The Wisconsin gubernatorial election campaigns gained momentum Monday as U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., and Gov. Jim Doyle faced off on the state's tax reform progress.
Green held a "tax day rally" in South Milwaukee and Green Bay Monday, announcing his plan to cut taxes and limit government spending pending his election in November.
In his speeches, which garnered about 50 people each, Green criticized the current governor for being lax on lowering the state's tax burden.
"Our state and local tax burden is one of the worst in the country — nearly 10 percent above the national average," Green said in a transcript of the speech. "Elect me governor, and Wisconsin's days in 'tax hell' will be coming to an end."
But according to Doyle, his leadership as governor has contributed to an improvement in the state's tax burden since 2003 when he was first elected to office.
The governor announced the newest U.S. Census Bureau figures Monday, which show Wisconsin's ranking among the states have improved since 2003, falling from 12th to 15th when calculated considering total amount of taxes per $1,000 of personal income.
Doyle's campaign press secretary Melanie Fonder added the governor has also worked to address the $3.2 billion deficit he originally faced.
"The governor inherited the biggest budget crisis in state history," Fonder said. "And he balanced the budget without raising taxes [and] without making cuts to education, health care and other public services."
Green's campaign, however, argued Doyle's claims lack sincerity, pointing to his refusal to support the Taxpayer Protection Amendment, the proposed constitutional amendment to cut government spending.
"Congressman Green wants to get a handle on state spending and Gov. Doyle does not," Green's campaign press secretary Rob Vernon said, adding the representative stands fully behind TPA as a long-term commitment to taxpayers.
Vernon said the governor has also increased spending by 10 percent during his time in office, while additionally increasing in-state tuition for University of Wisconsin System schools by 50 percent.
But Doyle's spokesperson Dan Leistikow argued resolutions like TPA would spur even greater damage to the UW System, as funding cuts would force tuition hikes.
"This amendment would just be devastating to the University of Wisconsin," Leistikow said. "It would make it so that only the richest students could afford to get an education."
As Green supporters continued to criticize the governor's opposition to TPA, some Democrats pointed to the representative's fiscal record, calling it alarming proof of his irresponsibility.
According to Joe Wineke, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Green has voted in the U.S. House of Representatives to raise the national debt limit and increase federal spending by 45 percent over his eight-year term congressional career.
"Green has been a rubberstamp for President Bush and Republicans in Congress who have transformed the largest surplus in history into the largest deficit in history," Fonder said.
While both campaigns are expected to escalate as Election Day nears, Vernon said that ultimately Wisconsin's next governor will be in the voters' hands.
The gubernatorial election is Nov. 7.
