Americans for Prosperity Praises Speaker Huebsch and other Lawmakers for Eliminating Tax Hikes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 26, 2006  

Contact: Mark Block (414) 475-2975

Americans for Prosperity Praises Speaker Huebsch and other Lawmakers for Eliminating Tax Hikes

Milwaukee – Americans for Prosperity, Wisconsin’s free-market grassroots group, today praised Speaker Mike Huebsch and Republicans for eliminating billions of dollars in tax hikes proposed by Governor Doyle and Senate Democrats.

 

“We credit Speaker Huebsch for fighting to eliminate government-run health care, a $15.2 billion tax hike that would have propelled Wisconsin into the highest taxed state in the nation,” State Director Mark Block said, “And we are looking forward to working with the legislature to ensure taxpayer-funded healthcare never becomes law.”

 

Also a major victory for Americans for Prosperity was the provision prohibiting the $2 charge on car rentals paid by taxpayers to be used to retain lobbyists to lobby for the expansion of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee rail.  Block stated, “This is just the beginning of our grassroots campaign against taxpayer dollars being used to lobby for more government spending and taxes for more bloated bureaucracy.”

 

Block cited other major accomplishments in the budget agreement:

 

  • Holding the line on Property Taxes – Republican lawmakers held the line on property taxes by maintaining the property tax levy increase to 2% plus construction costs.  Governor Doyle proposed a 4% increase that would have cost property taxpayers $1.2 billion. 
  • Eliminating the Oil Company Gross Receipts Tax – Republican lawmakers eliminated Governor Doyle and Senate Democrats’ 2.5% tax on oil companies’ gross receipts that would have cost the citizens $300 million at a time when gas prices are already unaffordable. 
  • Eliminating the Tax on Hospitals – Republicans eliminated Governor Doyle’s $417 million tax increase on hospitals during a time when health care costs are already skyrocketing.

 

Block concluded, “We look forward to working with Republicans and Democrats to scrutinize spending priorities, discourage future tax increases and support policies that lower Wisconsin’s outrageous tax ranking of 8th highest in the nation.”

   

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