Francesca Hong, Candidate for Wisconsin Governor, in West Bend Feb 14th 2026

Uh, plan come on board, and I'll hand them a microphone over there. >> Thank you so much, Andy. Good afternoon, everyone.

>> Hi. >> I'm stoked to be in West Bend. I I don't think I've been here for at least 10 years now, and we and our campaign know that it's

incredibly important to meet folks where they are. Uh, your government should be accessible. Your government should be coming to you, and your government should be one that genuinely cares about

the thing that you care about and the community that you are in. I want to first thank Stephen for organizing THIS EVENT. >> [applause]

>> IT'S GOING TO BE organizers organizing and organizers like Stephen, like Maybelline who designed this sick poster. And people coming together to meet other

folks who are in resistance with us, who believe that right now is a movement moment, and a movement requires some destruction dist- well, a little destruction disruption.

>> [laughter] >> So, I'm incredibly proud to be born and raised in this state. Madison's my hometown, so I get to love it, and sometimes I get to [ __ ] sorry, children.

Sometimes I get to make fun of it a little bit, too. And I think sometimes we think of ourselves in Madison too much of like living in this blue

progressive bubble. So, when I was elected to the state legislature in 2020, the first thing I did was get out of Dane County. And it was really important to me to go

meet candidates who were running in red or purple districts for the state assembly. Because not enough folks know that the state legislature that holds the purse strings for our state. And for

the last 16 years, Robin Vos, under authoritarian rule, has manufactured power for Republicans and has made it so that we are often divided and building a lot of resentment towards each other,

whether you're in a suburban area, a rural area, or an urban area. And what I learned from a lot of amazing candidates who are running for the assembly, whether it was in Baldwin, Wisconsin, or

Sheboygan, up to De Pere, um I love Sheboygan, the Malibu of the Midwest. That our Wisconsin values of working hard, taking care of our neighbors, believing in community, that exists

everywhere. And I think a lot of the times when we have, you know, everyone also tells me that there's someone they might not be talking to anymore because of how divided our country and our state

have gotten. And I think this moment right now is different. There's an opportunity to potentially bridge some of those divides. And I know that often times I

may be viewed as What do they say about me? Tom Tiffany has Francesca Fridays now at He and I both love alliteration, I guess.

Um >> If he knows what it is. >> That's [laughter] That's the shade I'm here for. But

I think right now is a time where working families come together, where we have a common villain, and that's fascism. That's what we're seeing in Minneapolis right now. That's what we're

seeing consistently come out from the federal government. They want us to continue to blame some of the most vulnerable communities so that we don't believe in community.

I'm a very proud service industry worker. So, right now I'm a baker. Yes. We're built different. So, I want to definitely thank The Hub for I mean, I looked at those six

burners over there, and I was like, "Yeah." I miss line cooking a bit because last year I was mostly bartending. >> [laughter]

>> But, I owned a restaurant for 7 years, and while I went to Macalester, I was just telling Lawrence here for a little bit, and then yeah.

Um and then was at UW-Madison for a year. I actually dropped out to pursue cooking, and I worked multiple minimum wage jobs in as many restaurants

that would hire a scrappy, tenacious college dropout, and I ended up becoming an executive chef because of mentorship, because of people recognizing that this Wisconsin girl not only works hard, but

she's willing to work with the team and understand that if we're going to have a service, a Friday night service where you know you're going to get hit hard, and you have a line of tickets, that

it's going to take understanding what each position does and how hard everyone works in order to be successful. So, it's my time in the service industry working as a chef and having a

restaurant for 7 years where I learned the values of working together as a team, and I also saw what people are capable of both in terms of treating their community with kindness,

and also I saw kind of the worst of humanity and what people can do when they talk down to folks who are in the service industry. And I take those experiences and in the

legislature, I think it actually gives me a superpower to be able to encourage folks that as elected officials especially, we have

to put our egos aside. We're in the minority party. We should be doing more work in the communities than just trying to pass legislation that often will not even get a public hearing on a side by

here. Most Democratic bills, about 2% of them maybe will get a public hearing. And we're introducing bills like legalizing cannabis, fully funding our public schools, healthy school meals for

all, comprehensive paid leave for everyone so that no one has to choose between getting a paycheck and taking care of themselves or loved one. We're an aging state.

And that legislation is ready to go. I'm really proud to have introduced it for the last two sessions. It's one of the most comprehensive paid leave bills in the country and we're seeing paid leave

for all pass in other states and our neighbors in Minnesota, New Mexico has it now. And universal child care, New Mexico again coming out front. We shouldn't have to choose between

paying our bills and making a living and often times struggling. That shouldn't be our reality and it doesn't have to be this way. I think a LOT OF TIMES

WE HAVE THESE BILLS THAT WE INTRODUCE. Uh BadgerCare public option, basic health plans to ensure that every single Wisconsinite can have high-quality,

affordable, cheaper, but better health care that our public schools that we're investing in special education, ensuring that every child has an opportunity to

thrive. These are things that are possible, and whether it's a Democrat or Republican, I will hear over and over again that how we're going to pay for it, and you know,

this isn't feasible. We're the people who are in rural or Republicans, moderates going to think, and it's I remind folks, it's the same it's the playbook and the plays that

we've been doing in the past that got us here. It cost us too much not to do these things to ensure that our shared future, our multi-generational movement, is actually going to be able to be proud

of and take care have the ability to take care of themselves and their loved ones in this state. We push for universal policies like universal child care, paid leave for

all, affordable housing for everyone. Cuz no one should be too poor to live in our state, but also the crises and the struggles of this moment demand bold transformative policies because we don't

ever want to come back here. And we're hearing about affordability, and I think that's great, but I don't want it to be a buzzword. I want permanent affordability for this state, and I want

you to have permanent affordability so that you can continue to have economic freedom to be able to live the life that you want, be able to take a vacation. And if

you're taking vacations right now, I love that for you. Hopefully, when you see everyone else having more economic security and economic freedom, you're probably going to be able to take a

longer vacation. >> [laughter] >> I want to go back real quickly to 2020 as to why I ran for office as a foul-mouthed mom, service industry

worker, but someone who deeply believes in community. And it's because I think we all come out of grief differently, but we all come out of from a place of grief wanting change. And in 2020, there

were a lot of folks grieving because of the COVID pandemic. And right now, there are a lot of folks grieving because we are living through a time where government wants to attack

its people instead of being by the people. When there is chaos, and when there is crisis, there is deep opportunity for change.

And they don't want us to build community like I'm seeing here right now. But I'm talking to folks in Minneapolis.

And when the state violence and ICE agents were occupying their city, it was neighbor by neighbor, block by block, block organizing that netted them wins.

ICE agents are starting to leave the area. And it's folks coming together, whether it's in protest, whether it's in mutual aid and showing up with groceries,

posting a food drive. These are things that we can all be doing right now that are part of resistance. Fascism wins when we stop imagining better, when we stop taking care of one

another. And whether it's in West Bend or Madison, Malibu of the Midwest, or Superior, Ashland, these are communities that we've been in where we're seeing

community building happen. So, we are going to continue to work towards a Wisconsin that is better for everyone, where we invest in our kids, where there is universal child care, we

are fully funding our public schools. There is paid leave for all and affordable high-quality health care for every single person in this state. And if you want to know if I've got a

plan for it, you can go to franceshong.com/policy. We were the first campaign to come out with a comprehensive plan as to how we are going to achieve this. And a lot of

the bills we've already drafted and introduced. And I think that when we have a state legislature, when more folks like me and more folks

here are continuing to support our candidates for the state assembly and for the state senate, can you all take your phones out or remember these cities real quick?

So, you're want to You're going to want to support your state legislative candidates here in West Bend. But if you know folks in Wausau, Hudson area,

Oak Creek, uh Neenah-Menasha, Green Bay around De Pere, the Dodgeville area,

those are Those are districts that we can absolutely flip from Republican to Democrat. And if we gain five more seats in the assembly,

we'll have a majority. If we gain two more seats in the state senate, we'll have a democratic majority. And when we've got a bold, tenacious former current bartender, baker, and

restaurant owner committed to ensuring permanent affordability for everyone, I think we're going to build a Wisconsin that's going to be better for everyone

for generations TO COME. >> [applause] [applause] >> IT IS GOING TO TAKE ORGANIZING. It is going to take

sharing your talents and your time. I know I mentioned protest before, but there are a lot of ways to stay involved if you're not out here with us in the streets. It's okay. You can volunteer

for our campaign. You can do I am so proud that our movement community powered campaign has almost 2,000 volunteers signed up. We were the only campaign to have

almost 70, actually over 7,400 individual donations, which is more than the next two candidates combined. We have an average donation of under $50 and over 5,000 individual donors. This

is a grassroots movement. This is community powered. This is the year where our campaign shows that we are going to be about the many and we will defeat THE MONEY.

>> [applause] >> FOLKS ALL ACROSS THE country are ready for a different type of leadership, for organizers and a working class person that you can see yourself in, that you

can see yourself in the vision that we have to be changing the way politics in our state. This state is where social security was born. This state is where

environmentalism was born. This state is where unemployment insurance was born. We have deep progressive roots and we're going to grow a progressive future. If we have someone like me, uh thank

you. I know definitely deserves applause. If we have someone like win the governorship in this state, we're going to see politics and

campaigns change all across the country. We're going to have more people and I am I mean, mind you, I got the grace, but I'm still the youngest uh candidate in this race.

But I know we'll have more single moms like me running for office. We'll have more service industry folks running for office. We'll see movement building and folks learning to be strong community

organizers. That's another thing that I'm so proud of. I mean, look at Steven. The fact that beyond August and November, our campaign

is committed to ensuring more people have resources to be able to organize in their community, whether it's meetings in church basements to organizing protests to ensure that people stay

engaged in what's going on in their community. I know things right now at the federal level are not only devastating, but it makes me

sometimes, like many others, apathetic. But when we give in to that, when we don't imagine better, again, I have to reinforce that's when fascism wins. So, we defeat fascism when

we come together as community, neighbor by neighbor, block by block. When we fight for our kids, when we ensure folks that it shouldn't be about how can we pay for

this? How can we make this happen? We have to make it happen together and stop asking those questions because what that playbook has done has brought us here.

So, I want to thank each of you again so much for Oh my gosh, that's my friend who used to come to the restaurant all the time. Um I believe in community. I believe in

community power. And I know that it is going to be organizing in community and building that power from the local to the state out that is going to help us ensure that

we have a shared future where we continue to care about one another. So, I want to thank you for caring. I want to thank you for showing up. And I want to thank you each for

what I hope is you'll choose to continue to be an organizer. >> [applause] >> Um and now my favorite part of every event, I would love to take questions.

We can talk about policy, my favorite recipes, my favorite dive bars in Wisconsin. Um but it's important to me that I hear from you, so

Yes. >> Um undoubtedly, Scott Walker has done a lot of damage to unions and workers' rights in the state. >> Mhm.

>> I'm just with you, do you have a plan hopefully with a friendly legislature >> Mhm. >> to work out something that restores the workers' rights?

>> Workers' rights. We know that when workers can unionize, all workers benefit. And it's not enough to just repeal Act 10, which we can do through the legislature

or potentially the State Supreme Court. We have to put a stake in it. We have to make sure that legislation like Act 10 can never be presented again. And so, I'm interested in actually having a

ballot referenda for Act 10 so that it's enshrined in our constitution in repealing, yes, ensure that everyone has a right to collectively bargain and unionize in our state.

Um reinstating prevailing wages and making sure that we repeal right-to-work. I think those are the first steps in ensuring that we can build back union power. There's a reason

that they attacked public education, union rights immediately to make sure that we actually became a state that took care of the billionaires and the millionaire few as opposed to workers

and taking away the rights of our workers and our kids. So, we're going to be able to build that back with investments, but ensuring that we're prioritizing that whether it's through

the Constitution, the Supreme Court, the governor's budget, um the majority of our state truly believes in workers' rights. And for our economic justice bill of rights that we've

introduced every session, it guarantees that everyone has a right to a union and to collectively bargain. Yeah. >> At one time I taught in Gaza.

Do you have a view about Palestinian human rights? >> Palestinian liberation is connected to every issue and what is happening in Gaza where our tax dollars are going to

bomb children is deeply inhumane and against It's their human rights violation. And so, I have been clear on my position on

Palestine. Called for ceasefire back in October of 2023. And I'm hoping that we can that people don't forget about Palestine

and that we should never have second-class citizens in our world and Palestinians deserve better. >> [applause] >> YES, STEPHEN.

>> OH, I WAS JUST WAVING AND SMILING. I WAS JUST WAVING. >> OH, we love it. >> Hey Fran, I would like to say something.

Um I'm on Fran's campaign team as a volunteer. I met her about 3 and 1/2 years ago 3 and 1/2 months ago. Um >> Feels like we've known each other for

>> Yeah. She's like a sister to me. Um Met her in Beaverdale at a event similar to this and I met Remember

the very first thing I ever said to you, Fran? Do you remember that? >> I think you called me smart. Well, that's what I remember. >> [laughter]

>> I looked in her eyes and I said after hearing her talk, I I said um you're going to win this election on your intelligence. And that's what it takes.

Somebody who can think outside the box, somebody who can think at a deeper level. And the other things I know and love her is her extreme love and compassion for people.

You don't see that ALL THE TIME. THE LAST THING I LIKE TO SAY IS SHE'S ONE of us. She struggles to make her rent every month like I do. She knows what it's about

being average, being middle class. >> I think being everyday working people here in our state, I'm proud to be that. And I think all

across this state, there are folks working multiple jobs, people on fixed incomes who deserve so much better. And their government owes them. We shouldn't have to choose between

going to work and taking care of ourselves or seeing our schools close because the state refuses to fund them, yet our property taxes are going up cuz we have an insane school funding system.

But we've got a common villain now and that's and that's fascism. We have people in government who are more concerned about corruption than

actually caring for people. And so when we have more fair like I want tax fairness, okay? I want our

taxes to stop going up. I want my taxes going to the things that I care about like our roads, libraries, and our public schools. And working-class people should have more of a say

in where our taxes go. As a small business owner, I know I'm like going off now. As a small business owner, my income tax

was almost the same rate and actually higher than some of the largest corporations who are either writing off profits for a business that didn't make money or they got this manufacturing

agriculture tax credit. 90% of the businesses in Wisconsin are small businesses and many of us were getting screwed and continue to get screwed because of a skewed tax system.

We shouldn't have corporate subsidies when we got working-class people working hard. And I when folks are like, "How are you going

to pay for this stuff?" I know I keep bringing it up. I mean it when I say tax THE [ __ ] BILLIONAIRES. >> I AM REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT ICE moving into Wisconsin. My son lives in

Minnesota. And so I've been I've been out there helping as much as I can. Um they're coming into Hudson now.

>> Yep. >> As a governor, what would you do to uh be more bold than what we're currently seeing. >> ICE has actually been in Wisconsin every

day since January. Um I've talked to folks in Baldwin, Hudson, River Falls, Eau Claire, Verona, or Viroqua, La Crosse. Western Wisconsin is starting to see increased ICE

activity, and it is terrifying. But the community organizing, the net- neighborhood rapid response the systems of care that are being built for folks to be able to do everything from patrol

to make sure that folks have rides to work, that people who are too scared to go out right now because they are a target and have some melanin in their skin,

you know, there's folks coming out to take care of them. The state, there is no state law that could ban ICE from entering public spaces, but there is a lot we can do to

make Wisconsin a hostile place for ICE. And one of the first things, because the governor has the largest mic, the loudest mic, is to say

ICE out. Abolish ICE. ICE is not WELCOME HERE. BECAUSE THAT'S THAT'S CENTERING SAFETY. That's focusing on everyone's safety. We introduced legislation back in

August. I introduced a bill that would eliminate 287G agreements [clears throat] so that local law enforcement could not coordinate and help ICE.

We included due process for all, uh a bill that would uh provide financial assistance for folks who are in immigration courts with legal uh services.

We have the No Secret Police Act to ensure that no, I say Jen is cowardly in our neighborhoods with a mask and and something covering up there then they would have to have clear

identification. And then to unless there is a signed judicial warrant there are no ICE agents that can access our community spaces like child

care centers, schools, churches and even public buildings. We can continue to declare a state of emergency to ensure that we can provide funds to local governments to

be able to have their own resources to fight back against ICE. But because enforcement of federal law, even though it's being done by lawless individuals

the state prohibitions make it so that we can absolutely prevent coordination and make it a hostile place but we can't ban agents from coming into our communities.

But what elected officials and those with means right now should be doing but like and we're going to start doing this as well is using campaign funds to continue to help support immigrant

justice organizations like La Union del Pueblo Entera and La Raza. I would like to see more of these bracelets that have 1-800-427-0213. This is the La Union del Pueblo hotline.

And when I said before neighbor by neighbor, block by block start talking to your neighbors. Introduce yourselves with a note. I'm someone that's going to give you a cup of sugar.

See if they're willing to get on one of those chats like signal or WhatsApp where you can make messages disappear. Our campaign just sent out an email about

security checklist, how to ways that you can start building your own rapid response networks. Because when systems fail and our safety is at risk, community steps up. So we

have to start thinking of ways to build systems of rapid response to be prepared for this. And I can tell you right now in Baldwin, Wisconsin,

um a restaurant that we were supposed to have an event at because it's an we wanted to support an immigrant owned restaurant was actually raided by ICE

about a day before we went there. We have people who are very close to this campaign whose loved ones were abducted in Minnesota and then sent to El Paso

within a day. So what we're seeing in Minneapolis or what we are hearing about, I'm not going to mince words, it's very difficult because I think sometimes it's worse.

But when I go into talking to community organizers in Baldwin, what they're doing to support their ELL teachers, how people are coming together, I saw a message today about helping somebody

move. I mean, there's a mechanic from you know, southeastern Minneapolis who went to help and bring more cars that might be able to help folks patrol their streets.

There There is immense organizing power in community and we unlock that. There are no guarantees, but I tell you that ICE is starting to leave Minneapolis.

We can win in our communities in different ways. It's terrifying, but as governor I would ensure that everyone knew where their governor

stood on ICE. >> My question is about AI data centers. Obviously, the most serious reforms will have to come through the legislature, but what are some executive actions that

you could take as governor on that topic? >> We can call into special session and call in an extraordinary session and have the legislature look at bills

like the one I introduced just this week that would put a pause on AI data centers. There are some other language in there that I'm I'm working on cuz I think it's important that all AI data

centers construction that might be happening, that we guarantee that those construction jobs are union jobs, that we are holding them accountable to uh uh investing in renewable energies

for their energy use, but our campaign has made a call for uh um moratorium on the construction of new complex AI data centers until we have statutes that are passed for the Public

Service Commission to ensure that there's more specific language for them to be able to better assess how to uh uh how to how to determine the rate for uh utility

use. And then our control alt delete plan is controlling our alternative energies and deleting corporate subsidies. There are many AI data centers right now that do

not pay sales and use tax, and that's unacceptable when they're using up our water, our electricity, um and polluting our air. And I know not all AI data centers are

built the same, but when I am hearing about more people who have lost their jobs to AI, it is incredibly terrifying that we don't have better mechanisms to regulate

AI, but we can do a lot more in our state to make it hostile to build complex AI data centers. So, as governor, you call in the legislature, you have your expectations out, you

continue to build public pressure, but I think that right now I have not seen this amount of bipartisan opposition. I mean, the person who's got the most feelings about is Charlie

Baron. Woo! But, people are organizing. This is one of the strongest ways that I have seen people exercising their democratic rights and making their voices heard. We

also want to make sure we're eliminating NDAs, and that there's full transparency and accountability on how these what will likely be abandoned assets. There are a lot of folks who are

complaining about how ugly they I'm very concerned about what this does to our grid. Our natural resources should never be for sale, and I worry about us going back to pipelines and

natural gas. But, as governor, I think making that position known, bringing the stakeholders to the table, and calling for legislation to pass that would

actually regulate and ensure that we're investing in renewables and union jobs, that would be the call through a extraordinary session and negotiations with leadership in both

houses. >> UH YOUR VIEWS ON UH SCHOOL FUNDING IN general and charter schools,

charter schools. >> So, when I say fully funding public schools, I mean increases to general aids and ensuring that our aids are indexed to

our people aids are indexed to inflation, 90% reimbursement rate like the choice schools get right now and sunsetting a program where public dollars are going to private schools.

Our state cannot afford to fund two school systems and I don't think it's right that families are getting coupons to send their kids to private school. You can send your kid to whatever school

you want, but public dollars belong in public schools. SO, I >> [applause] >> YES. >> UM AT THE AGE THAT I'M AT,

I >> WHAT'S THE age that you're at? >> 15. >> Welcome. >> I have to worry about

just living in general. I don't know how we also like purchase >> Oh, that's cool. >> I could literally say that I'm going to describe that as all people.

Yeah. >> When we have more opportunities for people to be able to choose what they want to do with their money, whether it's through the state,

right? We should be investing in people when we have tax dollars go to the state. I'm hoping that we can work towards you know, more

loan forgiveness for our public universities, that we can work towards having a jobs guarantee, that when we fully fund our public schools and invest in our workforce for

educators, mental health workers, that will be able to provide more students like you with supports that you need. I look at and and I encourage you to go through the history books.

FDR before the president that came after him had an economic bill of rights. And we've introduced the last couple sessions the economic justice bill of rights. And I think ensuring that

everyone has a good paying job, access to public education, access to child care, public transit, you know, clean air, water, and land, that we can build towards something

where you won't have to be worried all the time of just being able to exist in your state and affording to live where you want to live. So, these social insurance programs, these

universal policies that I will talk about, will help lower costs for everyone cuz you won't have to choose between affording, you know, having to go to school or

affording your rent. When we've got fully funded schools and we lower property taxes for everyone, that we have tenant protection so that you're protected from spikes in your security

deposit or your rent, I think this is what your government owes you. And I I really hope that in order to meet the speed and the scale of people's struggles rising,

that we need government action that is bold and transformative and that we pass it as soon as possible so that young people like yourself can see more for your future and you

don't have to worry so much about the cost. You can just be living your best life. Yes. >> Uh this is kind of a purely hypothetical

question, but still kind of possibly happen. Uh I know that last year in like November, the Supreme Court denied the couple case like reconsidering same-sex marriage. If

that does happen to go back to the Supreme Court and they approve it and then it goes to the state, could you count on me to continue to allow gay marriage to

happen? >> We have to We have to put it in the Constitution right away. I think that we can pass it through ballot

referendum, but we'll need to pass legislation to ensure that gay marriage remains legal and in our constitution in the state. That legislation has been introduced. It's

even more important that we have a Democratic trifecta so we can make sure we pass it as soon as possible. SO, IT WAS DEVASTATING TO see threats from the federal government force

hospitals to stop gender-affirming care or choose to pause gender-affirming care because they were afraid of losing other funding. Um

I would veto every single bill that was anti-trans or aims to take away whatever hurt trans people. Tony's done a good job of that in

office. But we also have to expand health care. We have to make it easier to be able to change your name, ensure that more public banks don't like

I remember having to cross out some of the paychecks that I would write for folks who were still getting their dead name put on their paychecks. There's And that trans folks don't have to have a

name change in their local newspaper. So, there's both local and state legislation that we can pass to ensure that we're protecting trans rights. Um but if there were to be any bills that

would come to my desk that hurts trans folks, it would be an immediate veto. Yes. >> [clears throat] >> Yes.

>> [screaming] >> Oh, no, you can stay. No, you don't have to worry. You can stay. You can stay. The baby can bring you your shoes.

So, a couple I can't remember exactly when, but the governor and Microsoft announced the construction of new AI data centers. They have grown at an very alarming

rate. Um and they're targeting that they started when these larger companies, often times shell companies off of like Facebook or Amazon, started purchasing lands. And I don't blame anyone who's

selling their lands. It's really especially farmers, it's really hard to be farming right now. Um but they started expanding in scale with these land like with these land

purchases and then coming in with contracts. A lot of local ordinances are going to determine, you know, if these massive centers are going to be

built in a community. And we got we're the reason why there was sometimes a lack of transparency and and folks weren't knowing about it was that

local elected officials were getting offers from these data centers to be built in communities. Um, and if they were signing an NDA, then there would not be a lot of

information that's disclosed to the public. So, that's not every construction um, for AI data centers, but that's part of what happened. And you're

absolutely right that utility costs will go up. And for folks who are in the communities, they will be at an alarming higher rate. The AI data center that is stated slated to be built in Port

Washington would use seven times the amount of power that we do in the city of Madison. Um, I'm concerned about the estimates for how many jobs beyond the

construction jobs, which we need them to be union jobs these data centers will be bringing in because once they're built, there isn't a huge there it doesn't take a lot of people to staff them.

Um, some security in Illinois, there was an AI data center that I believe got about $33 million in subsidies. Um, and they

created about 21 jobs. So, again, that's one one stat, but the return on investment from these AI data centers is not looking good. And beyond that, a

lot of these companies in AI are operating on a deficit. So, I have deep concerns that the state are going into business with another business that's operating at a loss. And I both the

immediate future impact what will do to local economies, if we're going to actually see a growth in our local economies and more people moving in.

It's possible, but I think that risk when we are on a tech bubble and it's likely that it could become an abandoned asset well, and then if it does, taxpayers are on the hook again. I want

folks to look up Foxconn. I don't want us to be Foxconn. Yes. So, they're talking about um power lines going in in communities around Port

Washington that there was no notification to the residents. Have they started construction on those? Right. Okay.

They will be going like you got notice that they're just going in. >> Yeah, we were told they were going in and it didn't seem like even our like village government had any

say in that. >> Yeah, I think the state can absolutely put in transparency and accountability measures of local government notifying communities around them as well.

Um, but Wisconsin is also a local control state, so I would have to check if that's something that the state can promulgate or if it's something that would happen would have to happen at a

local level. But that transparency and accountability is a huge issue and we could I believe draft legislation um, that would

for specifically for AI data centers have it so that it would require notification to surrounding communities. Um, right now folks can and I don't have the exact dates, but if you go to the

website for the Public Service Commission they are really looking for public input whether it's email, letter or calling. The way that they determine rates, the

statute has it that it's supposed to be in the interest of the public. So the more input that they have from the public um,

but again I got to point to our Republican legislature here not allowing us to pass more legislation that would give the PSC Now I'm going into the weeds here, but I

worry that they're operating from a place of trying not to get sued, which isn't in the public interest because I think it keeps them from actually having stricter statutes and and

policies that would go on things like AI data centers. So that's another change that we have to make in the legislature, which is why it's so important to have a trifecta and elect Democrats to the

legislature. >> Yes. >> While we're on data centers, um I know the conversation right now is very centered on construction.

Um can we talk more about the regulation of the technologies themselves, harms, psychosis, copyright infringement issues? Um even if it weren't for the

environmental destruction of the data centers themselves, how are those technologies going to be prevented from causing harm? Also, viewing AI-generated materials,

things like that that no one is trying, it feels like, to stop. >> Regulation of AI is complicated and because of, as you said, they are it's

>> [clears throat] >> getting more sophisticated faster. I have seen some legislation come out of California. I think right now we can do more when it

comes to flood cameras and surveillance using AI. Um but preventing

some of these companies from operating potentially here in Wisconsin, but we have to look at regulating them both at the federal and the state level.

I need to become more uh familiar with the type of regulation that we could implement, but I agree with you that it's we're not talking

about it as much. We're just talking about how AI growth is scary, but we need more specific regulation, especially when it comes to protecting our kids. Um

but I think when there are what I'm seeing some what when I'm seeing with some regulation is that it may increase surveillance as a way of

like accessing it. So, there's bills where it's like IDs or like facial recognition to be able to enter certain sites and um that AI would be, you know, used to

be able to recognize and have you enter a site or whatever. There's legislation that's being passed to for that to happen. So, my thought was, well, let's make sure that

legislation doesn't pass in states like Wisconsin. So. Yeah. Research. And I'm very fortunate to have the

policy posse for Team Hong. And so, we can absolutely uh have this get to the top of the list. Regulating AI. >> So, in speaking with AI, um you know, Microsoft just released AI and

they're looking at eliminating up to like 30 40 different positions, many of which are entry-level for people um by using AI. How can we um

preserve some of those jobs as human jobs so that when this AI bubble bursts, we're not scrambling to find people to fill these positions and they're not

best skilled yet? >> I'm not quite sure between like the tech burst and the AI burst. I think they might be separate things. There is

a lot of concern around {quote} white-collar jobs um in copywriting or data analysts potentially being, you know, eliminating uh

jobs. I think then it's really important that we're investing here in this state in job training opportunities for different fields, investing heavily in renewables,

looking at ways that the state can ensure that we're protecting public sector jobs and not replacing that with AI. Right now, we're seeing bills that would

put like in the name of efficiencies, allow potential facilitation of that. Um But I think that like the answer I have for you right now is to ensure that we are providing as many

opportunities as possible for folks to learn different skills. In our care economy especially, I mentioned before we're an aging state and within the next 10 years we'll have

more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18. And care jobs are not jobs that you can automate. And they're ones that take immense mental and emotional capacity.

And we need to make sure we're investing in those both with increasing living wages for in-home care folks to have better wages and benefits. And looking at maybe

you know, again, I just I'm repeating myself now but if we invest in skills and training for jobs that we know can't be automated, I would hope that that provides some security for folks who may