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Court Should End Partisan Gerrymandering So Every Vote Will Count
Tuesday, 26 September 2017 - League Women Voters WI, Andrea Kaminski
http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/gb-thanksgiving-parade-248.jpgThe nonpartisan League of Women Voters explains why the U.S. Supreme Court should give every citizen’s vote equal weight by affirming the lower court ruling in the redistricting case, Gill v. Whitford.
Two Worlds Apart: The Capitol and the Great River Road
Tuesday, 26 September 2017 - Kathleen Vinehout, State Senator 31st District
http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/great-river-road-wi-s5.jpgThe contrast between the frenzy in the Capitol on the state budget and Foxconn and the slow pace of life along the Great River Road in western Wisconsin is great, but the decisions made in Madison will significantly influence people’s lives in western Wisconsin.
Corporate Mining Handout Overwhelmingly Unpopular
Friday, 22 September 2017 - League of Conservation Voters, Ryan Billingham
http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/metallic-sulfide-mining-runoff-s5.jpgPublic Opposition to Tiffany’s Senate Bill 395 Intensifies.
Latest News
- Court Should End Partisan Gerrymandering So Every Vote Will Count
- Two Worlds Apart: The Capitol and the Great River Road
- Corporate Mining Handout Overwhelmingly Unpopular
- GOP Healthcare Proposal Goes From Bad To Worse
- State Budget Devotes Second Lowest Percentage To Public School Aids Since 1995
- Walker Prioritizes Politics Over Public Schools
- Republicans Prioritize NRA Over Families
Elections, Elected Officials, Political Parties
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Dems urge legislative action to protect and extend popular Rx drug program.
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Budget announced by Senator Fitzgerald earlier this summer caps total spending on the Historic Tax Credit at $20 million and limits the funding a project can receive at $5 million.
MADISON - Drive through a quaint renovated small village or town in Wisconsin and you are likely seeing a downtown renovated with Historic Tax Credits. In my opinion the Historic Tax Credit is the most successful rural and small town economic development program administered by Governor Walker’s Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). As the Legislature considers venturing into the great unknown on high tech manufacturing with checks from our taxpayers for 15 years, that same Republican majority is planning to cap the Historic Tax Credit program.
This cap is defended as needed as an austerity measure. But clearly these budget cuts are not needed elsewhere. The Republican compromise budget announced by Senator Fitzgerald earlier this summer caps total spending on the Historic Tax Credit at $20 million and limits the funding a project can receive at $5 million. These limits will have a significant impact on the program’s success.
In 2014, 60 percent of the Historic Tax Credit projects renovated buildings that had been vacant for more than 20 years. The return on investment for taxpayer investments in the Historic Tax Credit has been proven to be 8 to 1. Capping the program will jeopardize projects that will revitalize our communities and provide a known payback to taxpayers. I have heard from local leaders from all over the state and the 27th Senate District asking to leave the program alone, so I know other Legislators have received contact as well.
I cannot figure out why Governor Walker has continually tried to kill this program and why Republican Legislators would consider allowing it to happen. 2016 brought 38 projects into the Historic Tax Credit. Projects all over Wisconsin including Plymouth, Superior, Fon du Lac, Evansville, Platteville, Darlington, Waupaca, Wausau, Prairie du Chien, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Watertown, De Pere, Oshkosh, Neenah and Kenosha. I know of projects in the works in the 27th District as well.
