An end to tax breaks for companies that close or move out of state

Some things should just be obvious. But they rarely are when it comes to politics. Things make sense to our elected officials, but not always to us. For example, in Wisconsin current state law rewards companies when they eliminate jobs or move them out of state. That’s right. That’s what the law says. As a result, Wisconsin companies are able to claim tax breaks even when they move their company out of state and eliminate jobs here. You can’t blame the companies for claiming tax deductions for which they are legally eligible. But it is costing taxpayers dearly. And of course, it makes no sense, except somehow to the politicians who wrote the law. And those who refused to overturn it. But finally, some progress, and common sense in Madison. State Senator Janet Bewley has introduced legislation that would eliminate tax breaks for companies that pack up and leave our borders. Now, eight years after first introducing similar legislation, the bill has passed the State Senate. Now it goes to the Assembly for a vote, where we would like to think it would pass. But in politics nothing is certain, and what seems obvious to us, doesn’t always seem so to those who make our laws.