Interview

LeMahieu Talks Flat Tax With Badger Institute

Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has introduced a plan to transition the state over four years to a flat 3.25% individual income tax from the current four-bracket structure with a top rate of 7.65%.

LeMahieu and Badger Institute President Mike Nichols on Wednesday sat down in the majority leader’s Capitol office to discuss the proposal for the Institute’s Free Exchange podcast.

Devin: The vast majority of states have a lower top tax bracket than where our second to top tax bracket is, which kicks in pretty low in Wisconsin’s income.

Mike: What’s wrong with that?

Devin: Everything.

Read the entire piece

Free Exchange Podcast

LeMahieu on Need for Wisconsin Flat Tax

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has proposed a 3.25% flat income tax for Wisconsin, a reform that would simplify the code and grant tax relief to every Badger State taxpayer.

LeMahieu sat down with Badger Institute President Mike Nichols in the Capitol to explain the details of his flat tax proposal and the widespread benefits of pro-growth tax policy.

Listen in

Badger Institute Flat Tax Resources

• Report: Tax Reform Options to Improve Wisconsin’s Competitiveness

• Fact Sheet: Tax Reform to Help Wisconsin Prosper 

• Viewpoint: Why Wisconsin Needs a Flat Tax and Education Reform 

• Analysis: A Flat Tax in Wisconsin Can Deliver Tax Relief for Everyone 

• Viewpoint: Why Wisconsin’s talking about flatter, fairer taxes

Restore Work Requirements

Wisconsin voters will be asked about welfare work requirements

Badger Institute visiting fellow’s research shows need for work requirements, time limits

By Patrick McIlheran

The Wisconsin Assembly on Thursday voted to ask voters in this spring’s elections whether able-bodied childless adults should have to seek work in order to go on receiving taxpayer-funded benefits, an idea the Badger Institute long has championed.

The proposal from Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and passed by the state Senate on Tuesday, will have no direct effect on state law, but it would gauge public interest in measures of the kind the Legislature passed and saw vetoed in the last legislative session — ideas advocated by Badger Institute visiting fellow Angela Rachidi, a nationally recognized authority on employment and economic mobility.

The referendum, which does not require the governor’s signature, will ask voters, “Shall able-bodied childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?” The clear answer from Rachidi’s research is, “Yes.”

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Quotable

“The (Wisconsin) GOP-led Legislature announced a plan Friday that would replace four current brackets, including a top rate of 7.65% and a lower bound of 3.54%, meaning every taxpayer would pay less. The reform would phase in over four years with the flat rate taking effect in 2026. 

The tax cut would make Wisconsin the latest member of a fast-growing state club. Income-tax cuts took effect in 11 states on New Year’s Day, according to the Tax Foundation. Arizona, Idaho and Mississippi adopted flat taxes, and Wisconsin would become the 14th state to do so. 

Michigan has a flat rate of 4.25%, while Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a reform last year that takes Iowa’s top rate down from 8.53% to 3.9% in 2026. Even progressive Illinois has a flat rate of only 4.95% as 55% of voters in 2020 soundly rejected Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s attempt to rewrite the state constitution to impose a progressive rate system.”

Wisconsin Bids for a Flat Income Tax, Wall Street Journal editorial, Jan. 17, 2023  

Fact Sheets

Licensing Fact Sheet

The Badger Institute has a growing library of one-pagers highlighting facts, data, trends and recommendations on a variety of policy issues.

Wisconsin prohibits over 1 million citizens from working unless they have government permission.

This is the root of the backlogs plaguing Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and

Professional Services (DSPS), the agency authorized by state law to review, approve and regulate most occupational licenses. These delays — sometimes months or longer — force many people to sit on the sidelines after they move to our state or graduate from their training, unable to work in their chosen field, serve others with their skills or earn paychecks commensurate with their education and experience.

Download the fact sheet

Badger in the News

• Wisconsin Examiner: Republican Senate leader reveals flat tax proposal

• Empower Wisconsin: Republicans to introduce flat tax bill this week

• Center Square: Wisconsin Senate leader pitches flat tax

Weekly Survey: Do you support efforts to require welfare recipients to seek work?

Previous Poll Results

What We’re Reading

• K-12 Dive: Survey: More than half of parents considering new schools for their children

• Heritage Foundation: A State Education Agenda for 2023

• Wisconsin State Journal: In Wisconsin, alternatives to traditional public school see post-pandemic boom

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