Is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker trying to stimulate the Illinois economy?
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s administration is considering whether or not to eliminate Wisconsin’s state income tax and raise Wisconsin’s state sales tax from 5% to nearly 13%.
It would be absolutely foolish for Wisconsin to eliminate their state income tax and nearly triple their state sales tax. While the elimination of the state income tax would encourage people to live and work in Wisconsin, a significant increase in the state sales tax would encourage people to shop in neighboring Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, or Michigan. This regressive taxation scheme that the Walker administration is considering would cripple Wisconsin-based small businesses, particularly those located near Wisconsin’s borders with neighboring states.
If Scott Walker and his Republican allies in the Wisconsin State Legislature eliminate that state’s income tax and nearly triple that state’s sales tax, businesses in Illinois that are located in communities near the Wisconsin border, such as Antioch, Waukegan, DeKalb, McHenry, Rockford, South Beloit, and Freeport, would see many new customers who live in Wisconsin communities that are located along the Illinois border, such as Kenosha, Lake Geneva, Beloit, Janesville, Mineral Point, and Boscobel, because communities on the Illinois side of the border would have a considerably lower sales tax (anywhere from 6.5% to 11.5%) than communities on the Wisconsin side of the border (13%+).
Is Scott Walker actually trying to stimulate the Illinois economy?
