Tom Tiffany’s Message to Wisconsin Businesses: Let’s Get Government Out of the Way

Wisconsin businesses do not need government to guarantee their success. They need the freedom to compete for it.

That idea runs through Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany’s economic agenda. His proposals would leave more decisions with the people earning, investing and taking risks, while reducing some of the costs government puts in their way.

Tiffany wants to cut state income taxes by 10% for families making less than $150,000, eliminate state income taxes on tips and overtime, and return Wisconsin’s state surplus to taxpayers. For many small business owners whose companies are taxed through their individual returns, lower income taxes can also mean more money available to save, hire or reinvest.

Another major component of Tiffany’s economic agenda is competition.

Wisconsin’s minimum markup law restricts how low businesses can price certain products. Tiffany argues that the law limits competition by restricting how businesses can price certain products, and he has called for its repeal.

Tiffany also wants to reduce regulatory barriers facing businesses before they open or expand.

Tiffany wants to reform occupational licensing requirements that can make entering a profession more expensive. He is calling for faster permitting for businesses trying to open or expand. His housing plan targets permitting delays and regulatory costs that can make building more expensive.

None of those changes guarantees that a new store will find customers or that an investment will pay off. Tiffany's argument is that these reforms would reduce barriers to entering and operating a business without guaranteeing the outcome of any individual venture.

Free enterprise does not guarantee entrepreneurs success. It gives them the opportunity to pursue it and leaves customers to decide who earns their business.

Tiffany’s agenda would move Wisconsin closer to that model: let taxpayers keep more of what they earn, let businesses compete on price, and make entrepreneurs spend less time asking government for permission.

Wisconsin job creators can take it from there.