Renuka Mayadev Is Running for the WI Assembly District 77: Seat Change Is Coming (Part 2 of 2)
Renuka Mayadev, a lawyer by training and profession, worked with Marian Wright Edelman’s Children’s Defense Fund.
by Jonathan Gramling
Renuka Mayadev, candidate to represent the WI Assembly’s 77th district, which has the UW-Madison at its center, is a fireball of energy. As we meet for coffee, her enthusiasm and optimism are almost infectious. Mayadev is first generation Indian American who is convinced that change is coming to Wisconsin politics and she wants to be a part of that change, just as she was working for the Children’s Defense Fund, founded by Marian Wright Edelman who was a contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Riders. Mayadev wants to be a part of the change to impact the health care industry to serve women and children better.
“I work with folks over in La Crosse,” Mayadev said. “Great Rivers United Way does great work for women and birthing people because of the opioid epidemic. They support them through community health workers. It’s all philanthropy. They have to raise money. We could support that. We could support doulas through Medicaid. We do need to have the will. And once we win back the Assembly, I would like to stand there and build that agenda. I already have things that I know we can do and push it through.”
A big part of health care reform, in Mayadev’s view, is to expand the coverage for children and families.
“Doulas should be included in health insurance and other states have done it,” Mayadev said. “Michigan has done it, in fact. I can show you states across the country that have done good work for mothers and birthing people. We choose not to do it here. We should expand Badger Care. Why are we turning away federal funds? So many of our neighboring states have accepted it. We seem to just be obstructionist here with we being our legislature. We are absolutely already paying for it and we’re hurting our most vulnerable citizens. And that’s what is deep in my core, children, women and working families. We have the highest infant mortality rates in the country, especially for our Black babies.”
Mayadev believes that Wisconsin’s prisons could be more supportive Being supportive of mothers with newborns who are in prisons for the sake of the long-term health of mother and child.
“At our women’s prison, TCI, if a birthing person or a woman gives birth to a child, the child is stripped away immediately,” Mayadev said. “They aren’t allowed to stay with mom. Why would we punish that child? How is that woman or birthing person a threat to anyone during delivery? These are just inhumane things that we seem to continue to do here in Wisconsin. There is a great example of s nursery. I worked with it in Ohio. There is a nursery in the prison so that mom and bay can stay together and we nurture that future Wisconsinite because we know that the critical period is after birth through a year and beyond of course. So we should keep families together. It would be great if there is lactation, breast feeding. We know all the evidence is clear about the benefits of that and what can happen if mom and baby are together. All the baby and infant wants in the early stages is mom and warm and caring individuals like dad, guardians and parents and families if it is in a prison or a home.”
When reflecting on what legislation she would push for, Mayadev began with ensuring women had control over their bodies.
“I have to start with reproductive rights,” Mayadev said. “We have to do that. We have to get rid of that 1849 law taking us back before the Civil War, before women had the right to vote. It’s alarming that this is still an issue. Now we have a world where they want to take choice away from women. I can’t believe that. I think about that and say, ‘We have to spend so much time fighting for our fundamental rights that we aren’t able to move Wisconsin forward. That’s our state motto, right? Forward. We’re supposed to be moving forward. And yet, we seem to be going back and having to just keep fighting for fundamental rights. That would very much be at the top of my list.”
Over the past decade or so, the Wisconsin legislature has taken away the ability of local government to deal with local issues that impact each local government differently. Mayadev wants to reverse that trend.
“There is a lot of preemption in the state law where state government is saying that because of the legislature’s power they want to keep, they want to prevent locals from making some decisions,” Mayadev recalled. “Inclusive zoning is a good example where locals can require developers or folks who create new housing to create certain setasides. We should have setasides either with rent control or reduced rents so that we can have affordable housing. But right now because of state law, it is preempted.”
Mayadev also supports policies that would keep the legislature in its lane of passing laws and not controlling their execution.
“I was surprised when I came to Wisconsin on how many things the state legislature is involved in,” Mayadev said. “It’s not like this in other states. We used to do Medicaid wavers in other states without going through the legislature, making sure that the executive and the agencies that know the substance and the work that needs to be done have the power to do it. No it goes through the legislature here because of the power grabs that they always seem to do. They’ve been doing it with the two constitutional amendments in August.”
Mayadev wants to represent low-income and middle-class families that are overwhelmed with wtrying to make ends meet. She wants to be their voice in the state legislature.
“The income inequality and the rates of poverty are so high,” Mayadev said. “And then people are working 1-3 jobs. We don’t provide childcare, so they are struggling to find out where they can keep their children so that they can work. There is no comprehensive system of childcare, early learning, or early childhood education. There is nothing. Every family has to figure it out for him or herself. So when you are burdened with paying your bills, working your numerous jobs, trying to take care of your family, dealing with issues of health because they are not covered under an expansion of Badger Care or postpartum, they don’t have time to be outraged. Honestly. We put so much on individuals and families that they are just trying to make it through the day. They are trying to make it through their meals. They’re trying to make it through their lives. And it takes time to be outraged. It really does. You have to write a letter to your Congressperson, you have to write a letter to your Assembly person. You have to show up at school board meetings, but maybe you’re working or trying to find childcare. That’s why I’m standing up. I’ve been fortunate with my privilege because my parents gave me a stable home and we had resources and a good quality education. Then I had time to stand up. That’s why I am doing this.”
Renuka Mayadev will be a spark plug for change no matter who is in control of the state legislature. That energy is just who she is.
