53rd Assembly District

Includes most of the rural portions of Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties, including Omro, Rosendale, Oakfield and portions of Oshkosh and Waupun

 Jeff Mann - Democrat

Dick Spanbauer - Republican

Question 1: Economic development professional have long identified regulatory burdens as one of the challenges to attracting and retaining businesses in Wisconsin. In just the past few years, several thousand paper and other manufacturing jobs have left northeast Wisconsin for other states and other countries. What can the legislature do to make Wisconsin a more attractive place to do business, create jobs, and generate tax revenue for local government?

Mann: One thing the legislature can do is promote Wisconsin products. Partnerships between Wisconsin retailers and business can be formed where businesses agree to buy and sell Wisconsin products.  In exchange, favorable tax rates or tax breaks could be extended to businesses that agree to enter into such agreements.  Furthermore, a marketing campaign could be utilized to promote this idea.  Emblems could be stamped on products identifying them as being Wisconsin made.  Furthermore, the businesses themselves could create advertisements and displays letting consumers know that Wisconsin products are sold at that location and that buying at that store, in effect, supports the local economy.

Wisconsin could also create many new jobs, in addition to spearheading the charge to convert to more cleaner, renewable sources of energy, by actively seeking to employ wind, solar, methane and ethanol as viable alternatives to oil.  Turbines could be manufactured and assembled in this state, Wisconsin-grown corn and soybeans could be processed for bio-fuels that could be sold locally, and animal waste from local farms could be converted into methane at Wisconsin conversion plants.

Spanbauer: Securing permits and licenses for businesses was a large problem for many companies over the years working with the state, because of the hassle over red tape and poor handling of paperwork, regulations, restrictions and the like! In the last couple of years, this has improved somewhat because of time limits that have been set on issuing permits, thanks to new legislation. I believe we still need to stay on top of looking to streamline our system of making permits and licenses more available and less complicated.

We need to do more on advertising for more new businesses! Ever see a commercial recently with a movie actor promoting his state to do business in Michigan, Alabama, Minnesota and Georgia?

We can interest companies that want to come into Wisconsin, by offering tax credits and incentives. Examples are: tax rate reductions the first years in business, breaks on water and sewer hookups, building costs and etc. These of course would be dependent on the types of businesses, and the number of employees they would need to employ.

 Remember, when new employees are being added to payrolls they are paying taxes, which could help offset the tax breaks or other incentives given these new businesses.

Question 2: More than ever before, local government officials are facing the dilemma of cutting jobs and services while still remaining under revenue caps. In recent years, state legislators have proposed various local government spending and taxing measures intended to hold down property taxes, including both the so-called Taxpayers Bill of Rights and the Taxpayer Protection Amendment. As this crisis continues to become problematic, how should the legislature address local government taxing initiatives?

Mann: I believe that local government is best equipped to handle local matters, not a central government (i.e. Madison) which ties the hands of municipalities with proposals such as TABOR and implementing levy limits.  I believe the state government would be better off concentrating on state matters such as balancing the budget through sensible, controlled spending and leaving local matters to the local governments.

Spanbauer: I’m not really a big supporter of T.P.A.or T.A.B.O.R. as they are referred to, not because I would’nt want to watch  spending; and cutting taxes but because I think they could hurt municipalities that are growing as well as the businesses that are in them. These spending formula’s usually have stop gaps by which you cannot exceed a percentage of growth, and if you want to exceed them; you are forced to go to a referendum. What do you think the chances of raising new spending through a referendum being passed by the people? Again, I am not for raising taxes; but it is easy to see stagnation potentially happening among the municipalities affected!

Besides that, I don’t like a legislator living outside the affected area; telling another community this is what I think is best for your town! If the people living in a community don’t like the way a governmental body is performing then they have the right to vote these people out of office! However this should be left up to the people in that community, not Madison!

Question 3: In recent years, statewide health care initiatives such as Healthy Wisconsin have expanded the debate about the role government should take toward insuring and taking care of the health of our residents. What role do you believe the legislature has in making health care more affordable and accessible to Wisconsin residents?

Mann: I believe that all legal citizens have a right to quality health care. As such, I believe that the government must play an active role ensuring that health care is readily available, particularly to the 40+ million who currently go uninsured in this nation.  I further believe that one major reason why health care costs are as high as they are is because many of these same uninsured are using the emergency room as their primary care physician, with the end result being higher co-pays, premiums and deductibles for everyone.  I support initiatives such as Healthy Wisconsin and believe that this is the direction the state should take.

Spanbauer: This a little difficult to answer, because you don’t want to see people go without insurance! However, I would like to see people that are not afraid to take a job, even if it’s a low paying job get help on getting insurance. And then those of course, through no fault of there own are without insurance. But I would like to see employers get tax credits If they are willing to hire more workers. We do have badger and senior care besides. I really don’t think that the ones who want universal care understand the huge tax impact it could have on all of us, including the businesses who supply the jobs!

Question 4: Wisconsin and the nation as a whole are on the front end of an energy crisis prompted by high fuel prices and a number of aged and outdated energy generation and petroleum processing facilities operating near capacity. What can the legislature do to further promote energy efficiency and to encourage additional, cleaner energy production?

Mann: The legislature can create incentives in the forms of tax breaks and subsidies to encourage Wisconsin communities to begin exploring cleaner, more efficient sources of energy.  As I indicated in a previous response, taking such action will not only prove safer and cleaner for Wisconsin in the long run, but may also be a solution to re-energizing and creating long-term stability in the workforce. In particular, given Wisconsin’s agricultural makeup, I’d like to see much more consideration given to the production of ethanol and methane.  I’m also willing to at least explore the advantages nuclear-based options have to offer and believe the legislature should do the same.

Spanbauer: I believe, we have a large responsibility in this country, to not only quickly update our capabilities for refining petroleum into gas, but to pursue other energy resources as well! Such as wind, solar, natural gas, bio-fuels, battery operated, and nuclear power [but a clean burn off if we use coal]. I would be in favor of more offshore drilling as well. In any case, let’s get off our foreign dependence of oil from people that want to destroy us!!