What's New
-
BLOG: State spending, balances, and structural deficits
New figures from the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) show that the 2013-15 budget approved by the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) would spend $2 billion more than was authorized in the 2011-13 state budget. Since final spending figures for 2012-13 are not in yet, we compare the proposed state budget to 2011-12 and 2012-13 amounts authorized two years ago.
Continue Reading -
BLOG: State output rises in 2012
New figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show Wisconsin’s economic growth was below average in 2012, but ranked in the middle of all states. Wisconsin’s gross domestic product (GDP), "the value of all goods and service produced in the state," rose 3.2% in 2012; national GDP climbed 4.1%.
Continue Reading -
Focus: The policy and politics of proposed state tax reform
A second-term state representative proposes major income tax simplification that would cut all tax rates, reducing general fund tax collections by $420 million; shrink the number of tax brackets to three; and eliminate a host of tax credits and the little-used alternative minimum tax. Sweeping reform always affects many legislative constituents, which is why it is often difficult.
Continue Reading -
TAXPAYER: The Local Squeeze?
Since 1995, state shared revenues to municipalities and counties have been significantly reduced three times, leaving these aids below their 1990 levels. Those reductions, along with state-mandated property tax limits initiated in 2005-06, held the average growth in municipal and county revenues to less than 3% per year since then. With lagging revenues, local governments continued to fund public safety but slowed spending in other areas. They also continued to borrow, so debt service expenditures in annual budgets are growing quickly.
Continue Reading -
FOCUS: After the rush: Who pays the Wisconsin income tax?
Who paid what during the recent income tax filing season will not be known for months, but information from state returns filed during 2012 is suggestive. Half of filers (51.4%) had 2011 adjusted gross incomes below $30,000 and paid 3.8% of $6.4 billion in income taxes. More than half of state income taxes (55.2%) were paid by the 10.4% of filers with incomes at or above $100,000.
Continue Reading -
TAXPAYER: School Options in Wisconsin
Public school options for Wisconsin students have expanded from one program serving about 13,000 students in a few cities in 1977 to five programs serving about 126,000 students statewide. Participation in the parental choice program in Milwaukee and Racine has risen from 300 in the early 1990s to more than 22,000 in 2012. Statewide open enrollment has experienced similar gains, from 2,464 in 1999 to more than 37,000 today. These programs affect school finances differently, with some having ripple effects throughout the state.
Continue Reading
The Affordable Care Act & Wisconsin
|
We Can Help Solve Your Problems!
Put Wisconsin Policy Advisors to work -- professional, affordable consultants at your service. Contact us today for a free consultation. E-mail us or call 608.241.9789.
