January 13, 2012
Wisconsin Reforms are
Leading the Way
Recently, a constituent
called my office to simply
say ‘thank you’ for the
significant decrease on his
property tax bill. He was
grateful for the hard work
done by the Legislature and
Governor to enact reforms to
hold the line on – and even
reduce – property taxes.
In a recent article of mine,
I detailed how these
reforms are working in
Wisconsin. However, at the
federal level and in many
other states, things are not
working so well. It is
interesting to compare and
contrast the attempts made
by the federal government
and other Midwestern states
to control spending and
maintain fiscal stability.
What we are learning is that
the Wisconsin way is leading
the way, while others still
struggle and fall behind,
and find themselves deeper
in debt.
In Wisconsin, we have
reduced our debt and
virtually eliminated the
state’s deficit. Not so at
the federal level. The
federal debt has recently
skyrocketed at alarming
rates. Last summer, the
President and Congressional
leaders raised the federal
debt ceiling by $2.4
trillion. In response to
this rising debt crisis, the
United States’ top credit
rating was downgraded for
the first time in history
to a score that ranks below
that of many other
governments’ credit ratings.
Even a Congressional “super
committee” could not agree
on cuts to the federal
deficit.
Ohio tried to enact some
reforms that went farther
than the Wisconsin reforms.
However, a referendum vote
rejected the Ohio plan,
which may now result in
major state program
reductions and employee
layoffs in order to balance
its budget. Ohio’s public
schools are in bad shape
financially. Teachers are
being laid off, schools have
been closed, and school
positions are being
eliminated at a high rate.
Illinois owes over $6
billion just in unpaid bills
and additionally has a $500
million budget deficit. Not
only is their current fiscal
situation dire, the state is
facing an even gloomier
budget situation in
subsequent years, which may
require massive cuts to
state programs that have
already been cut, and
borrowing huge amounts of
money in order to pay off
some of their debt. On top
of all that, Illinois
increased the personal
income tax rate by 67
percent and the corporate
tax rate by 46 percent.
In contrast, Wisconsin has
enacted model reforms which
many other states might want
to consider. The sky is not
falling, and for the first
time in a very long time, we
balanced our budget without
raising taxes and without
cutting core funding for
many vital state programs.
In fact, funding for medical
assistance programs was
increased by $1.2 billion.
State and local employees
are keeping their jobs, but
at the same time, are
contributing more to their
taxpayer-funded health
insurance and pension
benefits.
For the first time in many
years, homeowners are
finally seeing property tax
levels remain steady, while
some – like the one who
called my office – are
seeing a decrease in their
property tax bill.
Wisconsin has finally
enacted a permanent property
tax freeze, which will
especially help our senior
population, many of whom
find it difficult to keep up
with rising property taxes
on a fixed income.
Opponents of the reforms say
these reforms will be
devastating to public
education and students will
suffer the consequences.
However, over the last nine
years, school funding has
increased dramatically,
while at the same time,
school enrollment has
actually decreased. Schools
are staying open and there
have been virtually no
layoffs in areas that
enacted the state’s
reforms. In addition,
course curriculum remains
intact and smaller class
sizes are relatively
unchanged.
Historically, Wisconsin is
known for leading the way on
numerous ground-breaking
ideas which have been
adopted by many other
states. From unemployment
compensation laws to
environmental protections,
welfare to work programs and
consumer safeguards,
Wisconsin has led the way.
Now, once again, Wisconsin can serve as a
model for the rest of the
nation, and lead the way to
true government reform.
-30-
Sen. Kedzie can be
reached in Madison at P.O.
Box 7882, Madison, WI
53707-7882 or by calling
toll-free 1 (800) 578-1457.
He may be reached in the
district at (262) 742-2025
or on-line at
www.senatorkedzie.com
