Welcome, everyone, to Midday magazine for this December 1st, 2023.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here at 330.
We're going to welcome our friends from Wisconsin Rapids Community Theatre.
Get a preview of a candle in the window.
Their holiday play coming up right now.
Joining us on the phone, our friend Wisconsin State Assembly District 72
representative Scott Krug.
Scott, good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
How are you today doing?
Good.
It's been a while.
We didn't get a chance to talk last month.
So it's it's good to have you here with us.
I got stuck in the capital on a Friday, which never happens last month.
We were getting ready to get our 23 election bills ready for the floor session
that week.
So I had basically held an open office hours for anybody that wanted to come
and mend anything that day and just got caught up and work.
Yeah, I understand the day job comes first, man.
That's understandable.
I'm curious.
How did that go?
That was great.
I don't think in my 13 years down there that we've ever had a whole day for one
topic on the floor.
So we had 20 bills, three constitutional amendments.
We went through that entire stock of the bills and maybe five or six hours,
which in any other given time, if you didn't work by part,
assembly would take 13 to 16 hours.
I mean, it was just it was great.
It was a good example of what happens when you can sit down with each other and
listen and work through things and know that you're not going to agree on all of
them, but most of them.
So just all of that work made it an easy day, actually.
Yeah, certainly one of the things that I don't have to tell you, you deal and your
colleagues deal with is the idea that we want more done from our politicians.
We want more bills passed.
We want more things done more and more.
So I don't know if this counters that or not, but do you think we need more of
that Scott, more of what you experienced through that?
Yeah, I think I think we need more conversation.
I'm always one that likes to say, you know, I actually like working in a split
government, right?
Because only the best bills get done because when you have just one part you
controlling everything is kind of throw everything out the wall and it all gets
through.
And then I always tell people that, you know, every time we pass the bill,
there's always unintended consequences.
So it seems like when we pass bills and become laws, we almost create another
problem somewhere else.
So it's nice not to have too many bills, but it's nice to have a lot of
conversation to make good bills.
Scott, if you don't mind, as I mentioned, we didn't get a chance to talk last
month.
So I would like to rewind a little bit with you and talk about some of the
events of November, especially so many of them being very noteworthy.
The committee on campaigns and elections, you met with members of the committee.
You met two times in November.
Can you tell us what you guys discussed and how that went?
Yeah, I think the biggest one, the biggest takeaway I think is something
we've been working on for about four years now.
And this was the Monday processing of absentee ballots.
So the way that Wisconsin counted ballots has led to a lot of confusion over
the last few elections where we've had so many numbers of absentee
ballots and it's growing and growing every year because people are appreciating
the ability to absentee vote.
But Wisconsin doesn't process them, but you know, open them, count them, register
them, mark them in the elections book, give them serial numbers, all that
processing doesn't happen until election day.
So when there's gobs and gobs and gobs of absentee ballots, makes them all
day and bigger cities to get counted, some people tend to think that at the
end of the day when there's a dump of 200,000 votes into the tally, that new
ballots were found somewhere or that there was some fraud going on because
where did all these ballots come from?
What do they think?
This is Chicago. Come on.
I can make that joke.
I can make that joke.
That's exactly what it is.
It's all these absentee ballots that like 38 other states processed them ahead
of time, like just counted them on election day, right?
I don't want to make light of election integrity by any means, but it is
getting to a point where it, I don't, I don't think it's ever silly to question
these things or to question government.
I encourage people to do that.
I think that's important.
I also think it's important to be an adult.
And once you get answers that you need to move on as a society, we have people
out there that are still, that are still barking about the less presidential
election and everything.
So I, do you think that with more and more of this being done that we get away
from more and more of that?
And there's, there, people believe in the election system more and more.
That is exactly the whole point of this bill in particular is that I've said
from the beginning when I took on this job as the chairman of that committee that
90% of our problems can be solved by this bill becoming law, where we've got
the results that are available to people in this instant need for information
society.
People want to know right away who won.
We need the election day, not the day after and that three days after we need
to know an election day.
But both got to do it right.
So we can't just do speed.
We got to be accurate.
So letting this process start a day earlier, everything is ready to go on
election day.
So by 10 o'clock on election night, for example, we can have a great idea
who won an election before we all go to bed.
Nobody wakes up in the morning saying, Hey, my guy was winning and now he lost
overnight, something had to have happened.
I get where people can get that perception from.
I'm not, I'm not blind to where that perception can come from.
But I also want to make sure people understand that this can be fixed pretty
easily, like 40 other states have done already.
So it's just the great example and Republicans and Democrats worked really
hard to gather on this bill.
We started talking to Democrats at the beginning of session.
This is the idea, engage them in the assembly and over in the Senate and
then you go into the governor's office and say, OK, what are the red lines
in the stand here that you are not going to like in this bill?
Because there are certain things that we need to get done and certain things
that you will probably veto.
They're going to cost us the good things they need to get done.
So the governor's office actually gave us their idea, right?
And I don't think that happens very often with the legislature reaches out
to the executive branch saying, Hey, let us know what too far is.
So we don't cross it and waste all this time.
So engage in those conversations at all those different levels and get in
all the stakeholders and county clerks and municipal clerks and everybody
to the table to say, OK, this is what we need.
This is what we think.
This is what you think.
Let's find this middle ground.
It made a bill that went through on a voice vote in the state assembly.
It's just an amazing, amazing process to get something that's
significant done with that little heartburn from anybody else.
It really speaks to what we can do when we can put things aside and work
together and reach across the aisle.
Yeah, I mean, it's just and even beyond the bill is just the friendships
that we get to build amongst committee members.
I mean, I, I've got six Republicans in the committee and three Democrats.
And to be honest, I only knew one of the Democrats really well before that
because she was on another committee chair last session.
But I've got to meet these other two members on their side of the aisle,
quote unquote, and got to become really good friends if we text and
talk and hang out.
I mean, it's just building those relationships has been even a bigger thing
to me than just getting some of these bills done is because it's important
that, you know, how you treat people instead of, you know, getting your stuff
done and being the most important person in the room.
Yeah, Scott, I was doing some kind of work with Pam earlier.
And we were talking about this.
And you and I have been talking about six or seven years now.
It's what we've been doing this.
So it was a really through me for a second there.
I did not realize it's been that long.
You poor, poor man.
But when it comes to that, what you're talking about right there,
this is something we've been discussing since our first conversation,
the importance of bipartisanism.
Now, where we are now with this, I think that we have such an opportunity,
not an opportunity at something that's actually happening in real time.
Wisconsin is such an example to the rest of the union of a purple state
and what can get done in a purple state.
I think that's all the more reason why it's so vital going forward.
And then the brand new year with new elections coming up to get away
from the divisiveness and show so much more of a connection.
If you're running against somebody, you can stand on your own word.
You don't have to trash talk of them.
Just do your own thing.
I think we're seeing more and more of people wanting that out of their
politicians and hopefully we'll see more of that come out election season.
We'll touch actually a little bit more on campaigns in a moment.
Yeah, I mean, that's that's what I've decided for my first campaign on.
My wife has always told me that I'm not going to do that.
Or she's not going to support any more of my effort to run.
I mean, it needs a choice for me to take it to that because I literally,
I don't even ever mention my opponent's name when I'm running.
I don't need to.
I can, I can work on, I can pitch people on what I've accomplished and the ideas
that I have coming up.
So it's just, it's so much easier.
And this, and I've actually branded this thing that we've been doing at the Capitol
with this bipartisan push calling it a new way forward.
We just, it's spreading to other committees in the assembly to say, okay,
why don't you sit down with your members on the other side, figure out what's going to work.
Get it moved forward, get it to the governor's desk.
Let's get these things done.
So it's, it's been great to swim against the tide.
So we can actually accomplish a lot of this stuff.
Scott, I mentioned campaign season.
It seems like it's right around the corner.
And really, I was joking actually on the earlier about this.
It's a little like the NFL where there is no offseason anymore.
It's politics is kind of like that where there's always, it seems like it's always
campaign time.
With that being said, a bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers is circulating a
bill that will require candidates and political groups to tell the public when they
use artificial intelligence to generate audio or video in their ads.
Scott, I can't think of anything that's, there's two parts to this for me.
One, how important you think this is.
And, and two, how ridiculous is this that we need a bill for this that we're at this
point in the political game that for one, that people might not be able to tell a
difference.
And the two that we actually have to worry about this kind of stuff.
We've got it so much on our plate already as a society to worry about.
Now we have this kind of thing.
How important is this bill to you?
So this is really actually the top thing I need to get on yet the session.
So back in, I think it was March.
I had a reporter call me from New York Times or Washington Post or something
or other talking about campaigns in Wisconsin and how close our elections
always are.
And I didn't really have much that I could tell her, you besides, you know,
what I'm going to tell you on artificial intelligence, because yes,
what about these deep fakes?
Other states are dealing with this.
I'm like, I don't know.
We haven't even thought about it here in Wisconsin.
So we started researching a little bit and seeing what other states are doing.
Like Washington state in particular and some of the East Coast states,
where it actually had become a real problem.
And it kind of escaped me that AI is growing or so rapidly,
that there's applications and campaigns and elections and how we process
information.
So I pointed a couple of members of our committee to take on the issue.
So the bill is set.
It's going to come to campaigns and elections in January that we're going
to have hearings based on the work that the speakers task force and
artificial intelligence also work on.
So it became a huge issue right after this reporter called to say, okay,
well, yeah, we better think about this a little bit because yeah, it's real.
AI is taking, you know, it's technologically advancing more than anything
else in our society.
So we've, we've got to start figuring out to put in some disclaimers on some
of things that are fake is just a good safeguard to make sure people consume
the right information.
I mentioned, actually, unintentionally or not, that was a good way of giving
a tip of the hat to journalism and how much we still need journalism.
Yeah, right.
But also with talking about this, and I know it's a new topic with you and
your colleagues, but talking about it with them, do you see kind of like a 100%
everybody kind of agreeing with, yeah, we got to get this done?
Yeah, it was as soon as we appointed a couple of members to work on this issue,
they came together pretty darn quick on what would work and what are the
guidelines and, you know, we've got some pretty young books in the assembly right
now.
I call them our, our millennial legislators who are all over this.
I mean, there's a good group of a dozen or so of these men and women who are,
you know, a lot more technologically savvy than I can even say I am at this
point who knew exactly who to go to and talk to and, you know, the technology
industries and, I mean, they've done a great job on vetting us out.
So it was pretty well agreed on pretty quickly.
We are speaking with Representative Scott Krueger right now and Scott, I wanted to
get into this one with you as well.
You testified last month in front of the Senate Committee on Transportation and
Local Government along with Mick Furkey, I apologize if I don't get that name right.
Mick and you and support of SB 230.
This bill is an effort to endorse by RV dealers, RV manufacturers, to prove and
clarify Wisconsin's laws within the rapidly growing RV industry.
Another one of those topics where I don't, it feels like it could slip through the cracks,
but it's one of those ones we got to get figured out as well.
Yeah, I mean, Mick and I have been working on this bill for six, maybe seven years now.
It was such a big issue in the RV industry and obviously if you drive down
highway 13 in Wisconsin and have been, you know, we're one of the epicenters for
RV dealers.
Yeah.
State of Wisconsin because, I mean, it's such a growing industry because of COVID and
all the things that people could do to get away and get, you know, some space from
each other and so RV and camping have become absolutely huge.
So we've got these huge manufacturers out in Indiana and other parts of the country
who deal with these dealers who are all mostly Wisconsin-based and there's these disagreements
on franchises and how, you know, their process works under Wisconsin law.
So there's a lot of technical things in the bill but basically what it does is it gives
these dealers locally some certainty in contracts with manufacturers.
So manufacturers can't just willy-nilly pull their agreements, you know, especially like
for Mick when you're transferring the business to his son.
The manufacturer basically said, well, you don't know your son, so we're going to pull
our line from you.
Well, I mean, that destroys somebody's business just because of a succession plan.
So we, you know, Mick actually worked creating an entire lobby and group to pull this together
to get RV dealers from across state of Wisconsin to work together to come up with guidelines
of a work.
The bipartisan bill, it's lying through the assembly in the Senate pretty quickly, working
with the DOT to get some language things done that are going to make some sense too.
So yeah, it's a big deal for a lot of businesses and the rapid area to make sure we've got
some certainty with their manufacturers that they can conduct businesses they need to
and not just have the manufacturers win.
Certainly has a trickle-down effect too.
It's a part of our economy, especially as you mentioned here in Central Wisconsin, and
the idea of so many people that do come to this state without an RV looking to buy one
and then travel the state, we know, we're visiting it and you know, spending the dollars
up and down the state doing that as well.
It's an important one to get figured out on that level.
Yeah, and it just, it really speaks again to how, you know, the best bills originate.
I mean, this is organic, right?
This is generated from a problem that was seen, you know, a back home that it could stitch
your one phrase and said, hey, can you help me with this?
Then we start betting through the process, working as a Department of Transportation and
other groups.
I mean, it's just, it is exactly the best type of bill that's home-grown, organic type
stuff.
I'm curious, I'm looking forward to seeing how that unfolds.
Scott, we got about, you know, seven, eight minutes left.
I want to get into a couple more things with you real quick, but one of the ones I wanted
to touch on with you last month, it may have been a little more, a little more topical,
but recently our friend, yours and mine, Wisconsin Rep, it's Mayor Shane Blazer announced
he would not be seeking a third term.
Shane joined us on the air with that news and kind of broke it for our audience and we
got talking about it and you know, Shane, he is not, he's not going to put on airs.
You ask him a question, he's going to give you a genuine answer.
And so when I asked him why, he was very real about it.
A lot of it has to do with the negativity out there and a lot of the keyboard cowards
and a lot of these things.
No mayor in any town, I don't care how big or how small should have to deal with death
threats.
No politician should have to deal with death threats.
I don't care who you are, I don't care if you were Henry Kissinger or the most divisive
politicians ever, I don't care who you are.
Nobody deserves that.
But here we're losing a great politician, a great man in this area because of these situations.
You don't know who's going to fill that spot.
You yourself have touched on this a little bit over the years.
You see something like this go on with somebody that you're friendly with, you know pretty
well.
Does it make you think about these things at all?
You know I think about it all the time, right?
I mean there's always an exit strategy at some point, how you would leave and when you
leave and why you leave.
And I think everybody's got their own reasons and I think it's a good time for Shane to reevaluate
and do what he wants and he's been an amazing mayor and I don't take anything away from him.
I mean one of the reasons, if and when I do leave, I think the last reason I would ever
do is because of negativity.
You know you and I talked a lot of times but I always try to, that's why I'm there,
right?
Despite the negativity and whether I get billed or not, I want to leave it a better place
than I inherited it from and I don't think I will, I don't know if I will ever get to
that point where I would leave because of that, I think I would, I always say I've got
a book of stuff, right?
Yeah.
I was doing my book of stuff kind of get started getting emptier than forwards and it's
time to go.
So yeah, I mean, Shane's been great but I'm always the kind of guy who can just stand
up and punch a bull in the nose before I let him, you know, that's what I'm going to do.
But yeah, I was shocked when he decided to go.
I think he's done an amazing job and led the city through some really tough times here
with the middle closing and you know trying to find options for people to stay and live
and work and play and ramp as he's just been a dad to him.
So I'm looking forward to the next person reaching out and telling us why they're going
to be the best choice and helping vet somebody to fill those shoes because it's a really
important thing to me growing up and ramping so we had a solid mayor like Champlays
or was.
Agreed.
Agreed tenfold.
You recently had Christmas tree show up at the Capitol?
That was pretty exciting.
Yeah, it's always cool.
I mean, that's one of the best times of the years now that the tree's getting decorated,
getting folks down there to see it.
I mean, it's always a great story too, where the tree's always come from.
I always like listening to some of these stories and this one was literally plucked out
of somebody's front yard.
It's not like a tree farm tree or anything.
It's literally the tree picked out of somebody's front yard and the rain line and it's
made its way to the Capitol Rotunda.
So it's a great thing to see this tree get put up and spread out and how they trim it
and how they support it.
I mean, it's just such a huge process to get that thing in there and get it all set
up.
I would highly encourage you if you haven't seen it at the Capitol during the holiday
season to get down there before Christmas and check it out because it's something to
behold.
It is beautiful.
The pictures are wonderful.
I encourage people to check those out.
And if you can get to Madison, check it out in person even better.
Head on down there.
Never a bad time to head to Madison.
Scott, we've done our job.
We did it.
We are professional.
Now we can talk a little sports.
We have not gotten to talk about the change at manager for the Milwaukee Brewers.
How are you feeling?
I just wanted to check in on it.
How you feel about it?
Yeah.
Right?
So I was always a big wrestling fan growing up as a kid, right?
And I always said one of the coolest bigs in wrestling was Hulk Hogan's heel turn when
he went to the WCW.
That's it.
Yeah.
The NW all gone, right?
So this McDonald's, the thing is so NW all, it's just how do you, how do you see that
confidence?
I mean, I kind of look forward to seeing Council come to Milwaukee 18 times and I can get
to it.
So.
Do you think in somewhat seriousness, we're talking sports, you can't get too serious
about it.
But when it comes to that, do you think that this is going to light a fire under the ownership
of the Milwaukee Brewers?
Because I have heard rumors that they are looking to spend money this off season.
Well, it's what they just did.
I think yesterday they're looking to finalize an $80 million contract with a minor legal.
Yeah.
They're finally taking that money out of the managerial spot and putting it back into
the players.
It helps.
You know, Pat Murphy is going to be a solid guy who he's been over the whole time with
Council.
So I mean, you don't need a superstar to manage a team.
Look at Mike Schilt.
And he manages the Cardinals now getting hired by San Diego.
I mean, you can find some guys who don't need to make $8 million a year to make it
even spend it on the field.
So I think it's going to be exciting.
I mean, as long as they figure out what they're going to do with the Dallas and Burns,
if they're going to keep them retreat them, I mean, you know, that's kind of the last
piece to see what their direction is going to be if they send them off.
And obviously, it's a rebuild, but if they keep them, I think they feel pretty good
about their chances of getting back to the playoffs again.
It looks like the manager in waiting is Ricky Weeks.
What do you, how do you feel about that?
That one, I'm not so huge on yet.
I mean, you know, we kind of always go through this thing, Milwaukee, where we've got to
have a hometown guy end up being the manager.
I mean, it worked out great with Council, but it doesn't always work out.
We just tried to force it.
I'm glad they didn't put him in there right away and let him learn the ropes because he
really hasn't managed anywhere else, but it's always cool to see hometown guys, but
you kind of got to be careful sometimes being that big of a homer to try to make sure you're
going to win a world series so you got to find the right person, that's just the person
from home.
Yeah, you look at a couple of organizations that have done that over the years, not gone
very well for them.
So, you know, David Ross, you know, the Cubs, I thought it would have been a great trade
to bring Rossy up here.
Yeah, yeah.
I thought you'd perfectly find manager.
So I, if I was a brewer fan, I would have been alright with that too.
I did want to ask about one other thing when it comes to Milwaukee Brewers, not that it
has been settled and the Brewers aren't going anywhere, not that we've necessarily thought
they were, but it's official and the contract is signed, the team is staying, do you think
that there's any talk of turning the Milwaukee area a little bit like Rigglyville, a little
bit like what Jones, after the Rickets did that in Rigglyville, everybody picked up and
started doing it and Dallas, they've done a similar thing with the Cowboys.
Do you think that you could see, certainly maybe not to that extent, but some level of
that with the Brewers?
Well, that's what we kind of laid out for them during this legislative process on the
bill saying, hey, you kind of mean to start thinking about some of these things like
that.
You know, like Green Bay is not a title town, you know, just, you know, like the bucks
have done it with the bucks district, you know, just, you know, let's try to make this
a little more family-friendly user-friendly, I mean, it's always a great tradition.
I love tailgating on the parking lot at a brewery's game, but it's got to be more.
I mean, it was nice when they added a little league stadium out there and if they can find
ways to improve that area because, honestly, for stadiums across the nation, you know,
Ampham Field or Miller Park, whatever you want to call it, is literally the only one
they know of the absolute middle of nowhere, right?
Yeah.
It's surrounded by concrete highways everywhere, so you kind of got to figure out a way
to start making it a little more user-friendly all around on the outside.
So, hopefully, you know, they just bought a couple of acres on the outskirts and they'll
start developing it a little bit better and more and give us a little more entertainment
value for folks who don't want to just sit in the parking lot and cook some brats and
drink some beer.
That's where there's anything wrong with it.
Not at all.
Nothing wrong at all with that.
We're looking forward to it come spring.
Scott, always good talking with you.
If people have follow-up questions, want to know more, how can they get a touch with
you?
Yeah, it's worked out great.
When we do this, I give up the phone number, 715-323-3293, and we literally do have people
calling as soon as the show gets over, so I encourage I leave some time open after I get
up the air and it works out pretty good for people to call with questions.
Really good to hear.
Have a great set of holidays, you and yours, looking forward to talking to you in the
new year.
Absolutely.
Talk to you again soon.
Take care, Scott.
We'll have more Midday Magazine for you coming up right here on WFHR, locally grown radio.
