Not Much Business Beyond Taxes at Economic Forum

The Racine County Economic Forum was supposed to have been an informative discussion between local business owners and our elected officials.

Instead, the event held Oct. 10 at the turned into partisan sound bites about the tax code.

To be fair, it wasn't totally the fault of the panelists since not one business owner actually got up to ask a question. The person who came closest was Jackie Barkow from Racine Area Manufacturers And Commerce (RAMAC). She specifically asked about incentives to help small businesses.

State Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) explained his bill for the bioscience industry, saying that by using payroll taxes to reinvest in the businesses - and expecting those companies to put up matching funds - the state can help those companies grow.

"The money will go into a segregated fund only for this purpose," he explained. "And we expect companies to kick in money, too, so they have skin in the game."

According to Wanggaard, 53 Wisconsin counties are home to bioscience companies.

He also proposes a $5,000 tax credit for businesses who hire an unemployed worker who's been out of a job for 60 days or more and retains that person for a year.

But before the Q & A began in earnest and after an introduction by County Executive Jim Ladwig, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) kicked off the forum with a short presentation on why the country is not rebounding out of this recession as quickly as after previous recessions. He named the instability in Europe and the combination of US debt and our labyrinthine tax code for businesses.

While we can't do much about what's going on across the pond, there is plenty we can do about increasing revenues here, which would help solve both the debt and tax issues. First, Ryan said it's time to close the loopholes by getting rid of not just some, but all of them.

"The wealthy and the corporations get all the tax shelters," he said. "If we get rid of all the loopholes, then every dollar is taxed, creating a more transparent system and a greater ability to compete globally."

Second, Ryan said that after the loopholes are eliminated, it's time to bring down everyone's tax rate to alleviate the burden on the middle class. Instead of restricting revenues, going this route will actually bring in more money because there won't be a way to get out of paying.

A lot of questions were directed at Ryan, but Geoff Greiveldinger, Ladwig's assistant and the event moderator, steered the discussion toward elected state officials: Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine), Rep. Bob Turner (D-Racine), Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), and Rep. David Craig (R-Big Bend).

In answer to comments regarding jobs moving overseas to countries with lower wages, Mason said talking about more transparent tax codes and closing loopholes is great, but we're missing part of the conversation.

"I don't want to be India," he said. "I want Wisconsin to have high wage jobs that can help support a family and that means investing in skills training and education with our technical colleges and universities so students come out of those institutions with the knowledge and experience for their career."

Vos weighed in as well, saying the state is in its current condition because of bad money management in the past where the legislature raised taxes on the wealthy and imposed taxes on things like cell phones and electricity.

"Our economy is not better," he said. "I there is across-the-board consensus for investing in job training, but I won't support increases taxes on some of our citizens."

He was referring to (D-Milwaukee) that would impose a 1 percent tax increase on the 2,900 richest state residents to generate the money cut from technical colleges.

Craig said he has talked to business owners with 50 to 100 employess and what they say they need most is consistency.

"They don't want more regulations or any new taxes," he said. "What they want is for government to be up front about what businesses can expect."

There was also a lot of talk about deregulation and the need to not impose too many restrictions on businesses so they're able to expand and hire.

Ryan said that regulations need to pass a cost analysis test before the rules are determined necessary, and he pointed to a rule under consideration that he says would shutter cement companies and cost 20,000 jobs.

"This kind of government policy is not what the country needs to bring it out of recession," he said.

But Mason pointed out that deregulation is what led to two of the biggest disasters in American history: the crisis on Wall Street and the Gulf Coast oil spill.

The afternoon concluded with City of Racine Mayor John Dickert asking area businesses to fill out an export survey to help determine what companies need to expand and partner with other businesses, many outside the state and even the country.

"We have countries looking to do business in Wisconsin because they recognize that we have the best workers in the world," he said. "I need to know what you need to partner with these international companies."