Democrats are questioning the effectiveness of a bill offering tax breaks to businesses for creating jobs. The legislation approved in the Assembly Tuesday would offer a tax deduction of up to $4,000 for each job created by a business. However, Democratic state Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) says companies will see only a fraction of that money coming back.
Pocan pointed to statements from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which said federal and state taxes would result in businesses only seeing between $90 and $300 in actual cash returned to them.
Pocan, who owns a small business in Madison, says those types of benefits aren’t big enough to encourage job creation. He says most companies will only add jobs when it will be profitable. Under this plan, he says he would only make enough to buy a couple of toner cartridges.
State Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) agreed the bill is not the solution to all of the state’s problems. However, he says it’s just one part of Republican efforts to spark job creation and send a message to businesses that the state of Wisconsin is there to help.
Vos fired back at Democrats by saying the bill is not the type of job creation legislation they’re used to, because it doesn’t increase taxes on businesses or add new regulations.
The tax deductions are expected to cost the state $67 million, which Democrats say is a steep price to pay for something they argued will have no real effect on the job market.
The bill passed on a 60-33 vote and now heads to the Senate.
