MADISON – Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) defended small businesses, manufacturers and their employees by supporting Assembly Bill 4 and Senate Bill 18 on Tuesday, which would provide $340 million in tax cuts to middle class Wisconsinites.
The Assembly Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Revenue and Financial Institutions held a public hearing on the bills, and WMC testified in favor saying that “allowing Wisconsinites to keep more of their own money will stimulate our state’s economy. Increasing the amount of wages workers get to take home means more disposable income, which can be spent on everything from groceries to snow blowers.”
Unfortunately, Gov. Tony Evers vowed to veto the bill that would provide much-needed tax relief, and instead offered his own plan that included a tax increase on Wisconsin’s largest industry. After Gov. Evers announced his plan to only offer a tax cut if he could also hike taxes somewhere else, WMC President & CEO Kurt Bauer released the following statement:
“Wisconsin’s economy is the best it has been in a generation. We have had year after year of budget surpluses. And because of smart budgeting, our state has the distinct opportunity to return that surplus to the hard-working taxpayers.
“While Gov. Evers claims he must raise taxes because Wisconsin has a deficit, the facts show Wisconsin will actually have $2.4 billion more in tax revenue for the next state budget. The numbers don’t lie. We do not need to raise taxes on one group to cut taxes for another.
“What is especially worrisome is that Gov. Evers is targeting the nearly 500,000 people who work in manufacturing with a tax increase. This is Wisconsin’s largest industry, and has literally been the bedrock of our state’s middle class. The irony of raising taxes on manufacturers and their workers to provide a separate middle-class tax cut should not be lost on anyone.
“This should be a bipartisan plan, and we hope both sides can come together to provide Wisconsinites with real tax relief without negatively impacting our state’s economy, our state’s job creators and our state’s workers.”
