Scott Walker’s Corporate Tax Breaks Come Back To Haunt Him

Scott Walker runs huge deficits

With the deadline to pass a budget drawing closer, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his allies had been counting on increased tax revenue from a rebounding economy to help them avoid painful cuts to the state’s public primary schools and universities. But the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau dashed those hopes this week, telling lawmakers that [they] can expect no new revenue at all.

One of the biggest contributors to the crisis are Governor Walker’s 2011 tax cuts, which disproportionately benefit wealthy property owners and corporations, and have cost more than twice as much as originally predicted. New data shows the credits will cost the state at least $275 million in additional lost tax revenue over the next two years.

This is almost exactly the amount that Governor Walker wants to slash from the University of Wisconsin system, a threat that has already led several campuses into laying off hundreds of professors and staff.

The tax cuts are a major cornerstone of Governor Walker’s tenure — one he brings up in nearly every speech he’s made as he “explores” a bid for the White House.

But the singular focus on slashing taxes has taken the state from a billion dollar surplus to a nearly $2 billion deficit.  READ MORE