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Page 74

Wisconsin

Tommy Thompson, Republican

Legislature: Divided

Took Office: 1/87

Grade: C

If the states are the nation's laboratories of democ-

racy, then Tommy Thompson is arguably America's leading sci-

entist.  Thompson's trailblazing reforms in welfare and edu-

cation and his supply-side tax cuts have been a lesson for

the rest of the nation.  His tough welfare reforms cut Aid

to Families with Dependent Children rolls by nearly half.

Thompson was the architect of the school choice program that

allows low-income parents in inner-city Milwaukee to send

their children to public or private schools--and was re-

cently upheld by the Supreme Court.

Wisconsin empowers its

governor with the most sweeping line-item veto authority,

and for the past 12 years Thompson has employed it prodi-

giously, with budget savings in the billions of dollars.

And he has cut the income tax three times.  That's the good

news.  The bad news is that Thompson's third term--and he is

now running for a fourth--has been much worse than his first

two.  His latest budgets have called for massive new spend-

ing for school aid, day care subsidies, corporate pork, and

transportation.  He infuriated conservatives in the state

legislature earlier this year by using his veto authority to

shrink a property tax relief bill passed by the Republican

legislature and to make it a one-time reduction rather than

a permanent tax cut.  Thompson called the legislature's

larger, permanent tax cut "shortsighted" and "imprudent."

His 1998 budget contained new taxes on cigarettes, gasoline,

and Internet sales.  Overall, Wisconsin is a far more pros-

perous state today than when Thompson began his reformist

crusade 12 years ago, but his recent record also confirms an

iron law of politics: the longer Republicans stay in office,

the more pro-tax and spend they become.

Score

Grade

Rank

Overall Fiscal Policy Score

45

C

29

Spending Score

43

C

30

Revenue and Tax Rate Score

47

C

29

Amount

1.2%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Direct General Spending through 1996

-0.1%

Average Annual Change in Direct General Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1996

0.0%

Average Annual Recommended Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Spending through 1999

1.5%

Average Annual Change in General Fund Spending Per $1,000 Personal Income 1996-98

1.4%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita Tax Revenue through 1997

-0.1%

Average Annual Change in Tax Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1997

-0.9%

Average Annual Recommended Change in General Fund Revenue Per $1,000 Personal Income through 1999

1.5%

Average Annual Change in Real Per Capita General Fund Revenue 1996-98

-0.6%

Average Annual Recommended Tax Changes as % of Prior Year's Spending through 1999

-1.03

Change in Top Personal Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

0.0

Change in Top Corporate Income Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

14.77

1998 Combined Top Income Tax Rates (Personal plus Corporate) (*0.5)

0.0

Change in Sales Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (% points)

7.9

Change in Gas Tax Rate, proposed and/or enacted (cents per gallon) (*0.5)