Mark Honadel became the first
Republican representative of the 21st Assembly District in 75 years
when he won a special election in 2003 against Al Foeckler. The
district— which encompasses Oak Creek, South Milwaukee and two wards of
Milwaukee— had long been represented by Democrats Richard Grobschmidt
and Jeff Plale, and its voters tend to be fiscally and socially
conservative.
Small-business owner Honadel faces a challenge on Nov. 4 from Democrat Glen Brower, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former director of the Wisconsin State Veterans Home in Union Grove.
Both candidates were asked to complete a standard questionnaire for our readers. Brower agreed, while Honadel declined, saying that he doesn’t fill out any questionnaires from news organizations or special interest groups. Instead, we’ve relied on his record in the state Assembly to provide information about his stand on the major issues facing Wisconsin.
Here’s how the candidates stand on the issues facing the state:
The State’s Economy
Honadel has a 100% voting record with the conservative business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) since being elected, as well as with the conservative Metropolitan Milwaukee Association
of Commerce from 2003-2006. Honadel opposed requiring corporations to
disclose some financial information to the public for tax purposes,
opposed requiring insurers to cover autism therapy and opposed
requiring utilities and manufacturers to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions. Honadel co-sponsored legislation in 2007 to privatize
Mitchell International Airport and remove it from county oversight.
Brower
supports the American Jobs Act, which provides contract priority to
American businesses that keep jobs in the country; a 25% renewable
energy research and development tax credit; and the creation of “green
collar” and 21st-century industries, such as stem cell research.
Health Care
Honadel
told a reporter that he is “against universal health care” and prefers
to provide for taxfree health savings accounts. Honadel voted against
requiring insurers to cover autism therapy.
Brower believes that health care is “a right and not a privilege,” and supports the universal coverage plan dubbed Healthy Wisconsin, introduced in the state Senate last year, or a similar plan. Brower supports autism treatment coverage.
School Choice
Honadel
supported lifting the enrollment cap on the Milwaukee Parental Choice
Program. Earlier this year he co-sponsored a bill that would expand the
program to Milwaukee suburbs without fixing the funding flaw that
penalizes Milwaukee property taxpayers.
Brower says he
supports “public school choice (aka open enrollment), where parents can
send their child to a public school in another district, but I oppose
private school choice (aka the voucher system), where taxpayers’ money
is used to fund private schools.” He cites concerns about the
separation of church and state, the lack of standards in voucher
schools, and tax implications as reasons why he opposes the program.
Nuclear Power
Honadel, a member of the Energy and Utilities Committee and the Wisconsin
Legislative Council Special Committee on Nuclear Power, voted this year
to allow more nuclear power plants to be constructed in the state by
lifting the current moratorium on new plant construction.
Brower
supports developing nuclear power plants if government oversight of
construction and operation is strengthened and if the resulting nuclear
waste is disposed of safely.
Reproductive Rights
Honadel received a qualified endorsement from Wisconsin Right to Life and a full endorsement from Pro-Life Wisconsin for his total opposition to abortion in any case, including saving the life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest. In January, he voted against requiring emergency rooms to offer emergency contraception to victims of rape or incest if the woman requests it.
Brower said that he
is personally against abortion, but added, “I would vote for the right
of a woman to choose and decide for herself what is the right thing for
her to do with her body.” He is concerned that outlawing abortion would
lead women to “look outside the realm of the law and good health
practices” when seeking to terminate a pregnancy.
What’s your take? Write: editor@shepex.com or comment on this story online at www.expressmilwaukee.com.
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