That university of chicago. At the university of chicago. Good evening. On tuesday, november 8, wisconsin voters will decide who will be the next senator for the next six years. Our goal tonight is to help you make an informed choice as you hear from the candidates, incumbent senator ron johnson and the wisconsin Lieutenant Governor, Mandela Barnes. The candidates have agreed to the rules. For each question, they will have the length of time they have for responses. One minute or 30 seconds. When they hit their time limit, i will advise them if they continue, their microphone will cease to work. Please note, this debate will provide an Additional Service for voters. Many issues require deeper context and verification, especially when counter charges are exchanged, or one specifics are used. Thanks to our debates that a team, we will be providing you links to Additional Research material about key topics, to read more about a subject, follow the link you see on the screen or follow the wba on facebook, instagram, or twitter. Our is wbadebate. With that, let us begin with the first question. You are seeing her picture, despite her hard work, she cant be here because of covid protocols, so she has asked her teammate to prevent her question for her. Good afternoon. Good evening, gentlemen. We want to start with the topic of marijuana legislation. This news, just coming out yesterday that President Biden is pardoning thousands of americans convicted of possession of marijuana, under federal law. He says it is a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. What is your position on the federal legalization of marijuana . Senator johnson, we will start with you. You have one minute. I want to thank the wisconsin broadcast association, and the Wisconsin Public tv station for hosting this. I thank the panelists for participating. I hope the questions will be fair and balanced and focused on the issues that impact wisconsin. I assume we have a good discussion on high inflation, record gas prices, skyrocketing crime, an open border, the threat of illegal drugs. I think it ought to be a statebystate decision. The only thing on a federal basis, it doesnt make any sense for, marijuanas legal, what we are not able to use the Banking System so the Marijuana Companies have loads of cash which leads to a potential for crime. So i can see federal legislation for those states with legalized marijuana. What i would suggest any state take a look seriously at the harm being done by the legalization of marijuana. Thank you, senator thank you, senator. Lieutenant governor. Thank you for hosting the debate. Thank you for the question. As a member of the legislature, now is Lieutenant Governor, i hope we can accomplish it as a nation if i am elected to the United SenateUnited States senate. This is something that is legal in neighboring states. Even medical marijuana in minnesota. Those things are receiving huge benefits, because of the revenue generated from the legalization of marijuana. Thats either going to go to the schools, roads. Most importantly, it is money we can miss out on. We could do so much more in the state. It is unfortunate we have people who are decades behind on this issue. People who are supported by the pharmaceutical industry. We have an issue with over prescription of drugs. Marijuana is harmless and something that states all over the country have embraced. Lieutenant governor. Time is up. Thank you. Lets go now to mark l. This is a question on conditions for bail. The trial for mr. Brooks, charged with killing six people in the Waukesha Christmas parade, got underway, after getting out of jail on bail. Raising the issue of which pretrial defendant should be kept behind bars. A bill introduced in Congress Last year discourages states from making the payment of money a condition for pretrial defendants to be released from jail. Detailing how defendants with access to money can buy their way out of jail while poor defendants remain locked up. Would you agree that conditions for keeping a defendant locked up should be based on whether the defendant is a threat to public safety, and or likely to appear back in court and not the ability to pay bail . I really appreciate this question. Its been sensationalized and mischaracterized. I supported bail reform. Under my plan, dangerous people dont get to buy their way out of people. Senator johnson may have not encountered a problem he couldnt buy his way out of. But that is not the reality for a majority of people in this state. What has come to light is how people have been fortunately used unfortunately used the waukesha tragedy, retraumatizing families. Under my plan, the perpetrator wouldve not have been able to get out whether he paid a 1000 or 100,000. This is about keeping people safe. Making sure they dont buy their way out of jail. That is the system we have no. This sort of reform that i support is supported by republicans all over the country as well. Senator, you have one minute. We have a huge problem with skyrocketing crime. One of the issues is we are not keeping criminals in jail. The Lieutenant Governor, when he assumed the legislature, wrote a bill to eliminate cash bail, one of the methods we can use to make sure dangerous criminals stay in jail. Their goal is to reduce the population by 50 and paroled nonviolent about 100 criminals. The other were violent criminals. Including 44 child rapist. Who committed or at least attempted murder. The murders were horrific. If you want to reduce crime, first of all you have to fully fund the police. My opponent is opposed to fully fronting police budgets, to keep criminals in jail. Senator, thank you. I would like to im sorry. Time is up. We will give you time at the end, if there is something that you feel has been misrepresented. You will have time at the end in a final question. Ok . Thank you. Lets go to telemundo wisconsin. There is agreement on both sides of the aisle that something about our countrys immigration system needs to change, but how is the sticking point, especially the employment rate in wisconsin, by the year 2030, it is estimated the working population and our state will shrink by 130,000 people, if we dont have it increased an increase in migration. Would you look to making the path for citizenship more accessible as a solution to our impending employment crisis . You have one minute. Senator johnson. In order to have immigration reform, we have to first secure the border. We are dealing with about 7000 People Per Day being encountered, processed, and dispersed throughout america. Its also opened up our border to the flow of deadly drugs. The immigration is not humane for the immigrants. They are being abused by the traffickers. An 80 billion business. A sex trafficking is an untold story. Fortunately the news media is covering it up by the biden administration. The question was about immigration reform. You have to first secure the border. Once you have done that, you have to fix the asylum standard. Right now we have a very low standard of credible fear. Step into the country, say they are afraid to go home, even though they dont come close to qualifying for asylum, we let them in, we are so backlogged, thats why we have 3 Million People in this country since the bite administration took office, that is completely out of control. All right. Lieutenant governor. Our immigration system is completely broken. I will tell you, people all across the state of wisconsin agree that it is unfortunate that we have a member of the u. S. Senate that does not side with the majority of people of wisconsin. Ive spent a lot of time talking to family farmers. They know it is not just a human thing, but it is good for our economy as you mentioned. We can create a system that keeps our border safe, that treats people with dignity and respect, does not subject our children to the horrors of family separation. The senator had 12 years to do something about this. He even had a chance with the bipartisan infrastructure law. There was funding in there for border modernization. But the senator decided to play politics instead of doing the right thing. Thank you very much. This is a twopart question on the issue of Social Security. Social Security Trust fund is currently on pace to be underfunded by 2034. Tyler johnson, you said you support making the program a discretionary one. Meaning congress can make changes to it. Why should or should not Social Security be made discretionary . What should congress do to ensure the Program Remains fully funded . You each have one minute. When i think about Social Security, i think about my grandparents, my parents, so many other retired americans who paid into a system, we deserve to retire with dignity and respect. It is unfortunate that senator johnson said Social Security is a ponzi scheme. He called Social Security candy. People who worked their entire lives afloat. The threat to take that away from them does not sit well with me. What we need to do is not just make Social Security solvent, we should strengthen Social Security by making sure the wealthy pay their fair share. We need to make sure that billionaires are paying more into this system. The senator goes on about the deficit. He had no problem going into trillion dollar hole into the deficit by passing the 2017 tax bill that gave 215 million in Tax Deductions to his biggest donors in a single year. And he wants to put Social Security and medicare on the chopping block. Your time is up. Just to be specific, let me exercise a moderators option, should it be renewed, reviewed each year . It should not be discretionary spending. Senator . Let me make myself very clear. I want to save Social Security. I want to save medicare. The greatest threat the to Social Security and medicare is the outofcontrol deficit spending and are growing debt. We had a trillions of dollars of debt in the last three years. That is the greatest threat. Thats whats also sparked inflation. 40 year high inflation. The dollar is worth 88. 3 cents. The 100,000 he had at the beginning of the bite only worth 800,300. We need to prioritize Social Security and medicare. I never said i would cut it, put it on the chopping block. That is a false attack. You called it a ponzi scheme and you called it candy. Lieutenant governor, this is his time. Im going to add a little time to that once again, youve proposed reviewing Social Security rather than having it be an entitlement, which means it goes on your putting words in my mouth. Sir part of the reason we are in debt now is because we have an discretionary spending. We need to combine everything, look at all of it, and start prioritizing spending. We cant afford to spend 369 billion on a green you deal fancy. Entitlement versus review. Your position . The greatest threat to those promises, the outofcontrol deficit spending. Thats one of the next question lets go to the next question. Our question is about minimum wage. Many americans continue to struggle to make a living wage, when it comes to the federal minimum wage, you both have said you support an increase in the minimum wage. Given the rise in inflation we have seen this past year specifically, what dollar figure would you support setting the minimum wage at and why . Senator johnson, you have one minute. I would consider possibly increasing it, indexing sort inflation. You have to be very careful, because when you increase the minimum wage, you also eliminate jobs. A Strong Economy is the best approach to this. I dont like the government getting involved in price fixes and that includes wages. He had plenty of jobs in the Previous Administration and rising wages. Something like 2000 to 4000 per year is what the average family increased their wage by. That is the best thing. Have the market take care of it, instead of the government setting a wage, eliminating jobs. If you dont have a job, you have zero wage. The senator throughout a figure threw out a figure. People have been making 7. 25 since 2009. Thats the last time the federal minimum wage went up. I am a long proponent of a 15 minimum wage. 2014, the advocates and hardworking people started calling for it. We should absolutely be at a 15 minimum wage. People are working harder than they have ever worked before but are not making the money they use to. If senator johnson is serious about maintaining inflation, there is no reason people working full time should struggle to pay the bills, but that is a reality right now. It will continue to be the reality if we have people in office who are only going to prioritize the richest people in this country and leave hardworking people behind. Next question. Im going to ask a series of questions on abortion. Lets start with the most general one. Since the overturning of roe v wade, we are governed by an 1849 law that bans all abortion except in the life of the mother. You have said you disagree with overturning roe v wade. Senator johnson, one of your ideas as to allow citizens to vote at a state level, the Wisconsin Legislature rejected the opportunity to allow such votes. Lets talk pacifically about what you would do at the National Level regarding abortion. You have one minute. Thank you so much. I am an only child. But im not my mothers only pregnancy. Before i was born, my mother had a complicated pregnancy and she had an abortion. She shared her story. She wanted others to know it was her decision to make. Not some politician. And a woman should be able to make that decision. Doctors should not live under the threat of being criminalized helping women through their most difficult decisions. The senator called the overturning of roe v. Wade a victory. He celebrated the dobbs decision. He said if women dont like their laws of their state, he said they can move. I cant think of a more callous, out of touch, or extreme position to take. If i were in the senate, i would absolutely vote to codify review wade to protect the right to an abortion and the right to choose to protect womens rights once and for all. Thank you. Senator johnson. This is a profound moral issue. It should be what we should do, the most extreme position here would be no limits on abortion whatsoever. What i have recommended islet the people decide if there is a onetime single issue referendum. We need to come to a decision on at one point does a society have the responsibility to protect life in the womb . At what point does society have the responsibility to protect life in the womb . I would have a vote, like every other wisconsin citizen. Some women have concerns with a senate composed of three quarters men making these decisions for them. What are your thoughts on when life begins specifically as it relates to birth control, the morning after pill, and additional embryos created through ivf or in vitro fertilization . You have one minute. I have laid out all these answers to these questions online. You can refer to that. But i obviously support birth control. I support in vitro fertilization. My daughter had two children through gestational surrogacy. So i support all those things. I would never, ever consider charging a woman for an unplanned pregnancy. Ive been very transparent about this. This has been a divisive issue for 50 years. Because nine justices made a decision for all of us, and it didnt solve the problem. So the best thing that is why i support overturning roe v wade, to turn it back to the states, where we the people can make the decision. The question that has to be answered is at what point does society have the responsibility to protect life . Its just that simple. I have actually laid out a sample referendum ballot. You can find that riskfacts. Com also. Governor barnes. The senator knows very well the referendum wont happen with the legislature we have no. This is him trying to run away from his danger is out of touch and extreme positions. When you take a position like that, there is so much that you dont always see. Lets talk about taxes as an example. One woman had to be hooked up to a breathing machine because she had complications with her pregnancy and could not get an abortion. A 10yearold girl in ohio was raped and had to cross state lines to get an abortion. Thats ron johnsons america. The majority of people believe will be the law of the land here. He went as far as to say people are dealing with some very tough circumstances. The senator would rather make a political point under the right thing to protect families and the health of women. Thank you. Lets move on the next question. In the city of milwaukee, which is on pace for a third Consecutive Year to set a Record Number of homicides in a single year, the city of milwaukee currently gives more money to its Police Department than any other city agency. What is the role of congress in addressing such violent surges in american cities, if such a role should exist . For each of you, what are three specific Actions Congress should take, if any, to address violence . You would have one minute. Thank you so much. I cant speak for anybody else. I know the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence. I lost my first friend in high school and several others after. I know it doesnt have to be this way because it was not always this way. My grandfather moved to milwaukee after world war ii. He got a job as a Union Steelworker in a safe city. When factories started to close their doors,