GOOD:
The Assembly signed off on a bill that would require the state to obtain a conviction before police could keep and then sell property taken from those accused of a crime.
The bill, which the chamber approved on a voice vote vote, also would require a court to find the property seized is proportional to the crime committed. It now heads to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk after clearing the Senate on Tuesday.
and…
A bill that would make experimental drugs available to eligible patients passed the Assembly on a voice vote.
The so-called “right to try” bill has been passed in more than 35 states. President Trump in his State of the Union speech last month also called on Congress to pass a federal version of the bill.
Those are headed to Governor Walker’s desk.
BAD:
The state Assembly has passed a bill to bolster northeast Wisconsin’s reeling paper industry by giving paper-maker Kimberly-Clark a lucrative tax-incentive deal modeled on one given last year to electronics maker Foxconn.
The Assembly passed the bill Thursday night, 56-37, largely on party lines. It now heads to the state Senate.
Gov. Scott Walker announced the plan earlier this month, aimed at halting the planned closure of two Kimberly-Clark factories in Neenah and Fox Crossing. The Dallas-based corporation last month announced the closures, expected to cause the loss of 600 jobs in the region, as part of a global restructuring.
We shouldn’t use tax dollars to fight economic trends and prop up industries on the losing end of those trends. We should allow the creative destruction of the free market to work.
And…
Wisconsin parents would get $100 for each child they have under a bill passed Thursday by the state Assembly.
The legislation also creates a sales tax holiday during the first weekend of August for purchases under $100. Both the tax credit and the tax holiday would be one-time events.
So all Wisconsin taxpayers contributed to the projected budget surplus, but they are going to give it back to a select few – even if they didn’t pay any state taxes. This is election year political handouts at the taxpayers’ expense. Governor Walker and the Republicans who voted for this should be ashamed of themselves.
Let’s hope the Senate kills these last two bills.
“Shame”?
Egads, Owen, that’s SO 18th Century…..
Ah, but will they ever find the courage to get rid of Minimum Markup. Nah. Still, it’s about time on the Asset Forfeiture abomination.
Shame? You’re still voting for them, right?