State representative

Republican

Age: 61

Elected Experience:

Wisconsin State Assembly (2015-present); Dodgeville, mayor (2012-2024)

Q&A with the Candidate

Why should voters elect you?

No response

What is the top issue in your district? How would you address it?

No response

How should Wisconsin government operate differently than in the past?

No response

What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?

No response

The following is a Q&A submitted by incumbent Todd Novak (R) to Morris Media of Wisconsin, owner of The Monroe Times.

I am the fifth generation of proud farmers from Cobb. Our farm, dating back to the 1860’s has raised everything from dairy to hogs and beef. Growing up on the farm gave me a strong work ethic that I still have today.

I graduated from Iowa-Grant High School and attended Southwest Vocational School for Finance. After vocational school, I worked at Lands’ End in the accounting department for 5 years. Realizing I was not wired for a desk job, I left and started working at The Dodgeville Chronicle where I worked my way up to the Government Editor position covering the courts, school boards, Iowa County Board & Dodgeville City Council - a position I held for 25 years until I was elected to the state assembly.

Because I was very familiar with the court system, I was asked to be a member of the Iowa County Foster Care Committee. This led to me becoming licensed as a foster parent and obtaining a special license to care for children with special needs. Being a foster parent is very rewarding, but tough. My time as a licensed foster parent ultimately led me to adopt my two sons.

I was asked by the late Iowa County Judge Bill Dyke if I’d consider being a volunteer court appointed guardian for people who have been deemed not able to make their own financial or health care decisions. I have been doing this for over 30 years helping more than 60 people. I’ve been a court appointed guardian for a wide variety of people, from those experiencing elder abuse to those whose families have taken advantage of them. Some of the legislation I have authored and passed into law came from my experience as a guardian.

I have an immense amount of pride in our area and have hosted several foreign exchange students over the years to experience Southwest Wisconsin for themselves. I keep in touch with all of them and many have come back to visit. I hosted my first student in 2006 from Germany and have continued this tradition through last summer when I welcomed a student from France. It’s my way of touring the world and representing my community at the same time!

In 2012 I was elected Mayor of Dodgeville and served until April 2024. I helped guide the city through tremendous growth, brought in new businesses and several housing developments. Dodgeville grew by roughly 400 people during my time as mayor.

In 2014, I was elected to represent the 51st Assembly District in the State Assembly. I’m currently Chairman of the Local Government Committee, along with serving on the Agriculture Committee, Criminal Justice Committee & Consumer Protection Committee.

In my time in the assembly, I was Chairman of the Water Quality Task Force, served on the Foster Care Task Force and the Alzheimer & Dementia Task Force. Outside of the legislature, I represent Iowa County on the Southwest Regional Planning Commission, serve on the board of the Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), serve on the Wisconsin League of Municipalities Insurance Board, serve on the Iowa County Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC) board. I was a founding member of the Iowa County Humane Society in 1998 and served on the board until 2012.

Economy/Cost of Living

Currently Iowa and Lafayette Counties have the lowest unemployment rates in the state. But we are all still feeling the pressure of rising costs. Over the past few months, my colleagues and I have been focused on working with both sides of the aisle to find ways to help everyone save more money. In the budget, we worked with Tony Evers to provide a tax free retirement for seniors on their first $48,000 of retirement income. We also negotiated and I voted for a bill that would have returned the surplus to all taxpayers and funded schools to help stop double-digit property tax increases.

Another factor driving our increased costs is energy prices. I was proud to support a bipartisan budget that eliminated sales tax on your utility bill to help keep costs down. Unfortunately, because of the Governor’s Renewable Energy Plan, the unaccountable Public Service Commission has approved over $2 billion in rate increases to cover green energy generation.

I have focused on regulating the energy use of data centers. I voted to make sure that data centers cannot pass utility costs off on residential energy consumers and I support local control over any proposed data centers. Currently Grant, Iowa, and Dane Counties in my district have a moratorium on data centers so they can pause, collect feedback from the public, and make decisions in the best interest of the community.

Healthcare

I authored and passed the Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan, which reduced private health insurance premiums, and fought to pass legislation to protect people with preexisting conditions. I was also proud to vote for hospital transparency legislation requiring providers to post prices for procedures and ensure birth control is available over the counter.

To address the rising costs of prescription drugs, I authored legislation to prevent Pharmacy Benefit Managers from engaging in predatory tactics that increase costs of prescriptions and limit access to them at local and independent owned pharmacies.

We are very fortunate in Southwest Wisconsin to have very strong healthcare facilities. Our hospitals and clinics are strong. Lafayette County has the only county owned hospital in the state and when the county made the decision to build a new hospital they asked me if I could find funding to offset the costs. I am very proud to have worked with Governor Evers and Senator Tammy Baldwin to get several millions of dollars of federal and state COVID money to go towards the project.

I believe in helping those in need and last budget I was able to secure $4.4 million for Community Health Centers Grants, $6 million for free & charitable clinics and $3.4 million for low-income dental care clinics.

Education

There are 14 school districts in the 51st Assembly District - two have growing or stable enrollment while the rest, like most school districts in the state, are faced with declining enrollment. The school funding formula is based on enrollment, so as a result, many districts are raising concerns about their funding. Most school districts in our Assembly district are state aided by 55% to 78%, with property taxes filling in the rest. Due to a creative veto by the governor that was upheld by the Supreme court, school districts are allowed to raise property taxes by $325 per student per year for the next 400 years. I voted to fix this, but it was vetoed by the governor.

This session, I voted for a substantial increase to special education funding, and I support more per pupil aid for students if we get rid of the 400-year property tax increase.

One of the highlights of my legislative career is the creation of the Office of School Safety - a $100 million, bipartisan fund that awards grants to school districts to make their facilities secure and address threats early. The Office of School Safety is located at the Department of Justice and has 13 employees who work directly with school districts. Last budget I was able to make funding for the office permanent.

Environment/Conservation

I served as Chairman of the Speaker’s Task force on Water Quality charged with recommending legislation to protect our state’s groundwater resources. Our efforts have led to several great outcomes like the creation of the PFAS trust fund and significant growth in farmer-led partnerships to protect water quality.

I also co-authored the bill to renew the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund which unfortunately expired at the end of June. The program has funded many worthwhile projects in our district. The program has worked well for years and always had legislative oversight. However, due to a supreme court ruling, the legislative oversight was taken away. Bringing the program back is a priority of mine for next session.

To help our municipalities in the state budget I authored a provision to increase the Environment Improvement Fund to $726 million. This is a state operated loan fund for local governments to borrow at a low interest rate for drinking water, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure projects.

Women’s Rights

This session I am very proud of two bills that I have co-authored for several sessions that finally passed and were signed into law. The first is post-partum Medicaid extension which allows new mothers access to Medicaid healthcare for 12 months after a child is born. The second bill requires insurance companies to cover diagnostic breast screenings for women at elevated risk of cancer.

Both of these bills were initially opposed by Speaker Vos and some members of my caucus. I and seven other republican colleagues requested to postpone an Assembly session day, led a caucus discussion on these issues, and successfully got the speaker to agree to hold a vote and pass these important bills.

On abortion, I am pro-life and support exceptions for rape, incest & life of the mother. However, based on feedback I received from my constituents this session, I supported reasonable limitations on abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy. It is important to remember that current law in Wisconsin limits abortion after 20 weeks. I do not support the onerous 1849 abortion ban.

Are there a voter concerns you feel should have been on the list?

I am very fortunate to have only lived 10 miles from where I was born and raised and have stayed very connected to southwest Wisconsin and the people of my district. Part of my job is helping constituents when they need me, and it is the part of my job I most enjoy.

Many of the bills I have authored or laws I have passed have come from suggestions from my constituents. From passing a law as simple as making cheese the state dairy product, to changes to ATV/UTV regulations, to laws supporting our Fire, EMS and Law Enforcement. Almost 99% of every bill I have introduced or law I have passed has been bipartisan and usually passed unanimously. I believe working together across party lines and compromise is not a dirty word.

I keep in touch with apolitical school superintendents and school board members to get advice on school issues, I have a great group of farmers that I go to when I have questions and I am in constant contact with my sheriff’s and local police departments. I also work with local elected officials when they need something. This is why I have been awarded legislator of the year by The Wisconsin Towns Association, Wisconsin Counties Association & Wisconsin League of Municipalities.

Having worked in the private sector for years, I understand the struggles small businesses can face, coming from generations of farmers I understand how fragile the farm economy can be and having run a city, I understand the challenges that local governments can face. However, the 51st Assembly District is very resilient, and I always talk positively about this district, its people and the beautiful area we live in.

I am very proud to have the support of so many local officials, law enforcement, and voters of all political persuasions.