Wisconsin Way completes initial forums, moves to next phase
The next steps
for Wisconsin Way Now that the initial public forums have concluded, Wisconsin Way organizers will distill the public comments into a series of key themes and develop workable policy solutions that reflect the intent of the citizen participants, said Mark O’Connell, executive director of the Wisconsin Counties Association and one of the organizers. To help frame the comments into potential policy solutions, Wisconsin Way organizers intend to work with industry economists, private sector policy analysts and UW–Madison public affairs faculty members, he said. A second round of statewide public forums will be held this spring to provide interested citizens a chance to review and refine the policy proposals based on their earlier suggestions. A final Wisconsin Way Agenda will then be developed to serve as the basis for an ongoing discussion with elected officials and opinion leaders. “Wisconsin Way organizers believe this effort already has improved public understanding of the challenges facing our communities and elevated the level of political dialogue,” O’Connell said. “We intend to continue drawing on the tremendous experience and capabilities of our members as the project moves ahead and would welcome the involvement of any additional supporters.” |
Through rain, fog, sleet and snow, more than 5,000 Wisconsin citizens participated in Wisconsin Way forums over the past few months to share their vision for a brighter future.
During 15 citizen forums, half a dozen community training sessions and 75 meetings with opinion leaders and elected officials, the Wisconsin Way project initiated a public conversation about how we can make our tax system fairer without compromising the public services that contribute to our quality of life.
Participating in the discussion have been teachers, builders, farmers, veterans, elected officials, Realtors, business owners, accountants, religious leaders, attorneys, assessors and more. These forum attendees ranged in age from middle school students to college undergraduates, young professionals, new parents, empty-nesters and retirees.
Forum participants said they were driven to join in out of concern over troubling economic and demographic trends threatening the future of our state.
Among the facts that laid the foundation for the discussions were:
- Wisconsin’s work force now lags behind the U.S. average and that of 26 other states with just 27% of our citizens holding a bachelor’s degree. Economic forecasts point to the greatest number of jobs being created in relatively low-skill, low-wage industries, and together these trends spell trouble for Wisconsin’s revenue base in the years to come.
- In the 1990s, there was a narrow gap of less than $1,850 between the per-capita income of Minnesota and Wisconsin residents. Due to the slower pace of high-tech, high-wage job growth in Wisconsin, however, today our state’s income lags nearly $4,000 behind that of Minnesota.
- Trends like these have a major impact on government’s ability to raise the revenues needed to pay for public services. Today, if our per-capita income had remained competitive with Minnesota’s, Wisconsin’s tax base would be nearly $13 billion per year larger than it is now.
- An aging population, growing need for major infrastructure expenditures and increasing costs of basic necessities for families also factor into the challenges facing our state.
Wisconsin Way participants said they recognize that these trends signal a need for change in the way local governments fund public services, and believe we must reduce our reliance on property taxes to pay for education, services and other programs. Participants in the public forums, which kicked off in October in La Crosse and concluded in Platteville in January, praised the inclusive and collaborative nature of the effort and expressed hope that the project would help advance constructive solutions.
The organizers of Wisconsin Way include the Wisconsin Counties Association, WEAC, Wisconsin Realtors Association, Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association and Wood Communications Group.
Wisconsin Way Resource Page
Posted February 8, 2008