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IWF Staff
after the fire in their office building. |
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IWF is Moving!
In an unexpected turn of events, there was a
serious fire in the building where the Institute for Wisconsin's
Future and WAES are located on Friday, January 25. No one
was hurt. Our hard drives are safe and the insurance company
will cover the cost of replacing our computers and reprinting
our reports. So, aside from time, soot and a few smoky days
of carrying boxes out of the building, things are okay. We
are looking for new office sites so if you hear of anything
places for rent with room for seven people and their equipment,
please let us know. In the meantime, we are each working from
our respective houses. You can reach each of us by email or
leave a message on the voice mail.
Stay warm — but not too warm.
State Bill Would Shine Light on Corporate
Tax Secrets
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Sen.
Dave Hansen(D-Green Bay) speaking while
Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) looks on. |
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Backed by a lineup of state legislators and elected leaders
from cities, counties and school districts, Senator Dave
Hansen (D-Green Bay) introduced the Corporate
Tax Accountability Act
on Dec. 19 at the State Capitol.
Citing a report Wisconsin's
Revenue Gap: An analysis of corporate tax avoidance,
by the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, which showed
Wisconsin losing $643 million in 2006 through corporate
tax loopholes, Hansen called for an end to the tax secrecy
that allows such massive corporate leakage. “This
bill does not raise taxes,” Hansen stressed. “But
it gives all Wisconsin citizens the ability to engage in
a well-informed discussion about Wisconsin’s tax code
and who is, and isn’t, paying their fair share.”
Message delivered to Legislature:
Change the school-funding system
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Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts,
Middleton, and Sen. Roger Breske, Eland,
testified before a packed house, Nov. 15,
on Senate Joint Resolution 27. The proposal
demands that the Legislature change the
way Wisconsin funds its public schools by
July 1, 2009. |
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Partners in WAES and their friends from around the state
delivered an important message to legislators, Nov. 15 –
in the strongest way possible: Wisconsin’s school-funding
system is broken, it needs to be thrown out, and the Legislature
needs to come up with a better plan by July 1, 2009.
The audience for over six hours of testimony was the Senate
Education Committee and the point of the message was support
for
Senate Joint Resolution 27. Committee chair Sen.
John Lehman, Racine, said he expects the resolution to clear
both his committee and the Senate. It’s fate in the
Assembly is uncertain and no committee hearing has been scheduled.
SJR 27, and its Assembly companion AJR35, were authored by
Sen. Roger Breske, Eland, and Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, Middleton.
Their view of the day’s hearing is available on
the
Wheeler Report.
Click here for more
information, pictures, and testimony from the WAES panel of
testifiers.
Read additional coverage from:
Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel
Wisconsin
State Journal
WISC-TV,
Madison
Wisconsin
Radio Network
Waukesha
Freeman
Wisconsin
Public Radio
The entire hearing can be seen on Wisconsin
Eye, the state’s new C-span like network.
Read editorial comments from Ashland
Daily Press,
Wisconsin
State Journal,
and Spooner
Advocate.
Find
out what you can do to help.
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WAES needs your support now more than ever before
The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools
(WAES) is now an independent, non-profit organization.
Other than its tax status and its dues-paying
membership base, nothing has changed—WAES
is still one of the leaders in the school-funding
reform effort.
Now more than ever, WAES needs your support to
make sure reform becomes a reality as soon as
possible. As more and more school districts move
to the brink of fiscal and educational crisis,
the coalition’s work is more important than
ever.
You can help by joining WAES today. Click on
the link to a Membership
Statement that helps individuals
to join. To get the dues structure for groups
and organizations—or for more information—contact
Tom Beebe at 920-650-0525 or tbeebe@wisconsinsfuture.org
School-funding reform means increasing resources
Wisconsin’s school-funding system falls
well short of providing the resources needed to
guarantee all children have the opportunity to
achieve the state’s high academic standards.
The
Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF)
has taken the lead in questioning the adequate
funding of our public schools and the fairness
of our tax system. “Broken
Partnerships” is a report explaining
how the business sector underpays taxes by over
$1.3 billion.
For more information go to the IWF website at
http://www.wisconsinsfuture.org
Play State Journal’s
school-funding game
Is this you: You know there is a school-funding
problem, but you are not sure how it is hurting
your kids and their schools?
If it is, you
need to play “Squeezing Schools,”
the online school-funding game from the Wisconsin
State Journal.
You will learn how to cut programs and services,
lay off staff, tinker with bus routes, negotiate
new health insurance with staff, go to referendum,
trim extra-curriculars and electives, and close
schools — all to fit under state-imposed
mandates and revenue caps.
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