State Debate: Reform the sales tax system
A 7/17 roundup of editorials from state papers
Reform the sales tax system, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The state Supreme Court's ruling in the Menasha case highlights the need to update the sales tax codes -- and to take politics out of judicial races.
At its heart, the state's case against Menasha Corp. always was about fairness. Did Menasha owe sales tax on its software, or was this non-taxable custom software -- more of a service than a product -- because it required extensive modification?
A divided state Supreme Court ruled it was custom software in a 4-3 decision that will cause a major hit to Wisconsin's treasury -- about $265 million.
The state should follow the lead of Revenue Secretary Roger Ervin, who plans to make recommendations to Gov. Jim Doyle to update the sales tax code. The rules at the heart of this case were written in 1987. And the Legislature should reconsider whether it still makes sense to exempt software of any kind from the sales tax.
The Legislature also should take steps to insulate the court from politics. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business lobby, paid for a friend of the court brief on behalf of Menasha. WMC is the same group that invested $2 million to help elect Justice Annette Ziegler, who wrote the majority opinion.
In fairness to her, we doubt she would have ruled differently had WMC not been involved. But there is a way to avoid the question: public funding of Supreme Court races. Otherwise, the credibility of the state's highest court will continue to be at risk.
The people can handle the truth, says the Beloit Daily News.
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices deserve praise for making the right decisions on behalf of the people in two recent rulings. One involved the community economic development organization in Beaver Dam, which was accused in a citizens' lawsuit of excessive secrecy in negotiations to bring a Wal-Mart distribution center to town. The other involved the Whitnall School District's refusal to divulge information that resulted in an employee's contract not being renewed.
In each case, the court ruled against government secrecy.
Officials must understand it's not their information, it's the public's information. Timely release of details can avoid ugly situations.
Unfortunately, not all elected and appointed decision-makers get it. Too many, once in power, fall in love with secrets. They forget who put them there, and why.
The people can handle the truth. Officials who keep that foremost in mind will do just fine.
Newcomers learned English, notes the La Crosse Tribune.
During a time when some national media and the Internet beat a relentless anti-immigrant drumbeat, there was quiet good news in La Crosse schools recently.
All but one of the "newcomer centers," established four years ago to help 80 to 120 new students who were coming to La Crosse from a refugee camp in Thailand, were closed. They no longer were needed. The centers were designed to acclimate the students to learning the language and culture of life in the United States.
We think it noteworthy to point this out because of the outcry against illegal immigration.
The fact that the school district is cutting back its extra effort to teach English to new arrivals means that the system is working -- and the newcomers have learned the language.
