June 10, 2009
REP. WILLIAMS TO INTRODUCE BUDGET AMENDMENT TO START JOBS TAX CREDIT IMMEDIATELY
REP. WILLIAMS: WE NEED JOBS. NOW!
(Madison…) Representative Mary Williams (R-Medford) announced that she will be introducing a budget amendment to implement the Jobs Tax Credit immediately rather than delaying it two years.
“When my district sent me to Madison last November, they made it very clear that job creation should be our number one concern,” Williams said. “I was very encouraged to see Governor Doyle include this proposal in his budget, but the fact is we need jobs now, not in 2011. That’s what this budget amendment will fix.”
According to Williams, the credit will allow employers that meet certain job growth criteria to receive a tax credit. The criteria includes creating new full-time jobs, improving job skills or providing new technology training of existing employees, or hiring people for their first full-time job. Williams says the funding for the tax credit will come from a proposed earmark already included in the JFC version of the budget.
“The fact is, if we want to say we are working at growing jobs now, then we need the Jobs Tax Credit to start now. Just passing something that doesn’t take effect for 2 years is really nothing more than lip service,” Williams said. “When my colleagues and I met with business leaders across the state for the WI Jobs Now Task Force, people were loud and clear: we need jobs and we need them now.”
Representative Williams’ district includes all of Price, Rusk, and Taylor counties, as well as parts of Sawyer and Marathon Counties. Williams says the economic slowdown has been very severe in her district as Rusk County has had the highest unemployment rate of any county in the state since January. Meanwhile Taylor County’s unemployment has ranged from 2nd to 6th highest over that time.
“As a small business owner myself, I know the value of creating incentives for employers to create new jobs and invest in new training for their workers,” said Williams. “This tax credit will do just that while at the same time helping to bring Wisconsin’s workforce into the 21st Century,” Williams said.
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