I think every member of the state legislature should read this "Call to Action" by the Wisconsin Institute for Leadership, Seriously Addressing Issues in Wisconsin.While some groups try to make a point by playing dress up and engaging in street theater, the Wisconsin Institute for Leadership prefers to stimulate your brain.
This call to action originally appeared in our blog. In the wake of legislative and gubernatorial action on the state budget, it’s prudent to move this to the front page. After reading this, head over to our forum and share your take, or participate in many of the other discussions there.
A call to action
The Wisconsin State Budget is running an incredible (and seemingly perpetual) deficit, and too many public officials are looking toward anti-business and anti-consumer tax hikes and accounting tricks for a quick election-year fix.
Wisconsinites deserve better. In tough economic times the government should do what Wisconsin families are now doing every day, adjust their spending habits to meet the economic reality of the day. In other words, Wisconsin government spends too much and needs to spend less!
In addition to cutting spending, Wisconsin public officials should pass legislation that improves the economic climate here. This is only a partial list of our goals, each of which should have standards by which we can measure their achievement.
- We must unleash the private sector to allow risk takers to find solutions to the problems associated with the quality and cost of health care and education.
- We must build on efforts to attract venture capital.
- We must not reinstitute an onerous death tax for a short-term budgetary fix.
- We must pass legislation to eliminate the capital gains tax on funds invested in Wisconsin.
- We must fix the Milwaukee Public School system which is not only a black hole for tax dollars, but is also failing generation after generation of our state’s children.
- We must invest in higher education and end the brain drain. Student aid should increase proportionately with any tuition increases in the UW System.
- We must end the raids of segregated funds for uses other than which they were intended and further examine whether those long-established funds are adequate and appropriate given the changing economy.
- We must get Wisconsin out of the ten most taxed states in the nation.
- We must provide tax incentives to current businesses to invest in modernizing and growing their operations.
- We must ensure that we have a reliable energy transmission system, which includes safe, proven methods of generation and distribution.
