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PRESS RELEASES
July 09, 2007
Wisconsin Club for Growth Declares Victory in Lobby Ban
Sun Prairie, WI ---- Wisconsin Club for Growth, Inc., declared a taxpayer victory today when it learned the State Assembly Budget would prohibit the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority (SEWRTA) from using rental car tax revenue to pay for lobbyists and lobbying activities.
In February of this year, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that SEWRTA had allocated 496,000 to pay lobbyists and public relations professionals up to $250 an hour to lobby the state legislature to raise the rental car tax from $2 to $15.
The Wisconsin Club for Growth launched a radio and internet campaign in April on what board member Eric O’Keefe called a “blatant abuse of public funds.” The ad begins, “Less than 2 years ago, Governor Doyle and the legislature created a Regional Transit Authority to solve the transportation mess in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha. A $2 tax on rental cars was created to pay for it.” The ad goes on to explain that nearly all the revenue raised by the tax so far is going to pay lobbyists seeking to increase the tax. The ad can be found at www.pigsforrent.com.
Hundreds of taxpayers called and wrote their state legislators asking them to stop this abuse of public money as well as public trust and the Assembly responded by prohibiting SEWRTA from using tax dollars for lobbying and by requiring the board to be more accountable to the legislature in the future.
The Club for Growth is a national network of over 40,000 men and women, from all walks of life, who believe that prosperity and opportunity come through economic freedom.
Wisconsin Club for Growth, Inc. is dedicated to informing, educating and rallying citizens of Wisconsin to embrace and enact policies that lead to sustained economic growth, limited government, and minimal taxation.
