
Will you support initiatives to protect our air, water, and land and ensure that the responsible state agencies have the resources they need to enforce environmental protections?

Key Questions:
Do you support increasing state funding to public K-12 education that would, at a minimum, restore the historic budget cuts that have been implemented since 2011?

Do you support taxpayer money being used to fund private voucher schools?

Do you support changing Wisconsin’s state school funding formula so that it takes family income and poverty into account?

Key Questions to Ask Related to Your Safety

ISSUE: Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking is the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world. Victims are trafficked by force, fraud or coercion primarily for the purposes of labor or sexual exploitation. Human Trafficking is a significant problem in Wisconsin, where domestic and foreign victims have been identified in both urban and rural communities.

ISSUE: Gun Violence
In Wisconsin, federally licensed firearm dealers are required to conduct a background check on all firearm sales, but private sellers are not. This private sale loophole allows just about anyone to sell a gun with no background check, no identification, and no questions asked.

Key Question:
Human trafficking is widespread in Wisconsin. Do you support increased funding to combat human trafficking? Why or why not?

Key Question:
Would you support universal background checks on the transfer of firearms in Wisconsin?

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