State GOP leaders push for income tax and senior tax breaks

Jay Weber Show transcript 12/22/23 7:30am

Speaker Robin Vos and majority leader Devin LeMahieu are doing ‘end of the year’ interviews and are previewing some of the things they hope to get passed into law in 2024-

And from what I heard- rather than legalizing medical marijuana- I like what I hear.

In fact, if they can really put an income tax cut in place for Wisconsin retirees- I’ll be impressed that-after all these years- they’re finally looking at ways to keep more retired Wisconsinites-here-in Wisconsin.

Speaker Vos talked about this with the two big newspapers.

"We have far too many people that leave our state that become a resident of Florida, in Texas, Tennessee, you name the state, because it's cheaper," Vos said. "Look, we probably can't keep them because of the weather. But I do think this is an opportunity for us to keep them for six months and a day."

Vos said more details would be available in January. However, he estimated two middle-class people could expect to see a tax cut of around $1,000 to $2,000 under the plan

That would be a good idea. ..and you’d hope that even some reasonable democrats in both chambers would be willing to give their elderly residents that sort of break, after a lifetime of work and taxes.

And don’t think I’m just supporting this because I’m edging closer to retirement- 

Folks-back in 2010-when Scott Walker was elected governor and when the republicans took control of both houses of the legislature after a disastrous few year of Jim Doyle and the dems having total control-and ruining things and raising taxes-

I made a list with listeners. Some of you might remember this: you all came up with about 25 or 30 conservative reforms you wanted to see ‘get done’...

And in years ‘one’ and ‘two’ of the walker era, he and our lawmakers nearly got them all done.

Everything from conceal carry and castle law, to right to work and ending prevailing wage laws was on there.

It was a very aggressive list of reforms-and to our joy and surprise, Governor Walker and the Fitzgerald’s, along with Vos, got them nearly all done.

They were so successful at passing that list of reforms that-after year two or three-i stopped doing it. There wasn’t much else to put on it.

But one or two of the -very few things-that we WISN listeners wanted to see in the way of reforms-that they didn’t get done-

Were tax breaks for retirees to keep them here in Wisconsin -and/or -simply to give them a break after a lifetime of tax paying.

One of the ideas i loved-and still do: freeze the property taxes of retirees on their retirement house, until the sell it, or die while owning it. Then it gets reassessed, and the new owner gets a higher tax bill.

Other states do this. I always thought Wisconsin should.

And-this- 

Roughly this very idea- has been on our list: my god, stop taxing retirement income...or at least...greatly reduce the tax burn on it-to seniors.

I’m glad the republicans in Madison are looping back to it.

story credit: jsonline.com

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