Conference Agenda

Taxing and Spending Limits in Wisconsin

Monona Terrace
Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Conference information
PDF of agenda
Speakers' backgrounds

• Moderator – Terry Shelton, outreach director, La Follette School of Public Affairs
• “A Comparison of Wisconsin’s Spending and Taxes to Those of Other
  States and to Its Own Past” – Donald Nichols, professor and director,
  La Follette School of Public Affairs
• “Who Pays Taxes in Wisconsin?” and “The Value to Wisconsin of
  the Deductibility of State Income and Property Taxes when Computing
  Federal Tax Liability” – Audra Brennan, administrator of the state Department of Revenue's Research and Policy Division
• Discussant: Todd Berry, president, Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance
• Audience Q&A

• Moderator – Maria Cancian, professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs
• “The Growth in Health Care Costs” – James Knickman, vice president,
  Research and Evaluation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• “What Do We Know About Taxes and Economic Development?” – William Testa, vice president and director of regional programs, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
• “Consequences of Constitutional Revenue and Spending Limits”
  – Andrew Reschovsky, professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs
• Audience Q&A

• Moderator – David Weimer, professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs
• “Constitutional Approaches to Government Spending”
  – William Niskanen, chair, Cato Institute, Washington, D.C.

• Moderator – Karl Scholz, professor, Department of Economics
• “Freezing the Growth in Property Tax Payments Through Deferrals:
  A Property Tax Reform Proposal” – Donald Nichols, professor and director,
  La Follette School of Public Affairs
• “Controlling Wisconsin’s Medicaid Cost” – Tom Hefty, former chair and chief executive officer of the former Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Wisconsin
• “Rainy Day Funds: Alternative Approaches” – Iris Lav, deputy director,
  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, D.C.
• Discussant: Rick Chandler, president, Chandler Consulting, LLC;
  and former Wisconsin secretary of revenue and state budget director