Falk visits Superior

Kathleen Falk has a plan for Wisconsin. It includes job growth, investing in education and healing the state.

“I have never seen the state so ripped apart in my 60 years,” she said.

The Waukesha native has spent decades breaking the glass ceiling as an environmental attorney, the state’s Public Intervener and most recently as Dane County’s first woman county executive.

“Who better to stand up to Walker’s war on women?” Falk asked during a visit to the Telegram office Friday. Falk was the longest-serving executive in Dane County’s history. During that time, the county saw the strongest job growth in the state. When the economy faltered in 2007-08, Falk hammered out agreements with the county’s eight unions to negotiate savings three years in a row.

“I am proof you don’t have to throw away 50 years of workers’ rights to balance the budget,” she said.

For those reasons and more, Falk said, “I have the best record go toe-to-toe with Gov. Walker.”

Falk is one of four Democratic candidates seeking to challenge Gov. Scott Walker in the June 5 recall election. The others are Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Secretary of State Doug LaFollette, Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma. A fifth candidate on the ballot, Gladys Huber, is a Republican running as a Democrat. The primary is slated for May 8.

Falk was on the forefront of the state recall movement. While many elected officials have thrown their support behind Barrett, Falk has an alphabet soup of union endorsements – AFL-CIO, AFT, WEAC, AFSCME and more. She also has the backing of organizations including the Sierra Club, EMILY’s List, the Women’s Campaign Fund and Young Progressives.

More than any elected official, Falk said, her backers are the “heart and soul” of the state, the ones who will make a difference at the polls.

The former Dane County executive said she would boost job growth in the area by controlling spending, investing in infrastructure and maintaining quality of life. Following Michigan’s lead, Falk said she would like to make Wisconsin a leader in the green energy industry. The state is the top pulp producer in the nation, she said, and that could translate into bioenergy opportunities. Being on the largest freshwater lake on the planet, Wisconsin could also take the lead in manufacturing and technology focused on reducing pollution.

Falk also proposed restoring funding that Walker cut from Wisconsin’s technical colleges without raising taxes. Instead, she would pay for it by repealing Walker’s Combined Reporting law which provides tax loopholes for businesses.

The longtime environmental lawyer proposes to restore collective bargaining rights to public union employees through the budget, the one piece of legislature that has to pass.

For more on Falk, look up her website at www.kathleenfalk.com/.

Tags: news, wisconsin, superior, elections, politics