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6/8/2009
Write your legislator. Now.
If you haven’t yet, it’s time to write your legislator. It will have to be an e-mail and it will have to be soon, as the Assembly will reportedly take up the budget this Wednesday, June 10. Take your pick of items to address; it’s a long list, but hopefully easy to glance through. Needless to say, even this long list is only a small portion of changes made in this budget.
Tax, fee and cost increases
- Oil Franchise Fee – A 2.5% “excess profits tax,” raising $270 million, will be imposed on oil companies in Wisconsin. The budget bill prohibits oil companies from passing the tax on to consumers, but of course that will occur – and will result in an additional 6 cents per gallon of gasoline – if oil companies continue to do business in Wisconsin at all. If this tax passes, Wisconsin will be the only state in the union with such a tax.
- The Garbage Tax or recycling fees have been increased from $5.90/ton to $$13/ton, resulting in a tax increase primarily to municipal taxpayers of $63.3 million.
- Cell phone tax – A new 75-cent monthly surcharge on all phones will raise $100 million, summarily raided for unrelated uses in the General Fund. This tax may make Wisconsin ineligible for federal funds, which means local communities may have to raise taxes even more to support their 911 system.
- New tax bracket of 7.75% on incomes (married, filing jointly) exceeding $300,000. That’s up from the current high tax bracket of 6.75% on joint incomes over $193,950.
- Child care tuition and fees are no longer deductible on state income tax returns. Also, the per-child licensing fee child care providers pay to the state is increasing 39%.
- If you pay a portion of your health insurance premium, it’s no longer deductible in Wisconsin.
- Higher mandatory auto insurance minimums will make Wisconsin’s minimum coverage levels the highest in the country, with insurance rates expected to increase 33 to 45% in a family. In that Wisconsin is one of only a few states not requiring drivers to have auto insurance, the higher minimums will lead to even more uninsured drivers.
- Cigarette taxes are increasing again – 75 cents more per pack.
- Work permit fee, marriage and birth certificate fees – all doubling.
- Nursing home bed taxes will double this year and increase another 13% next year. Most of those dollars will be used to pay for unrelated programs.
- The newly instituted Hospital Tax is slated to increase and the tax would also apply to ambulatory surgical centers.
- Taxes on capital gains will increase. Mutual fund registration filing fees are tripling and annual filing fees are increasing over $2.5M per year.
- You’ll now pay a 5% state sales tax on downloaded music, ring tones, videos or Internet books.
- You’ll see a 10% increase in your utility bills to pay for increased funding to the low-income energy assistance program. Your 10% increase will also help pay for $18.2M raided from the fund to pay for W-2 benefits.
Policy changes
- Joint and several liability – If a party is deemed to be more than 20% (current law specifies more than 50%) at fault in an incident, that party can be judged as 100% responsible to pay damages.The result of the proposed change (which reverses tort reforms undertaken in the mid-90s) is a big win for trial lawyers and will result in higher insurance costs for businesses and the loss of business and jobs.
- Wisconsin residents who are illegal immigrants will be allowed to pay in-state tuition.
- Prevailing wage laws are substantially expanded, with more municipal projects and some private developer projects now required to pay higher union wages for more projects.
- Again, with a $7 billion deficit, taxpayers will be required to provide retirement and group health insurance benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees. Also, the legislature states “it is in the interests of the citizens of this state to establish and provide the parameters for a legal status of domestic partnership.”
- Home health care workers would be allowed to organize in a statewide union and then bargain with the Department of Health Services; some think costs to the elderly and disabled would become unaffordable.
- The Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) would be repealed, which for almost 15 years, has helped to keep public education costs in check.
- A special “Drivers Card” has been created for illegal immigrants. (Why would an illegal immigrant claim to be an illegal immigrant by applying for a special “Drivers Card?”)
- Free taxpayer-funded birth control is currently provided to 15, 16 and 17-year-old girls without their parents’ permission or knowledge. This Medicaid program has now been expanded to included 15 – 17 year-old boys. This increases dollars to Planned Parenthood to fund the teen birth control program, allowing, some argue, Planned Parenthood to make more dollars available to fund abortions.
- All pharmacies will be required to dispense prescribed contraceptives “without delay.” Pharmacists who refuse will be subject to a fine of $250 - $2,500.
- Traffic officers throughout the state will be required to record racial data on all traffic stops.
- Significant changes to W-2 have been passed; opponents claim the changes dismantle W-2 reforms.
Increased spending, even with a $7 billion deficit staring us in the face
- Total spending increases 6.3% over the biennium. Democrats will claim that total spending in the general fund has decreased. That’s only because millions in spending was moved from the General Fund (or GPR – General Purpose Revenue) to other funds. Democrats will also claim if we don’t include federal stimulus money, total spending is actually down. Total spending is total spending, regardless of where the tax dollars come from. And it’s the spending future budgets will be built upon.
- Again, with a $7 billion deficit, countless special earmarks, such as recycle containers for Wrightstown ($46,000) and funds to help repair the Oshkosh Opera House ($500,000) were included in the budget without going through regular appropriation or competitive grant processes. I totaled earmarks valued at $27,000,000. They’re listed here, if you’re curious.
- The state’s debt is being restructured, extending it for a longer period of time, decreasing interest rates, but increasing the total amount of interest to be paid.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Thanks Jo. I just sent an email to my legislators, and copied in some of the points you made, that I felt strongly about. Thanks for the reminder to do so!
Mike P.
Mike Pankratz (Mon Jun 08 09:09:53 2009)
Even better, call the legislative hotline and ask to leave a message for you representative to oppose the budget. All calls to the hotline are tracked, and included in a report which goes to all legislators. So, even if you know your rep. is against the wild spending, call the hotline, 1-800-362-9472,
and get your call tracked!
emily matthews (Mon Jun 08 09:25:09 2009)
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