Ismael Luna
DemocraticQ1 America has a growing artificial intelligence (AI) industry, supporting cutting edge innovation and reshaping businesses, but raising concerns about education, ownership, and security. Application of AI technology has increased the demand placed on data centers, controversial for their resource use (such as water and land) and raising utility costs. What are your policy positions in regards to data centers and AI? What sources of evidence informed these positions?
I support strong data privacy protections so people’s personal information, especially sensitive health and financial data, isn’t harvested and exploited by AI systems without consent. I support policies that protect workers from being displaced without a real transition plan, including retraining and support for workers whose jobs are automated. I believe AI’s benefits should be broadly shared, not concentrated in a handful of companies, which means supporting strong antitrust enforcement and transparency requirements around how AI systems are trained and deployed. I’m also concerned about the infrastructure AI depends on. I support a strong regulatory framework for the data centers powering this technology, so ratepayers aren’t stuck subsidizing costs while communities bear the environmental burden.
KEYWORDS: worker protection, data privacy, equitable access
Q2 Making the US competitive in the bioeconomy (using technology applied to renewable biological resources to produce food, energy and industrial goods) requires innovation and investments in business, academia and government. Please describe policies you will support, if any, that relate to workforce development in Wisconsin’s strengths such as agriculture, biotechnology, and energy; and explain their rationale.
I started working at 14 and know firsthand that not every path to a good career runs through a four-year degree. Wisconsin’s technical colleges are an underused asset for training workers in precision agriculture, biomanufacturing, and clean energy fields, and I want the state to invest directly in that pipeline. I support expanding registered apprenticeship programs and strengthening partnerships between technical colleges, universities, and employers in these industries. I also support strong labor standards, including prevailing wage and project labor agreements, tied to any public investment in the bioeconomy, so growth in these fields means good, family-supporting jobs for Wisconsin workers, not just returns for investors. Innovation should translate into real opportunity for working families.
KEYWORDS: apprenticeships, technical education, workforce investment
Q3 Wisconsin’s public K-12 education systems have seen a significant decline in the past two decades, with more than 600 public schools closing and statewide student enrollment dropping 7%. These impacts have been especially pronounced in Wisconsin’s many rural counties, where opportunities for STEM education are already fewer. What policies, if any, would you support to improve K-12 education for students across Wisconsin?
I am a proud graduate of Milwaukee Public Schools, and I’ve seen firsthand what happens when schools are starved of resources. I will fight to fully fund Wisconsin’s public schools ending the reliance on local referendums. I support reimbursing special education costs at 90%, funding early literacy programs, and raising teacher pay so districts can recruit and retain educators. I also support expanding broadband access and distance-learning partnerships so rural students have real access to STEM coursework. Every student in Wisconsin deserves a fully resourced education regardless of zip code.
KEYWORDS: school funding, rural equity, STEM access
Q5 If elected, in what capacities would you refer to scientists when you are deciding how to vote on a policy?
I hold a master’s degree in public policy, and my education taught me to follow evidence, not assumptions or political pressure. As a legislator, I would rely on career scientists and technical staff at agencies like the DNR and the Department of Health Services, researchers across the UW System, and nonpartisan legislative service agencies before taking positions on scientific or technical questions. I believe in following scientific consensus on issues like climate, public health, and environmental regulation, and I believe legislators owe the public honesty about when their positions align with or diverge from expert findings. I’ve built my whole approach to policy around listening to the people and the evidence closest to a problem, and science is no exception.
KEYWORDS: evidence-based policy, expert consultation, scientific consensus
Q7 Wisconsin has faced an increasing number of infectious disease outbreaks in recent years, for instance with rising numbers of measles and avian influenza cases that threaten human health and agricultural industry, respectively. What policies, if any, would you support to manage the burden of infectious disease in the state and respond to future outbreaks?
I support evidence-based vaccine policy and will oppose any legislation that makes it harder for Wisconsinites to access vaccines or undermines evidence-based recommendations. I support increased funding for local and state public health departments so they have the staffing and surveillance capacity to catch outbreaks like measles early. I also support investment in multilingual, culturally competent public health outreach, since in immigrant and working-class communities like mine, trust is often the bigger barrier to vaccination, not availability.
KEYWORDS: public health funding, vaccine access, culturally competent