Former lawmaker returns 20 years later to challenge GOP incumbent in Chippewa Valley

Wisconsin Watch is previewing legislative races in toss-up districts ahead of the Nov. 5 election by focusing on key issues for voters and what candidates say they will do to address them.  

Rural health care access, affordable child care and public education are among key issues for western Wisconsin voters in the toss-up 92nd Assembly District where Republican Rep. Clint Moses will face a Democratic challenger who is no stranger to the state Assembly. 

Former state Rep. Joe Plouff held office from 1997 to 2005, representing the area he is running in now — 20 years later.

The district covers parts of Chippewa and Dunn counties and includes the cities of Chippewa Falls and Menomonie, as well as parts of Eau Claire. Small villages like Elk Mound and Lake Hallie also fall within its boundaries.

First elected in 2020, Moses, 48, chairs the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care. He also serves on the Assembly agriculture and rural development committees. He is a farmer, chiropractor and former Menomonie School Board member.

Plouff, a 74-year-old Army veteran, was previously a member of the Menomonie City Council and Dunn County Board of Supervisors. He is a retired teacher. 

He narrowly beat Caden Berg in the district’s Aug. 13 Democratic primary. Berg is now Plouff’s campaign manager. 

Plouff said in an interview with the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce that he came out of retirement because he “fears for” what he sees in the Legislature. 

“I come from a time when we actually could work together,” Plouff said. “We used to go out with people from the opposite party, and we would enjoy a meal together …That has collapsed in the 20 years I’ve been gone.” 

Moses pushed back, saying lawmakers from both parties still work together to get things done.  

“That actually still happens,” Moses told Wisconsin Watch. “I regularly will have breakfast or lunch with one of my Democrat colleagues.” 

A Wisconsin Watch analysis of past voting patterns suggests the district is now a toss-up after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative maps earlier this year. The race is one to watch as Republicans defend their Assembly majority.

Moses has far outraised Plouff, with the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee contributing nearly $167,000 to his campaign. Plouff has raised just over $70,000 so far this year with about a third coming from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, according to campaign finance records.

Rural health care 

Access to rural health care is a key issue in this district. Two hospitals and 19 clinics in Eau Claire and across the Chippewa Valley closed this year, leaving thousands without local options for care.

Moses and other western Wisconsin lawmakers acted quickly after the closures, authoring bills to reallocate $15 million left over from the 2021-23 state budget to Eau Claire and Chippewa County for emergency room services.

Evers used partial vetoes to allow the emergency funds to be used for other health care services across the region besides just hospital emergency departments. Moses said $15 million only made a dent compared to what is needed, and after expanding the scope of the funds, the $15 million was “diluted.”

Moses said he submitted budget requests during both of his sessions for Medicaid reimbursement increases for all providers, and he plans to put in those same requests again if reelected. But he said he is not in favor of fully expanding Medicaid because it will not solve the problem. 

Plouff disagreed, stressing that expansion is essential.

In 2023 Moses co-authored a bill that proposed stricter reapplication processes for Medicaid and would have required DHS to review participant eligibility every six months. In 2022, he co-authored legislation making anyone who refuses a job offer ineligible for Medicaid. Evers vetoed the bill.

“We are not trying to kick people off that are truly needy,” Moses said in 2023. “This bill simply prevents fraud in our state and helps get the needy the services that they need.”

Wisconsin is one of 10 states — the only in the Midwest — that has not yet expanded Medicaid. A survey published in 2022 found that 70% of Wisconsin voters support fully expanding BadgerCare. The Marquette Law School Poll has similarly found 60% or greater support for accepting Medicaid expansion.

Moses hopes to expand apprenticeship programs in Wisconsin, allowing hospitals to take on and attract more potential providers, especially in rural areas. He authored a bipartisan bill signed into law this year that created crisis urgent care and observation centers that provide immediate service to patients experiencing mental health and substance abuse emergencies, the first of which will be located in western Wisconsin where there is a lack of nearby mental health facilities. 

Public education 

The Menomonie area school district went to referendum this spring, asking the district’s property taxpayers for $4.2 million to exceed its levy limit and keep up with operating expenses after citing “inequitable revenue limits and inadequate funding from the state.” It failed overwhelmingly, leaving the district to navigate a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.

District administrator Joe Zydowsky told WQOW that cuts could include a reduction in programming, services and staff, as well as increased class sizes and the possibility of closing schools. 

Menomonie is one of 192 school districts that went or will go to referendum this year, which is almost half of all Wisconsin school districts. Many districts have raised concerns that state aid has not kept up with inflation. In 2009, the state Legislature decoupled per-pupil revenue limits from inflation. School districts have had to manage tighter budgets ever since.

Moses told Wisconsin Watch the state has not kept up in funding, and he is in favor of tying revenue limits to inflation again. Among the residents and property taxpayers in the district, pushing to referendum is far less popular than increasing state aid to schools, he said. 

“If we changed the levy limits, they wouldn’t have to be doing that,” Moses said. “If we did something to tie it more to inflation, I would be very much in favor of that.” 

In 2023, Moses voted in favor of legislation that increased per-pupil revenue limits in public schools and increased tax funding for private voucher schools at the same time. It was passed as part of a compromise between Republican lawmakers and Evers.

Plouff raised concerns about the amount of money taxpayers are fronting for the private school voucher system in Menomonie. He said the per-pupil funding model for public education hasn’t been adjusted consistently, and it’s time to make changes. 

“I don’t know off the top of my head what that might be,” Plouff said. 

Child care 

Affordable and accessible child care has been a persistent issue across the state of Wisconsin, and places like Eau Claire are no exception. 

A Wisconsin Department of Children and Families child care supply and demand survey recently found that almost 60% of providers in Wisconsin have unused classroom capacity due to staff shortages. Providers report that if they were able to operate at full capacity, they could accept up to 33,000 more children. The state is losing hundreds of child care providers every year, according to DCF. 

Child care deserts exist across 70% of rural Wisconsin, according to a 2021 report from the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association. The Economic Policy Institute found that a typical family in Wisconsin would have to spend a third of its income on child care for an infant and a 4-year-old. 

Based on 2016 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services deemed child care affordable if it costs up to 7% of a family’s income.

The median hourly wage for a child care worker in Wisconsin is $13.78, according to May 2023 estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Moses said more needs to be done to encourage people to enter the child care field and make it financially rewarding for them, such as tax credits, benefits, health insurance and a living wage. 

He co-authored a bipartisan bill signed by Evers earlier this year that increased the state child care tax credit. 

Last year, Moses joined his Republican colleagues in voting for measures that would have lowered the minimum teaching age of assistant child care providers from 18 to 16 and increased the permitted ratio of children to workers in child care facilities. Providers and advocates say these efforts would not help current challenges in the child care field.

“I think the biggest problem is we have this ‘one size fits all’ for child care,” Moses told Wisconsin Watch. “I think we also need to look at some of the other options that are out there, like maybe supporting family members — grandma, grandpa.” 

“The answer is not always throwing more money at it. Throwing more money at it gets you more inflation,” Moses said in 2023 in defense of a Republican-authored bill on child care, which he called a “low-cost solution.” 

Plouff had a different take. 

“He’s right, you can’t always throw money at this,” he said. “But at the same time, when you have money in your pocket and you see a problem, you can find a solution. And if that solution costs money, you spend that money.” 

Plouff said he would use tax money to temporarily subsidize child care, adding that providers positively contribute to the economy and it is important to raise the value of the job. Unlike Moses, he is concerned about grandparents and family members having to be caretakers due to a lack of child care accessibility. 

“I’m hearing from people that the parents and the grandparents are now becoming the child care providers,” Plouff said. “They almost have to. Their kids need help.” 

Marijuana legalization 

Wisconsin continues to stand out among Midwest states as one of few that haven’t legalized medicinal or recreational marijuana. 

Statewide polling from the Marquette University Law School showed in January that 83% of respondents supported medical marijuana legalization, and 63% supported full legalization.

Last year, the Wisconsin Policy Forum estimated that more than half of all Wisconsin residents above the age of 21 live within a 75-minute drive from a marijuana dispensary in surrounding states. This estimate was before neighboring Minnesota legalized recreational use.

In 2022, marijuana sales to those residing in Wisconsin generated over $36 million in sales tax revenue for Illinois, according to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Approximately $165 million in annual sales tax revenue was projected under Evers’ full marijuana legalization plan that the Legislature’s GOP-controlled budget committee rejected in 2023. 

In a district so close to the border of Minnesota, Moses said this issue is raised frequently. He supports medicinal marijuana legalization, but “would like to see how that goes first.” 

He is hesitant to support recreational legalization due to safety concerns, particularly marijuana potentially being laced with fentanyl. If the Legislature agrees on legalization, he said lawmakers must ensure the supply will be safe. 

Plouff said it is an embarrassment that the state hasn’t yet taken action to legalize medicinal marijuana. He said he would support recreational legalization “under controls,” preferably with professionals who can guide the consumer on safe use of the drug. 

“I believe it’s time for Wisconsin to get into it,” Plouff said, noting the revenue and tax benefits.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.