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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Tom Tiffany, republican candidate for governor, was asked if he would favor a California-style billionaire’s tax. California voters are being asked to approve a one time tax on billionaires. It would raise an estimated $20-billion. The state would give it to illegal immigrants to pay for their medi-Cal health insurance, which the federal government refuses to cover. And there are still legal challenges to see if the question will go before the voters, and whether collecting the tax will be allowed.
Before we get to Tom Tiffany’s answer, here’s a more fundamental question. How many billionaires are there in Wisconsin? The answer: 7. They are: Dianne Henricks, founder of ABC Supply Company, $27-billion; John Menard, $11-billion; Judy Falkner, founder a health care technology company, $9-billion; James Cargill, $5-billion; and three heirs to the SC Johnson fortune, $4-billion each.
Imagine for a moment we confiscated all of their wealth – took it all away. The 7 billionaires in Wisconsin would fund the state for one year. Then our state’s finances would be right back to where we are today, no better, no worse. You and I could take a one-year tax holiday. That’s it. You see our state spends $111-billion in each two-year budget cycle. State spending is much, much more than the largest piles of private wealth in Wisconsin.
Tom Tiffany’s answer: he’s opposed to taxing Wisconsin’s 7 billionaires. They, of course, already pay much much more in taxes than you and I on the income that their wealth generates. And they, of course, could always move. If they pack up for a ranch in Texas or an oceanfront estate in Florida, we would get none of their tax money. And why wouldn’t they? A billionaire has the means to live anywhere they wish. And in income-tax free states like Texas and Florida, they’d keep all of their money. If we force them out, Wisconsin gets nothing.
Chris Conley
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