Wisconsin gives out massive corporate welfare. Don't tell me we can't fix roads and fund schools

I wanted to take a brief moment to give some numbers on just how much this state gives away in corporate welfare and other tax-reducing giveaways. It illustrates that we likely don't need to raise taxes on everyday Wisconsinites in order to get back to making the investments that used to make Wisconsin a great place to live in.

Let's start with where we were before the Age of Fitzwalkerstan began. In the 2009-11 budget, there was $10 million set aside for jobs and business-related tax credits (which are defined in the budget as an expense vs a lowering of taxes received), and only $688,000 was spent out in Fiscal Year 2011. Part of that is due to the fact that Wisconsin was just coming out of the Great Recession at the time (although we did add more jobs in 2010 than we did in 2016 or 2017).

But contrast it to where we are today, courtesy of the 2017 Annual Fiscal Report.

FY 2016-17, tax credits paid out
Enterprise Zone tax credit $23.4 million
Jobs tax credit $10.575 million
Business Development credit $0.615 million
TOTAL $34.590 MILLION

May I remind you that in the 2016 and 2017 calendar years, Wisconsin had its 2 worst years for jobs in the 2010s, so it's not like those increased payoffs reflect a big boost in payrolls.

And in this current budget, we're shelling out even more in these giveaways in a time of full employment.

2017-19 budget, total tax credits budgeted
Jobs tax credit $33.0 million
Business Development credit $46.25 million
Enterprise zone jobs credit $80.6 million
Research credit $2.1 million
TOTAL $161.95 MILLION

Those numbers don't even include this big-money fiasco.

$2.35 million in write-offs for Foxconn are slated to hit in this Fiscal Year, and then it blows up to $473 million going out the door in the next budget for payments to Foxconn and Fiserv.

Also don't forget the "The Big Giveaway", the Manufacturers and Agriculture Credit that goes overwhelmingly to mega-millionaires, while manufacturing-heavy Wisconsin has lagged the nation when it comes to adding jobs in that industry. But the costs of this giveaway keep rising.

Add in the $200 million a year+ that taking the expanded Medicaid funding from the ACA would save us, and the $1.7 BILLION of General Fund money that's being used to reduce property taxes, and don't tell me we don't have enough money available to fund our schools or fix our roads. We just need to use our money better.