U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski's rural plan pushes for making broadband a public utility
In her first major policy paper of the campaign, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski released a plan for rural Wisconsin that called for a push to make broadband a public utility, a drive for federal dollars to improve health care and added investments to bolster family farms.
She also promised to "oppose any increase to a capital gains tax that doesn't include a special carve-out to family farms."
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Godlewski's campaign released the five-point plan Tuesday as she prepared to embark on a three-day campaign swing through Belleville, Coloma, Osseo and Superior.
Godlewski, the state treasurer, vowed that if elected to the Senate, "I will engage, and I will ensure that Washington politicians finally start hearing Wisconsin’s rural voices.”
She also said she would seek a seat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture.
Calling broadband internet access "as essential as electricity," the plan said Godlewski would "advocate for public, community-based internet providers and cut red tape so that municipalities can build their own networks."
While promising to work for federal investments to boost rural hospitals and pushing to expand Medicaid in the state, Godlewski said there should be a focus on bringing more doctors to train and work in Wisconsin.
She urged an expansion of The Medical College of Wisconsin pathway program that provides training at regional campuses in Wausau and Green Bay and vowed to work to get more federal resources.
More: Here's who's running for Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Senate seat in 2022
She also promised to "protect tele-health accessibility."
The plan called for a ban "on the future use of PFAS and similar chemicals," while holding accountable "those who have contributed to the pollution and provide support for those whose health and livelihoods have been harmed."
PFAS, which are known "as forever chemicals," are increasingly being found in waterways in Wisconsin.
With the state seeing an alarming loss of dairy farms over the years, Godlewski promised to "work to bring the milk pricing system up to date," and was "committed to fighting for anti-trust enforcement."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sarah Godlewski's rural plan pushes for broadband as a public utility
