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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Telephone:  608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233


Last updated:
October 6, 2009

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Conference Resources: Taxing and Spending Limits in Wisconsin

Speaker materials
These speakers provided these materials in connection with their presentations at the Jan. 19, 2005, conference, Taxing and Spending Limits in Wisconsin.
Audra Brennan, Wisconsin Department of Revenue's Research and Policy Division
Richard Chandler, former Wisconsin secretary of revenue and state budget director
Thomas Hefty, former chair and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Wisconsin
James Knickman, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Iris Lav, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Donald Nichols, La Follette School
William Niskanen, Cato Institute
Andrew Reschovsky, La Follette School
William Testa, research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

 

Data used in analyses
In analyzing Wisconsin’s taxing and spending patterns, researchers from the La Follette School, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance and elsewhere used data from U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Below are spreadsheets with the data analysts have used.  
Table 1 State and Local Government Finances by Level of Government and by State, 2001-02
  Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Table 2 Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States and States,
and for Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2003
  Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau
Table 3 Quarterly Personal Income by State and Region, 1969-2004
  Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce

 

News, opinion articles
Effort to save farmland has mixed results, Sept. 25, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Property taxes climb faster than wages, study says, June 30, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Playing The Tax-Rank Game, March 27, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal
Legislator to Re-Introduce TABOR on Tax Day, March 24, 2005, Channel 3000
Savings of tax deferral won't grant lasting relief, Feb. 21, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal
Doak: Everybody is wrong about taxes, Feb. 7, 2005, Des Moines Register
An Academic's Freeze Plan, Feb. 7, 2005, wispolitics.com
Approval of tax amendment predicted, Jan. 21, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Is Taxpayer Bill of Rights dead or alive? Jan. 20, 2005, Capital Times
Aim at state budget, advocate says, Jan. 19, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Conferees discuss taxing, spending limits, Jan. 19, 2005, Wisconsin Radio Network
TABOR merits, shortcomings discussed, Jan. 19, 2005, The Daily Reporter construction news (free subscription required)
Who should pay, state or county? Jan. 16, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal
Left holding the bag? Let's rein in local spending, Jan. 16, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal
Let homeowners defer property taxes, Jan. 16, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal
POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Property tax options to be discussed, Jan. 3, 2005, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Editorial: Colorado's TABOR lesson, Jan. 2, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
TABOR is an idea whose time has come in Wisconsin, Jan. 2, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Tax issue pushed for April ballot, Jan. 2, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Limits change face of government, second of two parts, Jan. 2, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Colorado finds positives, problems in spending curbs, first of two parts, Jan. 1, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
RPW: Property Tax Bite Expected to Spike, Dec. 21, 2004, wispolitics.com
Lawmaker to push tougher version of property tax limits, Dec. 21, 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Owens has plan to tweak TABOR, Dec. 21, 2004, Rocky Mountain News
State's colleges decry finances, Dec. 20, 2004, Denver Post
Rep. Lasee: The Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Press Conference, Dec. 20, 2004, wispolitics.com
Government spending conference set for Jan. 19, Dec. 17, 2004, News@UW-Madison
State spreads tax burden, Dec. 15, 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Common sense will help you decide on TABOR, Dec. 15, 2004, wisopinion.com
DOR tax study to show who is really paying what, Dec. 14, 2004, wispolitics.com
Report rejects sales tax increase to fund schools, Dec. 13, 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Tax hell? Maybe not. Wisconsin may already be meeting its TABOR goals, Dec. 11, 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin may not be tax heaven ..., Dec. 8, 2004, Wisconsin State Journal
Dave Zweifel: Institute helps explode high-tax myth, Dec. 8, 2004, The Capital Times
State as 'tax hell' a hoax, study says, Dec. 7, 2004, The Capital Times
Colorado on my mind, Dec. 7, 2004, FightingBob.com
What the heck is TABOR?, Dec. 6, 2004, The Daily Ashland Press
Lasee: Tabor has momentum, Nov. 28, 2004, Wisconsin State Journal
TABOR problems, merits discussed at open forum, Nov. 19, 2004, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
Prison costs have a lock on budget, Nov. 17, 2004, Wisconsin State Journal
Panel discusses TABOR's impact, Nov. 16, 2004, Oshkosh Northwestern


Other reports and resources

Health Insurance for Wisconsin Public Schools: The Case for Competitive Bidding is the January 2005 Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report.

The Winter 2005 Wisconsin Interest, published by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, features several articles related to government spending and taxing: Trusting the People: The Case for TABOR by Charles J. Sykes; Putting the Lid On: How Wisconsin Can Cap Its Spending by Richard G. Chandler; The $100 Million Question: Breaking the Health Insurance Monopoly by Scott Niederjohn; and Tax Freedom (For Some): The Tax-Exempt Housing Mess by Frederic Mohs.

Governing.com grades the states on government performance. The Government Performance Project: Grading the States '05 is online. The web site outlines the report on each state and enables comparisons.

The League of Women Voters of Manitowoc County, is making available CDs and DVDs of La Follette School faculty member Andrew Reschovsky's Nov. 18, 2004, presentation about potential effects of the taxpayer bill of rights, a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution to limit state and local government spending and taxing authority. Audio and video reproductions of the program are available for checkout through the Manitowoc/Calumet Library System. A transcript of Reschovsky's presentation slides is on the league's web site. Related news coverage.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published several papers on the effects of Colorado's 1992 taxpayer bill of rights, a constitutional amendment that limits the state's ability to pay for public services, including education health and public safety. Iris Lav from the center will speak during the 2 p.m. session of the Jan. 19 conference, Taxing and Spending Limits in Wisconsin. The papers are:
  The Flawed "Population Plus Inflation" Formula": Why TABOR's Growth Formula Doesn't Work
  Is Colorado's TABOR Creating Jobs?
  Public Services and Tabor in Colorado

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin has organized public meetings about the proposed taxpayer bill of rights amendment to the Wisconsin constitution and has other information available.

The magazine State Legislatures (put out by the National Conference of State Legislatures) has published several pieces on government spending and taxpayer bills of rights.

Wisconsin Alliance of Cities keeps an eye on taxes, spending and the proposed Taxpayer Bill of Rights amendment to Wisconsin's constitution.

A Wisconsin Department of Revenue study finds that Wisconsin 's overall system of state and local taxation is slightly progressive to proportional. The report: Wisconsin Tax Incidence Study. Revenue's news release: DOR Releases Major Study on Taxes in Wisconsin.

Jack Norman, Institute for Wisconsin's Future research director, examines government spending in Wisconsin in  "'Tax Hell' Hoax: Why Spending Caps on State and Local Government are Wrong for Wisconsin."

La Follette School faculty member Andrew Reschovsky gave a presentation Nov. 18, 2004, on the ramifications of the Tax Payers Bill of Rights, a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution to limit state and local government spending and taxing authority. Reschovsky's PowerPoint presentation

2nd Assembly District Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, is a lead author of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, the proposed state constitutional amendment to limit government spending. Lasee's web site with links to documents on TABOR, including the proposed legislation.

Jeff Mayers, president of Madison-based WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com news services, explores "The Trouble with TABOR" in a fall 2004 article for WI:Wisconsin Interest, published by Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.

Barry Poulson examines "A Taxpayer's Bill of Rights for Wisconsin" in a September 2004 policy paper published by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

Richard Chandler, a former Wisconsin secretary of revenue and director of the budget, examines government spending in Wisconsin in a September 2004 report for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute: "Limiting Government Spending in Wisconsin."

"After the Freeze: Wisconsin's Taxpayer Bill of Rights," Winter 2004, by Charles J. Sykes, editor of WI:Wisconsin Interest and a senior fellow of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.