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“Whether or not there are restrictions, it’s still impacting a lot of communities, especially marginalized communities that are already behind in keeping up with a pandemic.”Īn analysis by the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, which was put together by professors at the Medical College of Wisconsin, shows that most homicides are occurring in neighborhoods where violent crime has traditionally been highest. “I think COVID is still impacting people’s lives and because of that it’s definitely still impacting something like violence,” says Theodore Scott Lentz, a criminal justice and criminology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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The FBI reported a nearly 30% nationwide jump in homicides between 2019 and 202. Like the rest of the country, Milwaukee was right in the mix of cities that saw a significant increase in shootings and homicides during the pandemic, and experts believe the effects of the pandemic continue today. The next year there were 190 and in 2021 there were 193. In 2019, there were 98 homicides in the city. Gun violence has remained consistently high in Milwaukee since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. "I just know that you have to structurally reduce your spend first, and then we can talk about how we do this going forward,” Nicholson said then.While community leaders and experts say that poverty, increased community tensions, and other common factors are driving the surge in violence, police and some community leaders on the ground are also pointing the finger at Wisconsin’s constitution, which restricts judges from increasing cash bail amounts for offenders based on their perceived threat to the community. That's in line with what he said in an interview in February.
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Nicholson spokeswoman Courtney Mullen said Nicholson would focus on finding ways to cut spending and then work with lawmakers to decide how to cut income and property taxes. “It looks like she's pandering for votes for the retirement-age people,” he said. He said he thought eliminating taxes on retirement income was worth considering but contended Kleefisch has not fully vetted the proposal. “Everything's on the table for me,” Ramthun said. Proposals to eliminate the income tax have generally been paired with raising the state’s 5% sales tax.
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Ramthun in an interview this week said he was open to establishing a flat tax or eliminating the income tax but wanted to study the ideas. Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, endorsed Kleefisch this week, praising her for her support for cutting taxes when she served alongside Gov. She didn’t provide details on the cost of that part of her plan. Kleefisch this week said she wants to eliminate taxes on retirement income, which she said would entice more people to remain in Wisconsin. Kim Reynolds recently signed a law that will give the state a flat tax of 3.9% in 2026. Iowa’s income tax rates start at 0.33% and rise to 8.53%. Illinois has a flat income tax rate of 4.95% and Michigan has a flat income tax rate of 4.25%. Minnesota’s income tax rates start at 5.35% and go up to 9.85%.
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Republicans who control the state Legislature over the past decade have focused their income tax rates on the middle brackets but largely left in place the top rate, which is levied on individuals for income of $267,000 and up. Wisconsin’s income tax rates start at 3.54% and rise to 7.65%. “Let’s beat our competitors in the Midwest.” “Let’s drop rates to the lowest they have been in our entire adult lifetime and let’s actually compete,” she said. In her interview on WSAU, Kleefisch didn’t say how much she wanted to cut income taxes but said they should be lower than Wisconsin’s neighbors. Kleefisch and other Republicans have questioned Evers' commitment to lowering taxes because he called for raising the gas tax in 2019 and twice proposed raising taxes on large agricultural and manufacturing operations. That’s why he followed through on his campaign promise to cut taxes by signing a bipartisan, 15% income tax cut for working families," Evers campaign spokeswoman Kayla Anderson said in a statement. Evers believes Wisconsinites should get to keep more of their hard earned money. He has touted the tax cuts after pledging during his 2018 run to cut income taxes for the middle class by at least 10%. Tony Evers has backed progressive income taxes, as have his fellow Democrats who argue those who make more should pay a larger share of their income to the state.Īs governor, Evers has signed two rounds of Republican-authored income tax cuts.
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