A few weeks ago, I talked about how thankful I was that we have a legislature finally willing to make the hard choices for Wisconsin. With the year ending, it is worth looking back and reminding taxpayers of everything that we have accomplished to put us back on the right track. As critics have charged, the sky isn’t falling. For the first time in years we are getting our fiscal house in order and budgeting like hardworking families throughout the state have had to do all along.
Imagine, just a year ago, due to the negligence of Governor Doyle and Democrat lawmakers, the states structural deficit ballooned to $3.6 billion (The amount needed to just continue operations), state taxes and fees were raised by $3.1 billion, on top of an engineered $1.5 billion property tax hike. Wisconsin was losing jobs at twice the rate of the national economy. It’s no surprise that we were viewed by our peers throughout the nation as one of the worst places to do businesses (We were ranked by CEO Magazine as the 41st state to do business).
So what happened since we stood up and made the choices necessary to get our state moving again?
A balanced budget was passed finally passed. Local governments were given the tools they needed to get massive savings without needing to slash essential services. Local job-creators finally had some optimism that Wisconsin was getting serious about jobs and enacting real reforms that would put people back to work. We reformed the government bureaucracy that had been out of control and once again started to partner with small businesses, not punish them, to get people back to work.
To accomplish this, we started the year in special session with a series of bills targeted at restoring job growth in the state. We passed bi-partisan legislation that put an end to the frivolous lawsuits that have plagued our tort system, made HSA’s more affordable, and passed tax relief for businesses who wanted to hire.
Next, with our states fiscal crisis coming to a head, we took the steps necessary to avoid the impending financial train wreck. Working against the entrenched special interests in Madison, we made meaningful changes to government employee pension and health insurance contributions. These reforms to date have saved taxpayers throughout the state nearly $470 million, and counting (www.reforms.wi.gov), while at the same time returning $47 million back to property taxpayers.
On top of these reforms, we passed a budget that eliminated the $3 billion deficit without raising taxes and fees. We finally put a stop to the spending addiction that was plaguing Madison for all these years (in addition to the $2 billion spending increases proposed by Assembly Democrats during the budget debate). This on top of keeping my promise to protect core services for the poor, elderly, and disabled. The real win was that this budget did not use any accounting gimmicks, one-time federal stimulus dollars, fund transfers, and credit card borrowing that previous lawmakers and Governors used in the past.
Even with our economic recovery being hindered by policies, or lack of, coming from Washington DC, we continued our bipartisan push for jobs. We gave more flexibility to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, allowed cities and villages to create multijurisdictional tax districts, and streamlined tax procedures to grow certainty with our small businesses.
In addition to opening Wisconsin for business again, we also worked on long overdue legislation protecting your constitutional rights. We joined with 48 other states to allow law-abiding citizens to exercise their second amendment right to protect themselves. Moreover, we passed legislation protecting your right to fair and honest elections by requiring a photo I.D.
We have made substantial progress this year, but there is no rest for the weary. Moving forward into next year, we will continue to focus on jobs, while also continuing to be wise stewards of your tax dollars. If you have any suggestions on legislation you would to see, please contact me at Rep.Knodl@legis.wi.gov or call me at (608) 266-3796.
Wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year.
To contact me with any questions or comments or to sign up for my regular e-updates, please send an e-mail to Rep.Knodl@legis.wi.gov or call me at (608) 266-3796.
