MADISON – As President Joe Biden travels to Wisconsin on Tuesday, a new survey shows that his policy proposals are wildly unpopular with employers. Not only are job creators concerned about the impact of generous unemployment benefits on the workforce shortage, they also strongly oppose the President’s tax and spend agenda.
According to the Wisconsin Employer Survey, roughly nine in 10 businesses oppose President Biden’s plans to raise individual income taxes, corporate income taxes and capital gains taxes.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) – the combined state chamber and manufacturers’ association – conducted the survey over the first three weeks of June on a variety of topics. On Tuesday, WMC released data focused specifically on state and federal policy.
“This new data shows the President is going to have an uphill battle selling his massive tax increases to individuals and employers of all sizes,” said WMC President & CEO Kurt Bauer. “Families and businesses already face enough challenges as our state recovers from the worst economic downturn in a century. Hitting hardworking Wisconsinites with higher taxes and increased costs will do nothing more than slow – or potentially reverse – our recovery.”
The survey results show:
89 percent of employers oppose raising the corporate income tax from 21 percent to 28 percent.
86 percent of employers oppose raising the capital gains tax from 20 percent to 43.4 percent on taxpayers with incomes over $1 million
85 percent of employers oppose raising the rate of the top individual income tax bracket to 39.6 percent
The newest data from the Wisconsin Employer Survey also shows Gov. Tony Evers is lacking support for some of his key proposals. Eight in 10 businesses oppose his attempt to expand Medicaid in the state. Roughly three-quarters of employers oppose his attempts to raise the minimum wage to $15-per-hour. And 73 percent of Wisconsin businesses oppose giving counties and municipalities the ability to raise the sales tax from 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent.
Last week, WMC released the first results from its Summer 2021 Wisconsin Employer Survey, which showed the state’s workforce shortage has become a workforce emergency and nearly nine in 10 employers were struggling to hire.
WMC plans to release additional data from the Wisconsin Employer Survey in the coming weeks. Future topics will include COVID-19 and the economy. WMC surveyed 266 employers that make up a representative sample of its membership. Businesses of all sizes, industries and geographic locations in Wisconsin participated.
Click here to download the entire Wisconsin Employer Survey – State & Federal Policy report.
