(The Center Square) – Wisconsin ranks better than half the country in a new freedom audit.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Thursday released the new report. It looks at everything from school choice, to the burden of state-based regulations, to Wisconsin’s pension system.
“In Wisconsin, the government’s financial management is above average in many ways: the state’s pension is the nation’s most securely funded, while the state government ran a surplus in FY 2022. On the other hand, there is less freedom in the share of spending decisions that the government makes: in spite of local levy limits, property tax growth and relatively high tax rates persist. As a percentage of owner-occupied housing value, Wisconsinites pay the eighth-highest percentage of property taxes in the nation,” the report states.
WILL’s Noah Diekemper and Adam Hoffer wrote the report.
“Altogether, relative to other U.S. states, Wisconsin’s freedom rankings have generally been on the upswing, but still have plenty of room for improvement. There are also some vital areas where citizens need to be alert, since Wisconsin risks slipping on measures of freedom in ways that are prohibitively difficult to recover from,” they wrote.
Wisconsin ranks 26th for its fiscal freedoms, and 21st for both regulatory freedoms and personal freedoms.
“Fiscal freedoms involve voluntary exchange, open markets, and well-enforced property rights. Fiscal freedom is diminished by taxation and government spending. Every dollar paid in tax is one less for an individual to allocate as he or she wishes. Every dollar spent by the government displaces the consumption, saving, and charitable decisions of individuals. Fiscal freedoms are assessed by considering the degree to which the government taxes people to spend on goods and services itself,” the report states. “Regulatory freedom generally measures the extent to which the government makes rules over minutia that interfere with people’s abilities to live their lives and, especially, do their jobs. [And] personal freedom encompasses the other respects in which the government makes people less free to live their lives.”
WILL’s report says Wisconsin has a number of freedom successes, including for education freedom and parental choice, the nation’s best-funded public pension system, a smooth regulatory framework for campaign speech and campaign finances, and a best-in-the nation freedom ranking for buying beer.
“Wisconsin citizens can walk into a Kwik Trip – or many other convenience stores, grocery stores, and gas stations – and purchase alcohol. And they may even do so on a Sunday,” the report notes.
But the report adds that Wisconsin can do better,
Diekemper and Hoff suggest Wisconsin lawmakers look to Florida for more freedoms.
“Florida residents enjoy the most fiscal freedom, according to the Ruger and Sorens ranking. Florida is one of the nine states with no income tax and its levels of government consumption, government employment, and local taxation are all low,” the two wrote. “To move towards Florida’s level would require Wisconsin to do the following: Reduce its public consumption and investment as a fraction of total private income from 10.9% to 8.6%. Abolish or flatten the state income tax. Reduce tax rates of local governments. Reduce government workforce as a percentage of private workforce from 10% to 9%.”
