Kettl: Unravel myths of state politics
10:09 AM 5/17/04
Donald Kettl

Nobody loves legends more than the people of Wisconsin. But the state has some whoppers that are getting in the way of sensible thinking about where we're going. Consider these: <

Wisconsin is a high-tax state. Well, Wisconsin is a high-tax state. In the most recent Tax Foundation survey, Wisconsin's state and local tax burden Kettlranked sixth in the nation. Those numbers are driving the Legislature's debate on creating a "taxpayer bill of rights" to limit the growth of taxes. <

But these numbers don't tell the real story. In most states, citizens face a bewildering number of high governmental fees, from state and county mega-fees to register a car to extra charges to have garbage hauled away. Wisconsin long ago thought it was doing its citizens a favor by paying for these services through taxes instead of fees. In fact, the state's tax system is a fairer way of covering these costs than flat-rate fees, which hit everyone the same regardless of how much they make. <

What happens if we look at the whole cost of doing the government's work? The money Wisconsin's governments take out of citizens' pockets is close to average, 19th in the nation. <

Who wouldn't want their taxes cut? But the myth of sky-high taxes shouldn't drive this debate. <

Government spending in Wisconsin is out of control. This legend isn't founded on facts either. Again, Wisconsin is pretty close to average, ranked 18th in the nation in state and local government spending as a share of personal income. <

In fact, during the 1990s, Wisconsin's state and local spending grew just a bit faster than the national average. As my colleague Andrew Reschovsky had found, Wisconsin spent a lot more than most states on corrections and highways, and a lot less on welfare and higher education. On the biggest government spending item, elementary and secondary education, Wisconsin's growth rate is about average. <

Maybe we might want to spend more on some things or less on others. But there's no evidence here that spending is out of control. Freezing it into place will only ensure that we won't have the real debate we need about how best to spend our money. <

Wisconsin is a bad place to do business. Tell that to Forbes magazine, which just rated Madison the best place in the nation to launch a business or a career. <

Taxes mattered in the survey, but the city ranked in the middle on the cost of doing business. The most important factor was the education of the city's workers, where Madison excels. The theme of the Forbes article: If you teach them, jobs will come. High-wage, high-growth companies gravitate to a skilled work force. <

Somehow Wisconsin's economic-growth debate got sidetracked by the high-tax myth. In waging war against government spending, this national survey suggests, we're fighting the wrong battle in the campaign for more and better jobs. <

These myths have so blinded state policy makers that we're searching for solutions in all the wrong places. Suppose we wanted to talk about what really matters. <

We'd realize that how we raise our money matters much more than our tax rankings. We pride ourselves on being progressive. But the hot debate in state houses around the country right now is modernizing tax systems for the 21st century, a discussion we simply are not having. <

We'd realize that we need to focus our spending on what produces results: better jobs and a higher quality of life. And we'd realize that the key to better jobs is better education. We'll never get there by battling over funding formulas for K-12 education and disinvesting in the university and technical college system. <

One candidate for a state Senate seat proudly proclaims, "My job in getting elected to office is to eventually put myself out of a job." That approach is the surest way to make sure we remain caught in the myths instead of getting the leadership we need. <

And as long as myths drive our statewide debate, we'll never get where we want to go. <

Kettl is a UW-Madison political science professor who writes monthly on Wisconsin politics.