The Legislature’s budget committee on Wednesday approved the package of tax provisions on Wednesday during its last day of work writing the $76 billion 2017-19 state budget, which was due on Walker’s desk more than two months ago.
The Joint Finance Committee rejected Walker’s proposal to reduce the lowest income tax rate that would save 70 percent of tax filers an average of $44 this year and rejected Walker’s proposal to include a $20 million boost to the earned income tax credit for the working poor, which would apply to 130,000 families.
The committee also approved a $74 million cut to the tax businesses pay for machinery and tools but won’t include Gov. Scott Walker’s proposals to cut income taxes or to increase a tax credit for the working poor.
The state’s alternative minimum tax, which applies to individuals making between $200,000 and $500,000 annually, also would be eliminated starting in 2019 under the committee’s action — amounting to a $7 million tax cut for those individuals. The tax is meant to ensure filers with large amounts of tax deductions or exclusions pay a minimum amount of income tax.
The package also eliminates the state’s Working Families Credit, which has given a modest tax credit to about 725 individuals making about $9,000 a year. And the committee rejected Walker’s proposal to exempt school supply shoppers from sales taxes during one weekend before the next school year starts.
I think this budget marks the end of the Conservative Revolution in Wisconsin. It is just another budget that nudges here and pinches there. It spends more than the last budget and gives targeted tax breaks to the politically favored. It lacks any significant reforms and fails to transform the state’s government. It is a caretaker budget that’s only purpose appears to be to not anger anyone before the next election.
The Republicans who run Wisconsin have lost their will to lead.
It is with a heavy heart, I have to agree with Owen. As a former elected official and co-founder or organizer of several conservative groups, I was in the middle of Act 10, the recall and quite a few election campaigns. Seeing the $$$ control our Legislature again is disheartening to say the least.
I will say, on a positive note, I have been impressed with Rep. Gannon and I still have hope some proposals languishing in the background like Sen. Strobell’s idea to put all future roundabouts on the local ballot for approval. Of course, there are others like Rep. Ott, that have stayed the course so, being the eternal optimist, I have hope for the future.
(This statement no doubt will trigger our resident trolls.)
You’re right, O. And the first ‘lost my will’ guy was Walker, with his budget proposal. So: is he prepping for another run at the Big Job? Or is he just going to ride out another term or two and latch onto some mainstream (R) money-train/lobbying/”policy” bunch?
The easiest vote in any legislative body is a “no” vote. Thus it is with personal discomfort that I admit defeat on this budget, and have announced to leadership that I will be voting against this proposal.
It is the governor’s responsibility, similar to our president, to propose a budget, it is then incumbent on the legislature to prune, snip, and reconstruct that work to better fit our wishes.
Unfortunately, this final draft spends as much as the governor originally proposed, just with the columns moved around. This represent aboat a 4% spending increase each year of the biennium, so 8% overall. Inflation is under 2% the past several years, thus this is an unsustainable pattern to maintain.
The budget also eliminates property rights by taking zoning and regulation of quarries away from local government if the quarry provides stone for a state or local project. These new statutes allow quarries to operate 24/7 around the clock, meaning property owners nearby have just seen an incredible loss of value for their land. Stroke of a pen, law of the land, as Obama famously said as he stuck it to those that disagreed with him.
Don’t take this the wrong way, this budget is much better that a democrat governor or legislature would have proposed, but it is also not a conservative piece of work. Your government is in a growth mode, and unfortunately it’s happening under my watch.
I find it ironic that Rep Gannon would be concerned about the loss of local control. Since 2010 there have been numerous pieces of legislation passed that have taken away local control from Towns, Villages, Counties and School Boards on a wide ranging array of subjects from local residency requirements to cell tower locations to CAFO siting to shoreland zoning. There presently a bill (SB 387) introduced by Sen Tiffany et al, and oddly co-sponsored by Rep Gannon et al to further erode local control on a number of local issues including lot size, conditional use permits, variances, etc that are currently the responsibility of the local unit of government. Any concern Gannon has for local control only appears when he can score a political point. His voting record is all for bigger government. Let’s all wait and see how he votes on the current proposal.
>t. Any concern Gannon has for local control only appears when he can score a political point. His voting record is all for bigger government. Let’s all wait and see how he votes on the current proposal.
Says the guy trolling a blog while “Not counting the Foxconn chickens” on any facts that do not support his skewed reality. Zero credibility with us Average Joe.
The way I see the process is …
I think it is wrong that the Arrowhead School Board keeps coming back over and over asking for more money after they loose. If my elected representative co-sponsors or votes for a bill that stops what I think is abuse, I will like what my representative is doing and may choose to vote for him/her or even donate $$ to their re-election campaign.
If my representative acts like some pawn for special interests, I will not like what my representative is doing and may choose to vote for him/her opponent or even donate $$ to their opponents election campaign.
I will base my judgement on information I gleam from multiple sources so I can make an intelligent decision. I will base my decision on my representative’s decision that reflect my conservative values. I will not base my decision on garbage, half-truths or lies spewed by many on both sides of the aisle and in the media.
j:
The reality is that Gannon is complaining about “The budget also eliminates property rights by taking zoning and regulation of quarries away from local government”, while at the same time has signed on to a bill that will do just that. So many hypocrites, so little time. If you don’t believe me, look up the sponsors for SB 387. Even you could look that up…
Quit guessing what I mean and just ask. My concern is not about local control, it’s about the process. Slipping an item into the budget means there were never any public hearings on the topic. Once the hearing has been had and all information is available, yes, I might vote in favor of this statute. Now you’ll never know how I or any other legislator would vote on this topic, as it’ll never get voted on as a stand alone issue.
Now you can return to your constant whining…
Assemblyman,
Le Roi du Nord is a known white supremacist troll.
Thank you
Well said Rep Gannon, well said!!!
bob:
Great quote, “My concern is not about local control”. And you from the alleged party of small government. Wow, truth is stranger than fiction.
And I didn’t guess about what you said, that is a direct quote. If it was in error, now is the time to fix it.
If you were serious about the process, did you propose an amendment to remove it from the budget? Make any statement in opposition other than the contradictions on this blog? Put you vote where your mouth is rather than hide behind the , “it got stuck in the budget” excuse.
No whining here, just pointing out the hypocrisy.