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Sara Rodriguez: “The tax breaks that we have given those data centers are too…”

Featuring: Sara Rodriguez, Democratic | Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez

Published July 9, 2026 | Video Starts at 39:38

I'm curious, kind of what you think that the state's role could be in the ideal scenario for a data center. So right now I think The tax breaks that we have given those data centers are too generous. And I think we're going to have to be looking at, at negotiating what that looks like moving forward. And these are billion dollar companies. I don't think they need those tax breaks. (39:38–39:46)

CLAIM

Asserts that current tax breaks for data centers are excessively generous.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Sara Rodriguez

“We are top 10 in the country for property taxes.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 10:27-10:33
“This particular public option requires a 5% reduction in premiums annually with some cost transparency tools in there.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 22:13-22:21
“If we would have passed [Medicaid expansion] just even last year with the Republican led legislature, we would have had $2 billion to deal…”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 22:53-23:03
“99% of businesses are small businesses [in Wisconsin].”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 27:53-28:02
“The number one employer for apprenticeships is actually UW Health.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 32:01-32:07
“Hospitals have closed in [the Eau Claire] region and we're looking at cuts to Medicaid and Medicare after the midterms.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 01:10-01:18
“We already have women who have to drive hours to have babies, and that's a huge issue in the state.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 01:44-01:53
“I was able to flip [District 13] from red to blue. And that was a four-term Republican incumbent.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 03:47-03:55
“I have the most endorsements of sitting legislators today.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 04:56-05:03
“I worked pre Affordable Care Act and after Affordable Care Act.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 06:32-06:40
“Her premium has doubled or more [on the exchange].”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 07:08-07:20
“The formula we use to fund our public schools is over 30 years old.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 12:48-12:53
“One of the policies that I have is to make child care no more than 7% of your income.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 13:33-13:40
“There is a huge amount of money that is being sucked out of our economy because people cannot find childcare or, and cannot afford it when…”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 14:12-14:24
“That's mostly women that are being taken out of the workforce and that's going to hurt us moving forward.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 14:24-14:32
“The Vermont model is likely going to be the way to go [for funding childcare in Wisconsin].”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 15:15-15:25
“We would also be able to include paid family leave in that [funding model] and it would work like unemployment insurance.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 15:34-15:40
“The budget process is going to be the same as we have had it with Governor Evers, which is a fully transparent process.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 17:16-17:25
“Paid family leave is being passed all around us.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 20:30-20:37
“Badger Choice is a public option on the exchange and it is modeled after Colorado's public option model.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 21:47-21:56
“Expansion of Medicaid is something that I've also been a proponent of.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 22:43-22:47
“We know that these cuts that are coming to Medicaid and Medicare are going to hit rural health care way harder than anyplace else.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 23:21-23:28
“We do have a fund of funds, but it is not capitalized as well as some other states. Even states like Ohio have more dollars within that than…”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 26:52-27:02
“UW Health [does] apprenticeships for certified nursing assistants, for medical assistants, [and] for respiratory therapists.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 30:05-32:14
“The state does not put any dollars into [apprenticeships for plumbers or electricians].”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 33:00-33:03
“You can't have AI without the data centers.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 34:19-34:23
“We need to have community input on whether a data center is built in that community.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 34:47-34:52
“We have to make sure that we're using the right types of labor to get these things built in terms of electricity use.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 35:08-35:16
“This is going to get us closer to carbon neutral by 2050, which is our goal.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 35:31-35:36
“We already had an AI workforce task force actually within the Evers Rodriguez administration.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 36:08-36:15
“I've put out policies on Big Tech overall about social media, about following our kids online, about sexualization of our children online…”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 36:59-37:11
“We need to put restrictions around your bills and other states have looked at that.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 37:59-38:03
“We should not be giving away tax breaks to billion trillion dollar companies.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 39:07-39:13
“I haven't been for a moratorium at this point because I think individual communities need to be able to make that decisions.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 40:22-40:30
“When I speak to the business community, they speak to me about child care and housing.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 41:32-41:37
“Government's role is to solve problems and to protect the most vulnerable.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 43:17-43:22
“Willing to listen to all stakeholders across the state [of Wisconsin].”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 43:22-43:27
“Support the business community all across the state of Wisconsin.”
The Ballot Brief: Sara Rodriguez | Uploaded July 9, 2026 | 43:37-43:41