Scott Walker talks tariffs, Medicaid, Act 10 at UW-Madison event

Yahoo

08-04-2025

MADISON – Former Gov. Scott Walker made an appearance on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Monday night, and talked with students about a number of topics, including President Donald Trump's tariffs and the state's Act 10 collective bargaining law.
Walker spoke to nearly 100 students and members of the public at Grainger Hall, in an event hosted by Young America's Foundation, of which Walker is the president.
Here's what Walker had to say.
Walker said he isn't typically supportive of tariffs, and favors open trade.
But, he said, Trump is doing what he believes needs to be done to get America back on the same playing field as everyone else. Walker said that if anyone had read Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal," they would know he's a fan of tariffs.
"I think that can end up being a good thing as long as we eventually get the free trade because again, then Americans can compete," he said. "We can innovate."
But, he countered that the tariffs should not be permanent. They should end by Labor Day, and not be a permanent part of American policy.
"To me, tariffs are not a long-term solution, but I think there's probably some merit, at least in what the president and some of his allies are trying to do right now to push back and at least attempt to level the playing field as much as possible," he said.
Walker said both of his children attended public schools, and he's a big supporter of education. But education shouldn't be controlled by the federal government, and should instead be left to individual states and communities.
"I have much more faith in the people, whether I agree with them all, in state government, I still have much more faith in the people in the state government and your school districts and your local communities to invest the dollars that we spend in education," he said.
"You send the resources and the responsibilities back to the states, and, in turn, back to school districts."
Walker said he's a supporter of Medicare and Social Security at the federal level, because those help elderly people who have paid in their whole lives, and those who need access to health care but are not able to work.
But he highlighted Medicaid as in need of reform, and spoke about how he changed qualifications during his term as governor to ensure that there was no wait list for people who needed help, but that those who were able to work wouldn't qualify.
He said he made it so people who were able to work were enrolled in training, to help them get out of poverty and in a job that could provide them health care.
"To me, that's one of those things where it just makes sense, not only for a dollars-and-cents standpoint, because you'd save money, but I would argue, on a higher plane, the goal of government shouldn't be to get you on assistance," he said.
"I have no problem providing support, but for those who are able, always felt like public benefits should be more like a trampoline and less like a hammock. You know, we'll give you help, but we want you to back up if you're able to. It shouldn't be something you rest comfortably for the rest of your life."
At the end of the event, students were given the opportunity to ask questions of Walker, a few of which touched on Act 10, the law passed during his time as governor that barred collective bargaining for most state employees.
Walker said that he pushed for Act 10 because the state was in a large deficit, and his other options would have been to cut Medicare further, raise taxes or lay off a huge number of state employees. The better option was to have state employees pay for their benefits and cut back on the money being spent on unions and bargaining.
"I saw negative impact of what's called collective bargaining, where public sector unions were really dictating what the county did, what cities did, what schools and others did," he said. "Property taxes went down. Schools were the same or better. People liked what they saw."
He was also asked about the recent state Supreme Court election, where liberal candidate Susan Crawford defeated conservative Brad Schimel. Walker said that the liberal majority on the court might be able to overturn Act 10, which would change things for Wisconsin.
Walker also highlighted why police and firefighters weren't included in Act 10 and were able to maintain their unions. It came down to people needing an emergency response, even if Act 10 protests were going on or if there was a union walk off. The National Guard could staff prisons if correctional officers walked off, or could staff state mental health facilities if there was a walk-off there.
But communities would have been hit hard if there was a walk-off including officers or firefighters.
Laura Schulte can be reached at [e-mail] and on X @SchulteLaura.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scott Walker talks tariffs, Medicaid, Act 10 at UW-Madison event