Tuesday, February 9, 2016

WI legislature sticks it to the general public again

Wisconsin's GOP state legislative corporate servants   - - not content with throwing an end-of-session special-interest land and water buffet that lets out-of-state private-sector companies buy municipal water and sewer utilities, and allows developers to build on more wetlands and shorelines and publicly-owned dry lake beds - - have found yet another way to give public resources to their benefactors.

This downright Orwellian giveaway allows property owners to keep more of their land closed to the public after opening the so called managed forest land to hiking or hunting that produced the justification for the tax break in the first place.

So first the land was opened for public access, hence the tax break. Quid pro quo.

Now the land and even more-acres-per-property-owner can be closed.

Now you see the access - - now you don't - - hocus-pocus - - but you still are in line to make up the tax collection shortfall, Bucky. You sap.

Noted here last week.

The supposed bit of balance and 'fairness' in the measure racing to final approval today is that there is some reduction in the per-acre tax break the owners receive, but they still get a nice subsidy while keeping people off the land which was supposed to be open for their enjoyment.

Side note:

The effort likely to get final Legislative approval in the State Senate today is led by some of the same legislators who pushed through the sweetheart open-pit iron mining bill a couple of years ago that would have cratered and spoiled the Penokee Hills' Bad River watershed and then tried to close off some these bordering, state-subsidized so-called 'managed forest lands' nearby while various mining tests and surveys were conducted.

On, Wisconsin?

1 comment:

  1. There is one nearly immediate way for all of us to send the message to Walker and his Republican legislators that we have had it with their continuous attacks on the environment and their handouts of legislative favoritism to big money donors. On February 16th the Supreme Court PRIMARY WILL REDUCE THE FIELD FROM 3 CANDIDATES TO 2Walker and his Republican legislators are putting up nearly $900,000 in dark money to try and buy Walker's appointee Rebecca Bradley a 10 year term. There is no stronger message that can be sent than to soundly defeat Bradley by voting for the other candidates; Donald and Kloppenburg and ending Walker's continued attempt to stack the Supreme Court even more in his favor. If she is soundly defeated after being backed by Walker's Republican dark money it will show in dramatic terms that the people of Wisconsin are done with the governance these power drunk politicians have foisted upon us!

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