Kathleen Kauth (Incumbent)
Kathleen Kauth had a scheduling conflict and could not participate in our interview process.
Mary Ann Folchert
Mary Ann Folchert is a lifelong Nebraska resident and former teacher and special educator. She is running for the legislature because she is disappointed with her current representation and is concerned about the bills that passed or nearly passed last session. She wants to offer the voters in her district another option.
Folchert said that the most important issue facing Nebraskans today is the workforce shortage. She said that we need to find ways to welcome people into the state and strengthen our workforce while also supporting the workers we already have. This means addressing issues like high property taxes, and a lack of affordable housing and childcare.
Folchert is the conservator for her older brother who has developmental disabilities. As such, she has had a lot of contact with the Division of Developmental Disabilities and Medicaid. She said that her experiences have always been positive and anytime there’s an issue she has been thankful for the people there to help her through it. She also noted that she enjoys Nebraska’s parks and knows that the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission employees work hard to maintain those spaces.
When asked what public service jobs she thinks are lacking in Nebraska, Folchert said that the entire workforce seems to be impacted by a wealth of vacancies and fast turnover. Part of the solution to this would be ensuring that wages and working conditions are good enough to draw people to our state and to the jobs that provide essential services to Nebraskans. To ensure that these services are fully funded, Folchert said that the legislature must not adopt policies that restrict our ability to secure revenue and funding for the services we need.
Folchert stated that she opposes the privatization of state services and feels that doing so cuts corners and ultimately is not successful.
A former member of the teachers’ union, Folchert fully supports the right of Nebraska State Employees to unionize and collectively bargain the wages and conditions of employment. She would support a bill extending these rights to legislative and judicial branch employees. Folchert also stated that she would oppose any bill that would take away public sector collective bargaining rights in Nebraska.
When asked about legislative procedure, Folchert stated that she believes committee chairs should be chosen by secret ballot and she supports the current filibuster rules.