“Funding for public education has been shrinking,” Abbas said. “From 2012 to now, the budget has shrunk a lot. There is the promise that the state will fund 60 percent of the funding to public schools, but they only allocate 47 percent. And so there is a shortage of funding for public schools, which creates a huge problem for our future generations.”

Clean drinking water and climate change are also a common interest.

“A lot of the farms are being impacted badly by climate change,” Abbas said. “We need to create policies to reduce those impacts, but also using the role of DNR and environmental protection to protect our drinking water, to protect our lakes because these are the resources that you need for the land. Also cattle eat and drink within a similar environment. And so environmental protection is very crucial. I think that is also impacting the farming industry.”

Reproductive health is an important issue, whether one is urban or rural.

“On the state level, we really need to make sure that the 1849 law is dissolved,” Abbas said about the Wisconsin law that bans abortions. “It is an outdated law that was made by men. At that time, women weren’t allowed to vote. Now the Republicans are trying to enact more harsh policies and putting bans on people getting abortions out of the state. That is a statewide issue and in Dane County, people will be impacted by that, especially people of color. In the presence of that law, how can we impact public health and help people with services, especially reproductive health and women’s health.”

The labor market in places rural and urban are experiencing the same labor shortages brought on by the pandemic and other factors. One of those factors, in Abbas’ mind, is affordable childcare.

“Affordable childcare in District 46 and Sun Prairie is important,” Abbas emphasized. “The workforce is badly impacted by the cost of childcare. Right now in the state of Wisconsin, in areas like Dane County and Milwaukee, the cost of daycare has increased at a level where it is cheaper to send your kids to MATC to get a degree — just to put it into perspective — than sending your child to a daycare. And daycare is directly correlated with the workforce. As we are struggling with an adequate workforce and the workforce crisis, people are having are having a hard time finding employees for restaurants and other places. Among other reasons, one is the lack of affordable child care. And then people have no options and need to stay with their kids.”

Another reason for the labor shortage is the way that immigration policy was enforced by the Trump Administration.

“Another crucial tool, I think our state needs to really recognize when working with small businesses or businesses as a whole is the role of immigrants,” Abbas said. “What role do they play in the workforce? The previous policies of Donald Trump and how he used ICE to go after the Hispanic workforce and undocumented immigrants from Latin America and other parts of the world. That really impacted local businesses, especially our dairy and farming industry. And now they are facing a workforce crisis. I think it is extremely important for us to invest in our communities and in our immigrants and also local businesses by providing them services and resources.”

The cost and quality of healthcare is an important issue that impacts rural and urban areas.

“Health care is a basic human right,” Abbas emphasized. “We also have a disparity. Not only disparities between urban and rural, but also disparities between white and Black and Brown people. Those disparities are really impacting our community at-large and need to be addressed. I support Governor Evers’ plan for the extension of Medicare and Medicaid. Right now at 100 percent of the poverty level, people receive either health care. This means the person earns less than $13,000 to be eligible. But if they make $15,000, they won’t be able to get access to those services at no cost. They have to pay their own money. That needs to be changed to 200-300 percent of the poverty level and bring those federal dollars for the expansion of health is also not only going to improve our health, but also create jobs. That is very crucial in this economy. It’s a win-win situation. It is my priority to push for the expansion of Badger Care.”

Abbas is mystified why Wisconsin hasn’t accepted funds to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

“We really need to work to mobilize people and put pressure on the Republican Party to take the right steps because public health is so important,” Abbas said. “Sometimes it is very mindboggling to me. I don’t understand. Healthcare impacts everyone no matter if you are White, Brown or if you are a Republican or a Democrat. It doesn’t matter. It impacts everyone in life. These types of regressive policies don’t really help anyone, even their constituents. This is very disappointing. The money that we aren’t getting back from the federal government could create more jobs. It’s disappointing that the Republicans have not moved the needle on that topic.”

Aid to small businesses is important to keep the economy healthy because, in part, it is small businesses that are the engine for job creation. Abbas feels that there are two important ways that the state can aid small business.

“Small businesses do not have access to big capital,” Abbas said. “They don’t have access to resources and know how to navigate other financial systems. It is extremely important for the state to invest in economic development and other entities to really spend money on education and training people so that they have a head start when they go into the market. They already know how the market works and where the resources are. I also think the state of Wisconsin needs to do more economic development tours beyond the state, going to other states and even to other countries and share our success stories, what Sun Prairie businesses can do for their countries and improving exports. That can be crucial on a bigger level, but even on a local level, it is extremely important to provide programs that help them understand how to do business overseas.”

A regional transportation plan is needed to meet the needs of rural and urban Dane County residents.

“I think the rural communities are the backbone of our economy,” Abbas said. “And nothing works in silos. Urban and rural are correlated together. And so your public transportation and transportation structures create accessibility to their product and people can get access to it is extremely important.”

While much is made of the rural/urban divide in Wisconsin, pitting areas like Milwaukee and Dane Counties against rural and some suburban areas, their destinies are tied together. Syed Abbas sees the interconnectedness of these areas and the issues that unite them. And he hopes to bring that perspective to the Wisconsin Assembly this fall.