According to the Legislative calendar, the 2017-19 State Budget was due on the Governor’s Desk on July 1st. Disagreements, however, between the Senate and Assembly over transportation-related taxes and spending along with other key issues delayed passage until September 15th.
Although Governor Walker has promised to exercise his powerful veto authority to make several revisions, the following is a brief synopsis of a few of the issues of interest to small business:
• Personal Property Tax: A long-standing NFIB priority, the budget eliminates the personal property tax for machinery, tools, and patterns for all non-manufacturing businesses – a $74 million tax savings for thousands of small business owners.
• Prevailing Wage: The budget eliminates the state prevailing wage law for all state building projects and state highway projects, saving taxpayers over $310 million per year, and promoting fair competition between large and small contractors. The 2015-17 biennial budget act repealed the state prevailing wage law that applied to local taxpayer projects (counties, villages, towns, cities, school districts and technical colleges).
• Property Taxes: The state portion of property taxes is eliminated saving taxpayers about $90 million a year.
• Transportation: The budget does not increase the tax on gas or registration fees for most vehicles, saving taxpayers over $400 million a year. A study is planned for implementing toll roads in Wisconsin.
• Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC): Although some, including the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, wanted to eliminate the commission, NFIB fought to keep the commission as a less costly step in appeals relating to worker compensation, unemployment insurance and fair employment.
Passage of the 2017-19 budget was one of the latest in the past 40 years, according to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
The budget was approved by the Assembly 57-39, and the Senate 19-14.
The next step in the process is a careful review by Governor Walker, followed by vetoes and signing the $76 billion tax and spending proposal for the 2017-19 biennium.
Bill G. Smith
NFIB/Wisconsin
