Wisconsin State Assembly candidate Scott Frostman said he supported introducing term limits and cutting "entitlement" programs to trim the state budget during a visit Thursday night with local Tea Party members.
Frostman, of Baraboo, spent the night at Hooty's Bar in West Baraboo answering questions from about 20 members of the Sauk County Tea Party.
Frostman is one of three Republican candidates competing to oppose 42nd District Rep. Fred Clark, D-Baraboo, in November's general election. He will face candidates Jack Cummings of Endeavor and Eric Helland of Wisconsin Dells in the Republican primary on Sept. 14. A fourth Republican candidate for the 42nd District seat, A.J. Salas of Pardeeville, announced in June he was withdrawing from the race.
Frostman, a residential loan officer for a bank in Reedsburg, is originally from Iowa County. He said his family was a conservative one, and growing up, "the word ‘Roosevelt' was a swear word."
Since moving to Baraboo with his family, he has become active in the Sauk County Republican Party, where he serves on its executive committee, and as a member of the Baraboo School District Board of Education, serving on the finance, and policy and educational legislation committees.
Several questions dealt with his time on the school board, with one questioner asking why he had voted to support the most recent budget and an increase in the tax levy by $300,000.
"You work with the hand you are dealt," Frostman said. Eighty percent of the school budget is salaries and benefits. That 80 percent is dependent on the district's ability to negotiate with different bargaining units."
Frostman said public unions, such as the Wisconsin Education Association Council, had caused a "paradigm shift" in recent years, and now did more harm than good.
"There was a point about 100 years ago at which labor unions were very necessary," he said. "They've just kind of taken over."
He said state grant programs were a ripe target for budget cuts. Other likely targets, he said, were the Wisconsin Stewardship Fund, which buys up land for conservation, BadgerCare, and the Wisconsin Shares childcare assistance fund.
"There is nothing that is off the table," he said. "I think we've got a large entitlement mentality in this state."
Local organizer John Meegan asked Frostman what he thought about the Arizona immigration law, which allows local law enforcement to detain people until their immigration status has been verified.
Frostman said the law was "absolutely the right move," and he'd like to see more like it.
"I would like to see the same type of law in Wisconsin," he said. "(Illegal immigration) is a slap in the face to anyone here legally."
He said he would introduce term limits for legislators, and support legislation to require that bills not come with unrelated laws, such as the inclusion of school bargaining laws in the 2009-11 state budget.
"It has to be more transparent," he said. "I would support a situation where each individual piece of legislation stands on its own."
One attendee said he hoped Frostman would continue to answer to constituents in Baraboo once elected.
"People are tired of listening to people say things and then turn around the moment they get to Madison," the man said. "You've got to answer to Baraboo."
Frostman said he had plenty of experience answering to bosses, and would maintain the same mindset in office when answering to his constituents in the 42nd District.
"I answer to a boss," he said. "If I don't get deals closed, I don't get paid."
Frostman said he was unequivocally pro-life, and opposed both gay marriage and the recently created domestic partner registry.
Frostman invites voters to contact him by phone at (608) 434-4400 or e-mail - scott@frostmanforwisconsin.com. His campaign Web site is at www.frostmanforwisconsin.com
The Sauk County Tea Party meets 7-9 p.m. Thursdays at Hooty's on Highway 123 south of Baraboo and their Web site is at http://www.saukcountyteaparty.com.
Posted in Local on Friday, July 30, 2010 9:34 pm Updated: 7:47 am.
