Supersizing the required votes for tax increases

by Kids Forward | February 5, 2011

Home 9 Tax and Budget 9 Supersizing the required votes for tax increases

Although lawmakers are facing a deficit in the upcoming biennium of well over $3 billion, many fiscal conservatives are intent on limiting the options for addressing Wisconsin’s budget challenges. Toward that end, the Governor recommended a Special Session bill that would require a two-thirds majority in each house of the Legislature to raise the rates for the sales, individual income, or corporate income taxes. That “supermajority” bill (Special Session AB 5) has been approved by the Assembly and is slated to come up for a vote Tuesday, Feb. 8, in the Senate.

The bill may be just the first in a series of measures to make Wisconsin follow in the footsteps of California’s constraints on legislative options. The next measure could be a more restrictive constitutional amendment, which was recently introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 8 and Assembly Joint Resolution 9.  A Wisconsin Budget Project Blog post today by Tamarine Cornelius examines both the bill and the constitutional amendment.

Read more in the WBP blog post.

Jon Peacock

Join us to build a Wisconsin where
every child and family thrives.

Recent

State Budget: Early Care & Education

State Budget: Early Care & Education

Main Takeaways Child care is unaffordable and unavailable for too many working families. Child care staff are severely underpaid and this critical industry is on the verge of collapse unless there is continued economic support. The Governor's budget takes several...

State Budget: Immigration

State Budget: Immigration

Main Takeaways Wisconsin is home to nearly 300,000 immigrants, and they are vital contributors to the economic and social fabric of our communities. Despite their significant contributions, immigrants face barriers in their daily lives. The Governor’s 2025-27 State...

The Room Where it Happens: Attend a State Budget Hearing

The Room Where it Happens: Attend a State Budget Hearing

In February, Governor Evers proposed his state budget. Read our reaction here and some of our analysis here (more to come soon!).  The Governor’s proposals now go to the Joint Committee on Finance (often called the Joint Finance Committee or JFC). This powerful...

Sign up for Emails

Your address helps us identify your legislators and the most relevant messages to send you.