Bikies,
My wish list of vetoes I sent to the governor. Some are not
relevant to this list.
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7/23/03
Dear Governor,
Please veto the following items from the budget passed by the state
legislature.
1. Veto the expansion of School Choice in Milwaukee County. This program
has not been shown to improve test scores and does not have to follow the
same rules that public schools do. At a minimum schools receiving vouchers
should have to meet the same standards and have the same oversight as
public schools.
2. Veto the elimination of Surface Transportation Program-Discretionary
Funding (STP-D) from the state budget. Because Wisconsin does not use all
of the federal funding it receives as Transportation Enhancements (the
category of funds typically used to build bicycle/pedestrian paths and bike
lanes in many states) some bicycle/pedestrian facilities are built in WI
with STP-D. If STP-D goes away so will many bike/pedestrian paths. Even
paths that have already received approval for federal funds may be backed
up in the building schedule, or canceled all together. This would be a
tragedy, and would truly affect the quality of bicycling and walking in
Wisconsin in a negative way as well as our national ranking as a
bike-friendly state. Bicycling and walking improves the health of
individuals through exercise and the health of communities by decreasing
congestion and air pollution. In addition, bicycling stimulates the
economy by promoting tourism, bicycle manufacturing and retailing, and
business development. It is no coincidence that communities considered to
be highly livable and desirable places to live are also very bike and
pedestrian friendly, or that high technology businesses prefer to locate in
such communities. Bicycle and pedestrian accommodations truly improve our
communities compared to other big transportation projects and they do it
for pennies on the dollar compared to these big transportation projects.
Please take the long term view and veto the elimination of STP-D funding.
3. Veto the single factor income tax for businesses until it can be made
revenue neutral by eliminating the loophole that allows businesses
headquartered in another state to avoid paying state income taxes. It is
true that Wisconsin is a high tax state for INDIVIDUALS but not for
businesses. We need tax fairness, not tax giveaways. We simply can't
afford the $45 million this tax break would cost the state treasury without
closing other loopholes to compensate for the loss.
4. Veto the property tax freeze. Local units of government have been
under state spending restraints for years while still being required to
carry out state and federal unfunded mandates. The problem has been state
spending. Local units of government have been, by in large, frugal If
local control means anything, then this measure must be vetoed.
Mark Shahan, Ph.D.
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Mark N. Shahan ------ __o
607 Piper Drive ------- _`\<,_
Madison, WI 53711-1338 ---- (*)/ (*)
(608) 274-9367
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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