Ben Franklin
Director of operations, Papa Johns Pizza; Air Force Reserve
Republican
De Pere
Elected Experience
Wisconsin State Assembly (2025-present)
Q&A with the Candidate
Why should voters elect you?
No response
What is the top issue in your district? How would you address it?
No response
How should Wisconsin government operate differently than in the past?
No response
What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?
No response
NEW News Lab general election questions
Relevant Experience
I have served in the United States Air Force. I am a husband, a father of two and a small business owner. I know what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck. I also know the challenges to succeed in a small business environment. In my first term as a lawmaker, I focused on bipartisan work in order to get results for our district and the state. My office was able to successfully get 10 bills signed into law. Feedback continually shows constituents want lawmakers to work together and get results.
Wisconsin has a large budget surplus. What should lawmakers prioritize: tax cuts, increased spending on public services, or something else?
Last year I supported a $1.5 billion middle class and retiree tax cut alongside the largest-ever state investment in special education funding. This year I backed the bipartisan agreement with Gov. Evers to use our surplus for property tax relief, income tax rebates and special education. Recent projections show the surplus grew by another $500 million. Wisconsinites need relief now, and I continue to support getting this surplus out of Madison.
What policies are most important to address Wisconsinites’ concerns about cost of living?
This has been the No. 1 issue I have heard from constituents and one of my top priorities. I support returning our state’s surplus to provide immediate relief. This session, we also reduced income taxes for families, eliminated the tax on household energy bills and passed reforms to help lower housing costs. I authored legislation to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and co-authored a bill to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable and bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Additionally, I passed legislation preventing data centers from passing their costs on to residents in our community.
Housing costs have risen in many Wisconsin communities. What role should state government play in creating more affordable housing?
This past session, I passed a housing package, most of it with bipartisan support, that addresses the root causes of the housing shortage. This package helps increase supply for affordable homes that families want by cutting regulatory barriers and costly delays, giving communities tools to approve more starter/workforce homes and supporting low-cost financing.
What policies would best address Wisconsinites’ concerns about property taxes?
The surplus agreement with Governor Evers that I (supported) would have included hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax relief, and I continue to support that approach.
Funding of public education has been an issue and has been tied to property taxes for years. Schools often rely on local referendums for funding staffing, programs and maintenance. What specific changes would you support to the state’s school funding formula and how would you pay for them?
Local property taxpayers are carrying too much of the load. I support increasing state general aid to address this problem and raising special education reimbursement, as the bipartisan agreement I voted for would have done. I also believe it is important that new money reach classrooms and not go toward administrative bloat. That’s why I authored legislation requiring 70% of operating dollars go to classroom costs.
Should the state direct more funding toward voucher and school-choice programs and what evidence supports your position?
I support strong public schools alongside Wisconsin's school choice programs. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Choice programs cost taxpayers less per student and growing numbers of families apply each year, which shows parents value them. This session I also supported legislation to opt Wisconsin into the new federal scholarship tax credit. It would have allowed donors to claim up to $1,700 in federal credits for giving to scholarship organizations, at no cost to the state.
What steps can the Legislature take to alleviate court backlogs and address the need for more judges, prosecutors and public defenders?
Case delays have been especially severe in Brown County, which not only hurts victims and defendants but also the property taxpayers who pay for extended jail stays. In the state budget, I authored a budget motion for two new judges, three new assistant district attorneys and two state public defenders. Additionally, I coauthored the Justice for All Act, which would add nearly 70 assistant district attorneys, more public defenders and support staff and new judges statewide. It passed the Assembly, but stalled in the Senate. Passing it early next session, or through the next budget, is a top priority.
How do you feel about the number of prisons in Wisconsin - should there be more? Less? Why?
Wisconsin needs safer and more modern prisons. In our own backyard, Green Bay Correctional Institution is deteriorating and in need of decommissioning. I've led bipartisan work with the governor's office and the Department of Corrections on a $628.7 million prison realignment plan to close GBCI while updating facilities statewide. The plan includes adding about 530 beds where they're needed most to alleviate overcrowding and absorb the inmates from GBCI. Better facilities resulting from the plan will improve safety and save taxpayers money long-term without needing to build a brand-new prison.
How significant an issue is climate change? What would you advocate for related to climate change if elected?
Doing what we can to curb emissions while addressing our energy needs is a goal that I believe anyone can support. That is why I support clean, safe and reliable nuclear energy to help us meet the energy demands, and I authored legislation that will help make Wisconsin a hub for nuclear fusion development. It passed on a bipartisan vote and has been signed into law by Governor Evers. I also passed the bipartisan bill holding Big Tech data centers accountable to ensure we are protecting our water and land resources.
Wisconsin’s bipartisan support for a PFAS law to hold polluters accountable and the state's lower maximum contaminant levels for drinking water put it out in front nationally on forever-chemical protections. Some say the best way to prevent PFAS contaminations is to outlaw their use, while others hope to reverse the regulations. How important is this issue? What still needs to be addressed? How should remediation costs be raised?
I supported the bipartisan PFAS legislation that Governor Evers signed into law this spring. It released $133 million, including $80 million in community grants, to help private well owners address PFAS contamination. It also protects farmers, homeowners and businesses that didn't cause contamination and places the burden on the actual polluters to pay for the damage they caused.
What do you think of the implementation process for the new Medicaid work requirements so far in Wisconsin? What has worked? What could be improved?
Having grown up in a low-income family, I recognize the need to provide support for people who truly need it. Medicaid should be a safety net for them, and able-bodied adults should be connected to jobs and training. Wisconsin is preparing for the implementation of the new requirements which take effect early next year. The Department of Health Services is working on building the new verification systems.
What do you think about funding the 988 crisis line long-term at the state level?
I was the the lead author of legislation creating state grants for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and will reintroduce it if re-elected. Expanding mental health care has been one of my priorities, and I support long-term state funding to provide critical stability to this program so it doesn’t rely on uncertain federal grants.