Reps in the News: Walkers Boasts Elimination of State Property Tax

Governor Scott Walker

The 2017-19 state budget eliminates the state property tax levy. As a result of this and other property tax reform, property taxes on the typical home will be lower in 2018 than in 2010, and Wisconsin’s property tax burden as a percentage of personal income is at its lowest level since the end of World War II. “For the first time since 1931, the people of Wisconsin will pay $0 for the state portion of their property taxes,” said Gov. Walker. “We believe you know how to spend your own hard-earned money much better than the government does, so we’ve removed the state property tax for all the families, senior citizens, hardworking taxpayers, farmers and business owners of Wisconsin to give them more control over their finances and help grow our economy.”

Source:  Walker press release

Congressman Mike Gallagher

Rep. Gallagher and a group of 17 House lawmakers launched the first-of-its kind, bipartisan Congressional Reformers Caucus. The founding members have pledged to work across the aisle to restore trust in democratic institutions. The caucus will focus on promoting transparency and disclosure, increasing participation in elections, reducing pay-to-play, strengthening enforcement of existing laws, and improving government integrity and accountability. “A key takeaway from my first year in Congress is that the problems we face as a nation do not need any more Washington D.C. solutions, they need some Wisconsin common sense,” Gallagher said. “Calling for reforms might not make me popular with my colleagues, but I didn’t run for Congress to be popular – I ran to fix problems and that’s why I’m proud to launch the Congressional Reformers Caucus. Only by working together in a transparent manner will we renew the American people’s flagging trust in government.” Since taking office last January, Rep. Gallagher has made decreasing the size and influence of the federal government and restoring power back to the American people a top priority.

Source:  Gallagher press release

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Sen. Baldwin helped introduce new, bipartisan legislation that would overhaul the current process that victims of harassment and discrimination in Congress must go through when reporting a claim. The bipartisan Congressional Harassment Reform Act, led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), would bring transparency and accountability to the current process by extending protections to interns and fellows, eliminating forced mediation, ending the current required secrecy in the process by allowing victims to speak publicly about their case, requiring Members of Congress found personally liable for harassment to pay settlements out of their own pockets, and improving systems to address harassment and discrimination in Congress.

“We need to make major changes here in Congress and get our house in order. The current process for victims of sexual harassment or discrimination on Capitol Hill is difficult to navigate and lacks transparency,” Baldwin said. “This needs to change and Senator Gillibrand’s bipartisan legislation will reform the current process so it works better for victims and provides more transparency to the public.”

Source:  Baldwin press release

Senator Ron Johnson

He was a no vote on Donald Trump’s tax plan. Now, however, Sen. Johnson is a solid yes. He says he’s all in on a tax cut plan in Washington.

“In the end, I’m going to be absolutely voting for this,” Sen. Johnson said. “Happy to do so but then also recognizing that it doesn’t fix all our problems. Completely monitor it and try and address those problems moving forward.”

Johnson said the plan has the necessary tax cut ingredients for economic growth.

“If you’re going to make American businesses competitive, you’re going to have to reduce the top corporate rate and the top individual rate,” Johnson said.

Johnson says he’s not worried about projected deficits under the plan.

“So economic growth is the way you close the deficits, the way you gather and get more revenue to the federal government,” Johnson said.

Most middle class taxpayers are expected to receive some sort of tax cut under the bill, though those cuts may turn into higher tax bills when the cuts expire in several years.

Source:  1410wizm.com

President Donald Trump

A far-right organization that had videos retweeted by President Donald Trump has had its Twitter accounts suspended. Trump caused controversy in November after he retweeted anti-Muslim videos originally posted on Twitter by the organization, Britain First. The U.S. leader was criticized by the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May who said he was wrong to retweet the posts. In a blog post published Monday, Twitter said it was to enforce new rules about hateful conduct and abusive behavior. The social media company said the new rules have taken immediate effect. The post stated that company policy against abusive behavior had been widened to help prohibit “promoting violence against or directly attacking or threatening other people on the basis of their group characteristics.”

Source:  cnbc.com