Representatives have been appointed to committees. I will be serving on: Consumer Affairs, Corrections and the Courts, Education, and Labor and Employment. Having served all of three weeks so far in the legislature, there is really not much to report to you about specific legislation affecting us. I do anticipate several key issues to be raised during this session.
Tax Fairness: Our burden is too high. And we must provide tax relief that is fair and wont "break the bank" By focusing on property tax relief, we can make sure that the relief goes to the people who need it most: working families.Education: There is a lot of talk about quality education but little action. Reducing class size is a priority because it gets results. A modest investment now in expansion of the successful Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) Program will go a long way in the future.
Health Care: We must take action this year to level the playing field between patients and HMO's. We can do this by creating a route for an independent appeals of HMO treatment decisions and opening the State insurance pool to small businesses.
Protecting Individual Privacy: 'Identity Theft' is the new crime of the information Age, and not enough is being done to stop it. The Democrats are introducing sensible legislation that would require those who deal with sensitive personal information to shred it before they throw it away. It also restricts what information can be shared between corporations such as insurance companies and department stores.
Wisconsin Income Equity Act: I have drafted legislation that addresses the issue of income fairness. Under current law, compensation paid to a company's officers and employees can be deducted from its income tax. A corporation may take up to a $1,000,000 deduction for compensation paid to executive officers and this is where WIEA comes in. It recognizes that people on the factory floor are as important to the company as those who work in the corporate suite. WIEA changes the $1 million CEO deduction cap to 25 times the company's lowest paid full-time employee. So, if the lowest paid employee makes $20,000, the corporation would be able to deduct $500,000 of CEO income. Increases in corporate deductions are now tied to increase in the wage scale. Senator Fred Risser is the lead Senate sponsor of this Bill.
I invite each of you to contact my office with any questions or concerns that you may have on these or any other issues of interest. I can be reached at 266-8570 or e-mail at [email protected] - State Representative Mark Pocan
Back to the March/April Table of Contents