GREEN COUNTY — Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers talked farming, bipartisanship and criminal justice reform when he visited Monroe on Nov. 20 before heading to New Glarus for a meet and greet with constituents.
Evers did not agree with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, who visited the World Dairy Expo in Madison last month and said “the big (farms) get bigger and the small go out.”
“There’s room for everybody, frankly,” said Evers, after saying that during his time as governor he’s visited a variety of farms — big and small, organic, dairy and other agriculture.
He acknowledged that it was difficult, however, citing uncertain trade policy as a factor hurting farmers — and manufacturers — in the state. Evers also said that the number of farms going under is probably at an all-time high.
“Is it hard to be a farmer, especially a small farmer? Yeah, it’s real hard. But it’s part of our state’s culture and I don’t see that changing,” he said.
In January, Evers declared 2019 the “year of clean drinking water.” Farming practices are directly related to that, Evers said, and farmers are willing to implement more water-friendly practices, but the changes cost money.
“To expect farmers that are struggling financially to kind of pick up the tab, that just doesn’t cut it,” said Evers. He said the state owes it to farmers to help with that transition, something he said the government will find funds for.
“I believe that farmers are our most important stewards of the land and always have been,” he said.
Another issue Evers highlighted was criminal justice reform, noting that Wisconsin’s prison population is higher than one would expect for the size of the state.
“In the old days getting tough on crime was the way that people thought that we should approach things,” he said. “I think we need to be smart on crime.”
For him that includes looking at mental health issues and substance abuse issues, and diversion programs for treatment as opposed to simply incarceration.
“We can’t just assume that people cannot be rehabilitated, because they can,” he said.
Evers noted that it saves money as well: for every dollar invested in rehabilitation, nine dollars is saved. Currently, the state spends more on corrections than on the University of Wisconsin, he said.
Evers also said he wanted to return flexibility to judges, something they currently don’t have due to maximums/minimums left over from the “old tough-on-crime days.”
He said that there seemed to be bipartisan support for criminal justice reform, calling that support “tricky to find in the state.”
But he also said that he’d signed about 15 bills that week that had support from members of both parties. That legislation included things like allowing 17-year-olds permission to check themselves into homeless shelters, and providing training to state-licensed truck drivers to recognize sex trafficking.
“It’s always easy to focus on when we don’t get along, which is too often, I would say,” Evers said. “But we do get along often enough that we actually do accomplish some things.”