HUDSON — District 30 State Representative candidates Shannon Zimmerman and Kevin Knoke took on topics including the education funding formula, the state surplus, affordability, healthcare and data centers during a Meet the Candidates event Oct. 13 at First Presbyterian Church in Hudson. The River Falls and Hudson chambers of commerce combined to put on the event, with the full hour of debating available on YouTube on River Channel’s account ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Zimmerman is the incumbent Republican candidate. He is the founder of Sajan Inc., a language solutions technology company founded in River Falls. He started the business from his home in 1996 and claims to have created hundreds of jobs through it. Knoke is the challenger from the Democratic Party, a member of the community for about 30 years. He was a teacher in the school district for 26 years. Additionally, Knoke served in the military, being sent to Southeast Asia shortly after 9/11 for Operation Enduring Freedom.

Business and Affordability

Business and affordability captured the early portion of the conversation. Knoke said the cost of living, the cost of doing business and the cost of healthcare are all too high. He stressed the importance of investing in Wisconsinites rather than the rich and corporations.

“We have twice the average of property taxes in the country. We’re twice as high as the national average. That can’t continue to happen,” Knoke said. “The government needs to stop working for corporations and they need to start working for us.”

Zimmerman, a member of the state’s Budget Committee, said housing and overall affordability are both key.

“The reality is we are aging our workforce out,” Zimmerman said. “That is creating great strain, certainly, in the economic areas of the state. Bigger and more government, never the answer. I’ve seen it.”

Zimmerman said the state has done well since he assumed office in 2017, removing tax on utility bills, collapsing the middle tax bracket by a point, removing the personal property tax and providing property tax relief. He said taking burdens off of small business owners allows them to reinvest into their own business.

Additionally, Zimmerman said the state has sent extra dollars to support affordable and available childcare.

“They’re starting to compete with the K4 schools. The four-year-olds are the most profitable for these centers. It’s the infants that are most expensive. What’s happening is that issue is getting greater and greater,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman cited a fund that was established to aid the development of affordable housing. Without it, the developer must front water, sewer and electric costs. The fund allows them to pay the state back instead.

“We passed, a budget ago, a $525 million revolving fund. This isn’t free money, it gets paid back to the State of Wisconsin, specifically focusing on all facets of affordable housing,” Zimmerman said.

He also wants both sides of the aisle to focus on mental health and substance abuse remedies.

“We cannot afford to let people fall down and not help them get back up. They need the employment. We want them working, and I’ve got ways that we can make that happen,” Zimmerman said.

Knoke himself spoke heavily about affordable housing. He also mentioned educating the workforce which in turn draws well-paying employers. When campaigning, Knoke met a River Falls family that spends $3,000 per month on childcare, the same amount as their mortgage. He also met a childcare teacher that made $18 per hour. He said, if he takes office, changes to childcare would be important to him.

“We need to continue to expand childcare credits,” Knoke said.

Zimmerman wants to focus on bringing in and retaining workforce-aged people. He said the states that can pull that off are ones with friendly tax structures.

“When people can keep more of their money, they move there. There’s a reason they move to Tennessee and Texas. When we get people moving here, most of those working-age people, they’ve got kids. So, it’s a double win,” Zimmerman said.

He said employer tax credits are mutually beneficial for both the employer and the family, because they make it easier for employees to work without worrying about how they will care for their children.

Surplus

With the State of Wisconsin budgeting a surplus, the candidates were asked how they could use the funds without falling out of that surplus.

“No shortcuts, no Band-Aid fixes. What we need to do is look for long-term use for that money. We can’t continue to just throw money at the problem and hope that it solves the problem. We need to have a plan,” Knoke said.

Knoke said an investment in infrastructure is his focus. Bringing the Knowles-Nelson DNR stewardship grants back into the budget rather than on a separate bill was the first thing he mentioned, stating that 100 district projects have been completed because of it.

Zimmerman said the first step is ensuring the rainy day fund and surplus fund are steady. If there is a surplus beyond that, he said tax relief is on his list.

“I was incredibly disappointed, actually, in the outcome of the Legislature and its behavior [during budget discussions],” Zimmerman said. “I have my wonderful people on the right that tell me sometimes I’m too much in the middle. Well, here’s the thing, in this particular case we need balance.”

He also insisted on further special education funding for school districts. Districts are currently in a reimbursement model, where a percentage of expenses are later covered by the state. The 2025-26 school year reimbursement was slated for 42%, but fell short by about seven points.

“I would like to see the surplus get back in a balanced way to the people who’ve earned that money. They will do more with it than government will,” Zimmerman said.

Education

Both candidates said the state needs to change the education funding model.

“I don’t think wanting our children to be well-educated is a partisan issue. I think we all agree we love our kids, we want them to be well educated,” Zimmerman said. “We have 420 unique districts statewide, and we have 72,000 fewer students statewide. Not a bad thing, just a real condition we have to deal with. We have some schools across the state that are graduating 12 and 14 kids. That model cannot sustain.”

He said the largest state budget expense is education, spending a record amount two budgets in a row.

“It’s not about more money, it’s about a structural change. We’ve got models to look at. Iowa, other states that dealt with the same demographics, they moved toward a carrot approach to make sure we can achieve some level of consolidation,” Zimmerman said. “That’s an important consideration that has to get looked at.”

With a per pupil funding system, statewide declining enrollment is hurting schools. Hudson’s graduating class is about 100 students larger than the kindergarten and first grade classes, according to Zimmerman. Despite the decline, administration costs are growing, which is why he proposed consolidation for some schools.

“With median home price of $600,000 in Hudson, do you think mom and dad with three kids can afford to live in Hudson,” Zimmerman said. “We have to look at the structural issue, fix the formula and then things will truly be repaired on a sustainable basis.”

Knoke spoke against the private school voucher system, a system Zimmerman is in favor of.

“Every child in the State of Wisconsin should have access to quality public education,” Knoke said. “Quite simply, we need to be done with the voucher system. In 2024-25 we spent $622 million, in 2025-26 we spent $700 million. This year the caps come off you guys. That means that we could potentially be in the billion dollars before we know it. That’s $1 billion of our taxpayer money that’s going to an entirely different educational system.”

District schools Houlton and Willow River both recently closed, which Knoke said shines a light on the flaws in the formula.

“How on God’s green earth are we okay funding an entirely different set of schools and a whole bunch of other buildings, a whole bunch of other principals, when we have to close our own schools? It’s not right,” Knoke said.

Zimmerman said the voucher system is important to many students in the state.

“The voucher programs are so vital and important to so many inner-city Milwaukee kids who struggled in FPS,” Zimmerman said. “We talked about $600-700 million, don’t forget we’ve got $35 billion. Both have a role to play.”

“What we need to do is create a funding formula that is both sustainable, that is predictable and is efficient,” Knoke said.

Knoke pushed for additional support for colleges and tech schools.

Healthcare

Knoke said the district is a healthcare desert. There is no birthing center in River Falls. He has done ride-alongs with some of the district departments and they said they have to drive residents to Baraboo if they undergo a mental health crisis.

“Affordable healthcare is without question the most offered issue in the 30th assembly district. I hear it all the time at the doors. Let’s make one thing perfectly clear so everyone knows where I stand on this issue: I believe healthcare is a right, it is not a privilege for those who can afford it. You should be able to go to a doctor and not go broke. Let’s be clear on that. We’re the richest country in the history of the world, and we can do better,” Knoke said. “I’ll be perfectly honest, I’ll probably be the last person to get an endorsement from the insurance company or healthcare. They’re not going to like me, and I’m okay with that.”

Zimmerman said legislation has been presented for pricing transparency, and that it is unfair to have radically different pricing 20 miles apart.

“You shouldn’t have to choose whether you’re getting care or not based on a ZIP code,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve put forth bills where we’re creating incentives for physicians, for healthcare providers to move and relocate to rural parts of the state so we don’t have deserts.”

He emphasized tighter connection with higher education and medical facilities.

“If you can get these people sooner, get them in the rural communities, get them in the facilities, they set up roots,” Zimmerman said. “And no doubt, big insurance is a problem for everybody.”

District 30 Investments

Both candidates pushed for redesign of the Carmichael Interchange in Hudson.

“I have two sons. When I taught them how to drive they weren’t going to go on the Carmichael Bridge. We all know that, don't we,” Knoke said.

Zimmerman said the last state budget renovated the shared revenue model so that emergency services outside of Madison and Milwaukee receive more support. He was also pleased with funding going to the UWRF SciTech building and the restoration of Lake Mallalieu.

Knoke said investment in passenger rail from the Twin Cities, through the district and to Madison and Milwaukee is worth a feasibility analysis.

Knoke seeks to revoke the $2 billion in tax relief to data companies.

“Trillion dollar companies do not need tax breaks,” Knoke said. “We need to support real protections, ratepayer protections, environmental protections. We hear that they’re there, they’re not. There’s no such thing. There’s nothing on the books right now that protects our environment and protects our ratepayers. It’s just not there. That’s going to change.”

Zimmerman said the $2 billion Knoke referenced was a misrepresentation of the bill. He also authored Assembly Bill 840, which aimed to place new environmental and cost-sharing requirements on data centers.

“I am very involved with tech. I understand its opportunity, what it can do for our community, but also that things need to be managed. The $2 billion check is no check that the state writes. In order for it to even qualify for that credit, they have to spend $50 billion in the state,” Zimmerman said.

Both candidates spoke about industrial agriculture, a debate that has been at the top of the list for many Wisconsin residents.

“The first thing we need to do is that we need to completely fund the DNR. They’re a shell of what they used to be,” Knoke said. “When I think about what’s happening with nitrates and nitrate infiltration, one of the things we should think about is currently the DNR, it took forever, but now at least the DNR says if they run across a water sample that’s at 10 parts per million, that’s the action limit for nitrates, we have to start notifying. It took forever for the assembly to agree on that, that we should start notifying people that their water is dangerous.”

Knoke was a hydrogeologist, and said nitrate levels above three parts per million are not natural, and people should be notified of that before it gets out of control.

“The good news is I do have a record on this one. Having voted for PFAs containment, having voted for well restoration across the State of Wisconsin, clean water is and should not be optional for people. It is important and it is not partisan,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said no one cares about the land as much as the farmer does, and they are looking for the best practices to protect the water. He said the state has encouraged no till farming and cooperatives to avoid turning soil over.

Other crowd submitted questions

One question from an attendee was how the candidates would support women’s rights. The candidates answered as follows:

“I would not distinguish between male and female. Every human deserves rights, deserves to be treated with respect and should have the same access to everything that we have,” Zimmerman said. “All humans deserve respect and support.”

“There are places in the State of Wisconsin you have to drive an hour and a half to have a baby. I think we need to address that,” Knoke said. “I believe in personal freedoms, and I think a woman's body is hers.”

They were also asked to discuss the use of negative political ads and the uncapped funding permitted for political advertising.

“I think I used the word with Kevin earlier ‘circus.’ It feels like that sometimes,” Zimmerman said. “I think there should be caps on the spending, I think it’s absurd. There’s way too much money being spent in these campaigns. People should do this to serve, but you’re right, big corporations got involved and that does need to stop.”

Zimmerman said politicians are permitted to blast mailboxes and the internet with ads because of the limitless fundraising.

“The ads that have my name on it, the ads that I endorsed, they’re based on facts, they’re based on the record,” Knoke said. “He has name recognition. He also has a record he has to defend, and his record is not good when it comes to data centers and for showing up for work.”

Zimmerman said family tragedies including the loss of his nephew to a car accident and his three-year-old grandchild with a terminal illness have caused him to miss time, but that he has found the right balance.

“I can’t turn my back on my family, and I hope in about 60 days I’ll never have to look back on this issue again because that little girl is taken care of,” Zimmerman said. “I have been able to find balance in getting things done for this state.”

“I made a commitment to my family, and I will follow through with that,” Zimmerman said.