Onsrud, Fitzgerald to square-off for 39th Assembly seat

By Diane Graff of the Daily Times staff
Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:19 PM CDT

City of Beaver Dam's 5th Ward alderman will challenge the four-term incumbent for the 39th Assembly seat in the Nov. 4 election.

Democrat Aaron Onsrud will face Republican Jeff Fitzgerald for the Assembly seat that includes the northern half of Dodge County.

“I am looking to bring change to Madison,” Onsrud said about his first bid to a state office. State lawmakers need to focus on creating jobs and support businesses, the Beaver Dam alderman said. The state also needs to work on getting health care for everyone, he said.

Onsrud has pledged not to accept health care from the state until it is available to every man, woman and child in Wisconsin.

Onsrud said he is in favor of pooling plans in which small businesses, those with one to 15 employees, ban together to negotiate health care proposals with insurance companies and drug makers.

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The candidate, if elected, said one of his first pieces of legislation would be a bill that would increase access to health care.

“The state has to do a lot of digging into the issue,” he said. The state has to look into smaller options, such as Maryland which has plans for pooling, he added.

“We need a system that will provide affordable access to health care without taking decisions out of the hands of patients and doctors,” Onsrud said. He said he would support any plan that offers coverage and choice, that provides needed cost relief to small businesses and peace of mind to families.

According to his contracts with the voters of Dodge County, “I will hold town hall meetings in every town in our district annually.” Onsrud has also pledged not to accept individual contributions over $100 and not raise campaign funds during the budget process. The candidate also said he will spend smartly and tax sparingly.

“I am a big advocate of listening to all sides,” Onsrud said.

Revenue sharing for schools should also be studied, Onsrud said. “I want to make sure our schools stay at the top in the nation,” he added. “We need a broad strategy that renews our commitment to public education in the state. We need to expand the opportunities for virtual and charter schools,” he said.

He said public education should get full state funding to take the burden off of local property taxpayers. Wisconsin colleges should remain affordable for anyone with the ability and desire to attend, he said. Early childhood education should be a higher priority, he said.

“You have to address the priorities of people who elect you,” Onsrud said. That is one thing he has learned by being on the Beaver Dam City Council. Other things he has learned is to be flexible and get voter contact.

Onsrud, 32, was raised on his grandfather's farm outside of Stoughton. His mother was a state employee and a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

He is a Waunakee High School graduate where he was involved with wrestling, forensics, theater and band.

He attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he received a degree in history and political science in 1999. He was vice president of the history club and a student senator for the College of Letters and Science.

After graduation, he spent three years working in the cellular industry before moving with his wife, Dr. Amy Muchow, during her residency at the University of Minnesota. He spent time working in the long-term care industry, which has served as background for his service on the city's senior center steering committee.

After moving to Beaver Dam in 2006, he worked as a customer relations representative for the Wisconsin State Bar Association in Madison until his son, Timothy, was born in February.

Onsrud was elected to the city council by seven votes in April of 2007. He is also a member of the city council's board of public works.

He serves as a board member for both Habitat for Humanity and the Noon Kiwanis and is an active member of the Dodge County Historical Society, Friends of Dodge County Parks, Beaver Dam Elks Lodge, Friends of Horicon Marsh and the Wisconsin Pistol and Rifle Association.

Onsrud said he has been knocking on about 800 doors of constituents a week in the 39th Assembly District.

His tag line on his Web site is “A New Direction.”

“I would like to put a different stamp on the direction we are going,” Onsrud said. “Disagreement is a good thing,” he said. “But we need to work together more than we are now,” he added.

Onsrud said he is proud of his campaign. Both candidates have run a respectable, clean race, he said.

Fitzgerald seeks 5th term in office

“The problem in Wisconsin is that people are not taxed too little, but the state spends too much,” state Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon says.

“There are differences in the two parties,” Fitzgerald said. “”What I saw over the long budget debate we had this past session, there are folks that want to make the tax climate worse in the state,” he said.

“The $18 billion in new taxes is the largest tax increase ever proposed in the state of Wisconsin,” Fitzgerald said. “It seems absurd to me that when you have soaring food prices and gas prices, that there would be a proposed tax on gas and double tax if you sold a home,” he said.

Families in Dodge County are dealing with higher costs for fuel, food and health care, Fitzgerald said. “But even during these times, there are liberals in Madison who want to increase taxes and spending,” he said.

In the last governor's budget proposal, the state faced a $1.6 billion deficit, Fitzgerald said. “We can't tax our way out of a deficit,” he said. “We need to grow the economy and increase jobs. We need to grow people's incomes and grow to get out of the deficit.”

Fitzgerald said he was frustrated with the last session in which Assembly Republicans proposed an economic stimulus package. Unfortunately, those eight bills died in the Senate and they were not taken up, he said. “It was a clear contrast between the two parties in Madison.”

The future of the state's economy depends on job growth, Fitzgerald said. In order to grow jobs, the state needs new businesses to expand and relocate here.

“Gas prices, I think, plays into the overall problem with the economy,” Fitzgerald said. “People see everything going up. Home heating going up and more money is coming out of their pockets. They don't see more money in employment,” he said. “Things are tough and I can't imagine why we would want to pull more money out of people's pockets.”

One of his suggestions is to provide tax credits for businesses in Wisconsin. Eighty percent of businesses in Wisconsin have 15 employees or less, he said. “Those are the people driving the work force. We need to provide incentives and tax credits for those people to provide jobs,” he said. “And we need to expand in Wisconsin.

“A perfect example of this is when you hear politicians talk about tax credit. We did a tax credit for film product and we got 25 percent off the film production,” he said. “The filming of ‘Public Enemies' in Columbus this past year generated a lot of revenue for the state,” he said. Along with the film crew, the spectators also brought money to the area, he added. “Hopefully, we can boast tourism when the movie comes out.”

Fitzgerald has also proposed reforming health care to get control of the resources away from insurance companies and employers and into the hands of consumers and doctors.

“One of my main goals has been to have a tax burden in line with people's ability to pay,” Fitzgerald said. “That was my first goal since elected to bring that into line,” he said.

“Another main goal is to try to pass initiatives and tax credit on Social Security,” he said. “It is getting harder and harder for people to retire in Wisconsin. We have people who grew up here and want to stay but are leaving at an alarming rate to Florida because they don't have the overall tax burden,” he said. “We need to pass initiatives and sign into law bills so people can retire in Wisconsin and stay here.

“Another focus is the economy and try to keep students who graduate at our universities to stay in Wisconsin,” Fitzgerald said. “We need to work on legislation that I have seen in the past to offer an income tax break to students that stay in the state for a period of time after graduation.”

Fitzgerald, 42, is a 1984 graduate of Hustisford High School. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a bachelor of science degree in journalism in 1989.

After a brief venture into the newspaper business, Fitzgerald focused his energies on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He spent eight years in Chicago on the Mercantile Exchange before returning to Wisconsin and running for elected office.

He was elected to the Beaver Dam City Council in 2000 and served on the finance committee until his resignation in July 2003. He was elected to the state Assembly in 2000.

In his fourth term, he was elected majority leader by his Assembly Republican colleagues. His committee assignments include Assembly Committee on Rules, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Legislative Organization, Joint Committee on Employment Relations, Joint Committee on Legislation Organization and Joint Legislative Council.

He and his wife Andrea have a son, Jack, and daughter, Lauren.