The Republican Party proposed a nine-step “100 Day Jobs Agenda” on Monday aimed to propel Wisconsin’s economic state.
Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Clyman, stated the plan would reinforce Wisconsin’s strong economic recovery and give the state a competitive advantage.
Fitzgerald’s Chief of Staff, Tom Rhatican, described it as a “hit it while it’s hot” plan that would boost the momentum of Wisconsin’s growing economy and facilitate job growth.
Among the agenda’s central suggestions is a three-year levy freeze on property taxes, tax-free health savings accounts and health-insurance premiums and a research and development tax credit for large expenditures.
The proposal also aims to expand workforce training, financially assist agribusiness persons and producers and set uniform admission standards for health occupation training programs.
Gard’s Press Secretary, Steve Baas, said the issues should receive “overwhelming bipartisan support.”
Republicans worked cooperatively with Gov. Doyle to create the plan’s regulatory reform and health care co-op program.
“Only some of the more extreme Democrats would be opposed to the tax cuts we’ve proposed,” Baas added.
The agenda has met some critique from State Senate Minority Leader Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.
Although Erpenbach expressed confidence in the plan’s bipartisan proposals, he critiqued the proposed tax and health-care reforms in a release.
Erpenbach stated that freezing property taxes would lock in Wisconsin’s tax system inequities and property taxes for working families statewid
“I am interested in how Republicans plan to pay for an additional business tax credit and whatever they plan to include in job creation — perhaps another cut — the SeniorCare Program or school funding,” Erpenbach said in the release.
He also said the overall agenda lacked some serious health-care initiatives. According to Erpenbach, if Republican leaders get rid of the small-business health-care plan, they should also pass proposals that help “real working people” receive health-care coverage.
Rhatican said the state budget’s unexpected revenue growth of $69 million in the last year would pay for the projected business tax credits. He attributed the income increase to Wisconsin’s economic recovery.
Tax cuts would serve as an incentive for people to work and would attract more out-of-state people to jobs in Wisconsin, Rhatican added. Businesses would then hire those workers, which would help Wisconsin build a financial surplus in the future, he said.
Instead of a “pie-in-the-sky” state-run insurance plan, the agenda would realistically meet the needs of working people by providing them insurance premiums, Rhatican said.
“Is the plan going to solve every problem? No,” he said. “Unless you want to move to the old Soviet Union, you won’t have a magic bullet to solve every problem. But this plan will incrementally help Wisconsin’s working people.”
