By Brett Healy – There are fewer than a handful of days left for legislative ideas to become law in the 2017-2018 biennial floor session. We here at the MacIver Institute like to refer to this time of the biennium as “the silly season.” Read More Beware, ‘Tis Silly Season in Madison
MacIver News Service – For years, Republicans have argued that federal taxes and spending levels are too high. Now, with a Republican president and majorities in the House and Senate, it’s time to back those words with action. On Thursday, Congress released its plan for the first major tax code overhaul since 1986. Read More House Republicans Present Tax Reform Bill
By Chris Rochester – The Trump administration on Tuesday will officially put an end to a draconian slate of Obama-era environmental regulations known as the “Clean Power Plan.” Read More Trump EPA Scuttles Costly Obama-era “Clean Power Plan”
By M.D. Kittle – There are two things you need to know upfront about the state of prevailing wage reform in Wisconsin: prevailing wage reform is trapped inside the GOP-controlled Legislature’s snarled transportation debate, and Democrats this week held a sparsely covered press conference to promote a deeply flawed study suggesting repeal could cost taxpayer money. Read More Prevailing Wage Reform Snarled In Transportation Gridlock; Dems Push Suspect Report
By M.D. Kittle – The budget impasse dragged on this week as Assembly Republican leaders hit the road to “illustrate the positive impact of their education budget proposal” at a press conference in Merrill. The Assembly’s road show isn’t sitting well with state Senator Leah Vukmir, whose caucus is continuing its budget work. Read More Assembly Road Show Rolls On While Budget Work Waits
By Ola Lisowski – Late last week, MacIver News Service broke news of a Assembly Republican-led plan for K-12 education spending under the 2017-19 biennial budget. On Tuesday, Republicans formally introduced the proposal to the media.While the proposal spends over $70 million less in General Program Revenue compared to Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal, the plan’s authors says classroom spending would stay about the same, if not slightly more. Read More MacIver Analysis: The Assembly GOP Education Plan
By Brett Healy – Tax reform that is primarily worried about coming up with enough taxpayer money to fund current obese levels of government spending is misguided. Read More Border Adjustment Tax Just Complicates Tax Code Even More
By Brett Healy – The federal government, by setting up a system handing out a special designation to just one company, is actually delaying the market’s response to the demand for life-saving drugs to combat the nation’s opiate epidemic. Read More To Combat Opiate Epidemic, Schimel Forced to Fight Dumb Federal System
Special guest perspective by James Wigderson – The DOT under Mark Gottlieb had all the self-discipline of a teenage girl with Daddy’s gold card at the mall. Telling the legislature that everything is half off and hoping that they’ll never see the bill is not behavior that should be rewarded with an increase in the DOT’s allowance. Read More DOT Audit Exposes Systemic Problems
Special Guest Perspective by Sen. Leah Vukmir – This school year, nearly 34,000 Wisconsin students are participating in the Milwaukee, Racine and statewide choice programs. It’s easy to see why. Recent scores from the Forward and ACT tests indicate that voucher students from low-income families attending choice schools consistently perform better than their peers at nearby public schools. Read More Vukmir: School Choice is Working for Wisconsin Students