Regressive Tax Swap Idea Dies a Speedy Death; Why Don’t I Feel Happy? At a public forum last week, Rick Chandler, a member of the Governor-elect’s transition team, floated the idea of increasing the sales tax by at least two cents – as part of a plan to pay for significant reductions in income and property taxes. The idea was declared...
Tax and Budget
The state budget and the taxes that help finance it have a huge impact on children and families. The budget provides most of the funding for vital government services, such as education, health care, transportation, child welfare and other safety net programs.
For more detailed analysis, visit the Wisconsin Budget Project website.
How Big Is the Hole?
New estimates were released today on the size of the budget deficit Wisconsin faces over the next biennium. The good news is that the figures are somewhat lower than other recent estimates. The bad news, and there's always bad news, is too long to list here. Check out the newest post on the Wisconsin Budget Project blog instead for more...
Against the Conservative Tide, Many School Referendums Pass
Voters in Wisconsin yesterday were in a decidedly conservative mood when it came to choosing their governor, senator, attorney general, and other elected representatives. That created a difficult political environment for school funding referendums on the ballot, but in fact voters approved tax increases in slightly more than half the...
What Candidates Aren’t Saying About the State Budget
Campaign season is upon us, and that means calls by candidates to cut state spending significantly in order to close the gap in the state budget, currently estimated at $3 billion over the next two years. What these candidates don’t say is that trying to balance the budget through cuts alone will likely drive up property taxes and...
WI Budget Project Examines the Growing Divide in Wealth and Income, and the Arguments Made for Widening that Gap
In the wake of new Census Bureau data released in late September, showing the widest gap ever measured between the rich and the poor, the Wisconsin Budget Project has posted a series of three blogs examining some of the policy issues related to the distribution of wealth in the U.S. and Wisconsin. On Wednesday the Budget Project blogged...
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