New memo on "Big Giveaway" to rich makes Evers plans look even better

A couple of weeks back, we had a decent amount of talk about Wisconsin’s “Big Giveaway”, the Manufacturing and Agriculture tax credit (MAC). As part of that discussion we were using estimates from the 2017 tax year that showed the credit slanted heavily to the richest Wisconsinites and corporations, and that the cost to taxpayers was exploding.

In the wake of that information, Democratic candidate Tony Evers proposed to limit MAC to tax filers that make $300,000 or less, with the idea that it continues the credit for the overwhelming majority of people, while removing most of the cost of MAC. Then the money could be used to cut the income taxes for middle-class Wisconsinites.

So this week, Dem Assembly Leader Gordon Hintz asked for and received an update on the MAC numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, to reflect what it looks like for 2019.

Let’s plug in those figures from the memo and connect it to Evers’ proposal to limit MAC to those with incomes of $300,000 or less. What we find is that while 2/3 of the Wisconsinites receiving MAC would still get the tax credit, the cost to taxpayers would be cut by more than 93% - nearly $232 million out of $248.5 million to be given out in the next tax year.

Hintz then broke down the numbers further and noted just how much the super-rich are going to get from MAC.

Today, Assembly Democratic Leader Representative Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh), released a new memo from the state’s non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau detailing the increasing price tag of the Governor’s so-called Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit. The memo estimates that 21 individuals making $30,000,000 or more are receiving $38,939,267, or an average of $1,854,251 each from the credit in 2019….

· 79% of the benefit will go to individuals with adjusted gross incomes of over $1 million.
· By the end of 2019, this tax credit will have cost the state $1.3 billion since its inception.
· In a memo from January 2018, 15 individuals making $30,000,000 received $27,586,130, or an average of $1,839,075. The 2019 estimates show the credit is further concentrated to the super wealthy top earners of our state.

And do not forget that the super-rich and corporate also got most of the benefits of a GOP Tax Scam that has been passed since MAC took effect, which is yet another reason to dump this Big Giveaway.

As I've mentioned before, it’s not like this “Manufacturing and Agriculture” tax credit has done much to help spur jobs in manufacturing or agriculture. In the 3 years that have been measured by the “Gold Standard” Quarterly Census, manufacturing jobs (or jobs in general) in Wisconsin haven't grown by more than the rest of the nation, and we have the lowest weekly manufacturing wages in the Midwest. In addition, dairy farms continue to fold up in Wisconsin, including over 1,000 since the end of 2016.

I dare Scott Walker and Leah Vukmir to defend MAC over this last week-and-a-half and explain to Wisconsinites why we’ve chosen to give all of the benefits to the well-connected instead of using those funds on infrastructure, schools, and other public goods that we all can benefit from. The excuse-making and gobbledy-gook would be epic.