Assembly Democrats Modify Oil Tax in Cooperatives Favor
MADISON, Wis. (June 11, 2009) – Cooperatives fought hard to protect rural Wisconsin communities from Governor Doyle’s proposed oil franchise tax but lacked the votes to remove the tax altogether from the state budget. Instead, Assembly Democrats listened to many of the concerns expressed by cooperatives and adopted several measures that will preserve patronage paid by the cooperative system and will also help limit the negative impact felt by local cooperative members.
State Representative Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) offered several significant changes to Governor Doyle’s proposed oil tax to the Assembly Democratic Caucus last night. The revisions protect patronage paid by cooperatives to their members, reduce the tax rate adopted by the Joint Finance Committee, and also place a cap on the tax so that it will not increase significantly with an increase in the overall cost of fuel. At today’s gas prices, the Assembly’s proposal shaves off 2 cents per gallon from the governor’s original proposed tax and significantly more as the price of fuel increases.
“While we would have certainly preferred no new taxes at all, the Assembly Democrats worked hard to improve the governor’s original proposal,” said Bill Oemichen, president and CEO of Cooperative Network. “Since cooperatives return their profits back to their members, the Assembly Democratic Caucus actions protect co-op patronage payments and significantly reduce the potential tax impact on consumers as compared to the governor’s proposal and the budget as recommended by the Joint Finance Committee.”
The changes approved by the Assembly Democrats must be passed by the full State Assembly before consideration by the State Senate. |
