Americans for Prosperity (AFP) strongly supports Assembly Bill 739, introduced by Representative Zipperer.

AFP is a free-market grassroots organization committed to educating and mobilizing citizens about economic policy and the public policy process. AFP supports policies that limit government and allow free market principles to work on the local, state and federal levels. Our grassroots members advocate for public policies that champion the principles of fiscal and regulatory restraint, and AB 739 promotes these principles by prohibiting state agencies from including earmarks and non-fiscal policy items in the budget.  Additionally, it requires the Legislative Fiscal Bureau to submit a report identifying the authors sponsoring earmarks, requires beneficiaries of earmarks and their legislative district to be identified, and requires the cost of the earmark to be disclosed.

If passed, AB 739 will bring more transparency to government for Wisconsin taxpayers– a much deserved change for Wisconsinites.  With our historically a high state and local taxes- as well as high local government spending- more accountability must be built into the budget system.

Wisconsin still ranks 8th highest in state and local tax burden as the state tumbles further into debt.  Many politicians are willing to continue their dependency on spending by pushing payments onto future generations.  Wisconsin already has over $8 billion in total debt, an increase of three times the rate of inflation compared to the last decade. Furthermore the recently passed budget – and many before it - included many pet projects attached without authors.

This practice must end. It’s time for taxpayers to lower their tolerance of a system that’s ripe for increased taxes, spending, waste and inefficiencies. In order to do that, we all need access to information that reveals exactly how governments spend our money; AB 739 is a step in the right direction in providing this important information. It’s time for reforms that will regain public trust and support proposals that promote transparency in government spending.  We live in a democracy where political power emanates not from the top down, but from the bottom up- from the people. And in order for the people to make informed decisions on how they are governed, they need access to accurate and complete information about where their tax dollars are going.

Transparent government is good government. And government should have nothing to hide from the taxpayers who fund it.  Americans for Prosperity urges the Assembly to support AB 739.