Analysis

Tax cuts working for Iowa; Wisconsin left standing still

By Mark Lisheron

Taxpayers in Iowa had themselves another pretty darned good year.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, somewhat quietly announced late last week the state government finished its fiscal year business with a surplus of $1.83 billion. It’s the third consecutive fiscal year with a surplus.

With $902 million in reserve funds and $2.74 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund, Reynolds projected that next year the Iowa corporate tax rate will slip from 8.4% to 7.1% — significantly lower than Wisconsin’s 7.9%.

Wisconsin’s top individual income tax rate, meanwhile, remains at 7.65% after Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican tax cut — already far higher than Iowa’s plummeting individual rate.

News

Protesters at Madison black conservatives event expose selves and progressive desperation

By Michael Jahr

A discussion on black conservativism that took place on the UW-Madison campus and was broadcast live on Zoom Saturday was interrupted by what appeared to be a coordinated protest when someone hacked into the online portion, insulted speakers with vulgar language and was joined by a handful of others who exposed themselves onscreen nude or masturbating.

They did not show their faces.

I was attending the on-campus discussion of “Black Conservatism: The Past, Present, and Future” when the incident occurred. Hosted by the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy, both the live and online portions of the event were projected onto a large screen behind the panel in an auditorium in the Fluno Center. Attendees, including an eight-year-old girl, were subjected to the language and images.

Some attendees responded in horror while others laughed derisively.

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By the Numbers: Staffing at UW-Oshkosh

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh plans to cut about 200 staff and administrators as it deals with an $18 million deficit in its budget. Some staff and students protested the cuts this week.

The underlying numbers:

Enrollment

10,054 in 2003. 9,042 in 2022.

Nonteaching professional staff

317 in 2003. 349 in 2022.

Teaching staff  

583 in 2003. 595 in 2022.

Administrative leaders

64 in 2003. 122 in 2022.

• Staffing is by headcount. Enrollment is by full-time equivalents.

• 2011 data are missing; UW System accountability dashboard blames incomplete data.

• 2018 was the merger of two-year UW centers in Fond du Lac and Menasha with UW-Oshkosh. Figures before then do not include the two outlying campuses. Figures after then include them.

Answering Evers

Badger Events

Last Call for Tickets!

Join us Thursday, October 12 for the Badger Institute Annual Dinner. Rep. Mike Gallagher will deliver keynote remarks on democracy, freedom and the threat of the Chinese Communist Party.

• Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts | Brookfield, WI

• 5:00 p.m. VIP cocktail reception with buffet-style dinner

• 5:30 p.m. general admission cocktail reception with buffet-style dinner

• 6:30 p.m. presentation and keynote remarks

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