Ryan Clancy

Criminal Justice / Public Safety

Wisconsin's residents want real safety, not abusive and unaccountable policing. Punitive efforts through abusive policing and incarceration has harmed our communities, not made us safer. Clancy fights for safety through community investment and by funding programs which make our neighborhoods better, safer places to live. Learn more

I will continue to propose and advocate for fines and fees which disproportionally target underserved populations to be eliminated, and for others to be scaled based on income. Learn more

We need to reduce the number of people behind bars, both by funding post-booking programs to provide housing and wraparound services outside of a jail cell, by reducing harmful and inequitable contact with law enforcement, and by keeping people accused of nonviolent and misdemeanor offenses out of jail in the first place. Learn more

Drug Policy

Cannabis should be legalized, decriminalized and - importantly - people who have been convicted of possession or dealing charges should have their records expunged completely. The unequal enforcement of drug charges generally are a matter of equity, and we must correct this as soon as the law is changed. Learn more

Education

As a former Milwaukee Public Schools teacher, Clancy has been an advocate for public schools. He works to transform the funding formula; raise revenue limits; increase funds to special education, mental health supports, to provide additional support for students in poverty, rural areas and ELL learners; and to roll back privatization and to address the teaching crisis. Learn more

Public schools, and therefore education itself, are under assault by the right, and have been so for decades. We must roll back privatization and non-instrumentality charter schools, which are unaccountable to the public, are disincentivized to teach all students, and which leech funds away from public schools, generating profits rather than opportunity. Learn more

Our students deserve a fair system of funding untethered to property taxes. We should raise revenue limits. And we need to provide additional supports for special education, mental health, and for students who are in rural or high-poverty areas or learning English as a second language. Learn more

Environment / Energy

Similarly, I firmly oppose targeted efforts to increase criminal penalties, leading to increased incarceration and the chilling of free speech and non-violent, civil protest. I firmly oppose measures such as Senate Bill 386 which provided up to six years in jail for civil protest which did not result in harm to people and was clearly aimed at indigenous peoples and allies who oppose pipelines and threats to clean drinking water. Learn more

The environment and matters of equity are inextricably linked, and I fight for them together. Our public spaces, transportation - and Wisconsin's dedicated employees - are all assets worth caring for. Sustainability goes far beyond just our physical environment. A sustainable, Green New Deal style plan for Wisconsin's future must also prioritize and fund the human needs of employees and residents instead of over-enforcement and criminalization. Learn more

Foreign Policy

The best and only hope for peace is a free Palestine. As one of the few elected officials who has been to Palestine and Gaza, I will continue to use my office and platform to advocate for justice for Palestinians and others, and to advocate for an end to Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people. Learn more

Healthcare

America needs single-payer, universal healthcare as soon as possible. Every action that we take that delays every person having access to high-quality healthcare causes harm and costs lives. Learn more

Legislation

I've authored legislation to reverse the most heinous and damaging policy provisions of Act 12 and will continue to push for Milwaukee to get back the autonomy it needs to make its own priorities. Learn more

Taxes / Budget

Corporations and the extremely wealthy should be taxed at higher, fairer state and federal rates, with a portion of that revenue used to fund human needs at county and municipal levels, as well as education. We should completely sever regressive and inequitable property taxes from education funding. I authored a package of bills which will do just that, including an estate tax (phasing in at 5 million dollar estates), a local option income tax for millionaires and a revolutionary bill that would drop the average property tax bill by over 40% and instead tax millionaires' highest earnings to pay for K-12 education more equitably. Learn more