Emergency Alert: Veto Requests to Governor Needed!
July 9, 2015
Dear WH&LA Lodging Member:
Late Tuesday, despite some valiant efforts by so many of you to call Sen. Jerry Petrowski's (R-Marathon) office and ask him to remove his amendments on Room Tax Reform, he stuck with his vote without removing his suggested amendments, and the Senate passed their amended Budget by a close vote of 18-15. Apparently, when some of our members called his office they were told by his staff that the amendments just pushed things back a little, so it is possible they were not aware of the much broader impact of the language they were pursuing. We still want to thank you for your rapid support, as our opportunity was so tight in timing.
The amended Budget Bill from the Senate was approved by the Assembly (as anticipated) early this morning by a reasonably close vote of 52-46, with 11 Republicans joining 35 Democrats in opposition. This concurrence means they were able to send a final budget bill from the legislature to the Governor now, with the Governor having the authority to veto words and numbers out of the language, but not add anything new to it. Predictions are that the Governor and his staff have already begun their review and that he will veto some items and sign the budget prior to Monday, when he is scheduled to announce his candidacy for the presidency.
WH&LA has already communicated our concerns on Room Tax Reform to the Governor's Office, all based on the Sen. Petrowski changes in the Senate Amendment, but we are anticipating that the League of Municipalities is asking the Governor to veto the entire Room Tax Reform package, with certain primary components like the Dollar Cap and removing the municipalities direct oversight of tourism promotion and tourism development expenditures, as the minimum to remove. Our voices once again need to be equally prominent, or our requests may be deemed not that important.
What is Needed Now!
Please contact the Governor's office at [email protected] or 608-266-1212 or directly through his website at http://walker.wi.gov/contact-us and ask him to make the following vetoes requested by the Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association to offset the damages done by Senate Amendment 2 relating to Room Tax Reform:
- Eliminate the new Contracts Loophole created by the Senate Amendment, which as it now stands would render useless the core proposal to put caps on municipalities keeping more than their fair share of Room Tax Revenue collected from our out of town lodging guests.
- Remove the delays in the new Annual Reports on Room Tax Use (which finally create transparency on Room Tax collections and use), and the pushing back of the start and freeze dates of the new caps.
Please also remind the Governor of the importance of effective Room Tax Reform to help grow local tourism around the state, which can also add to the state sales tax base, and be sure to identify who you are and what Wisconsin property you are with. The timing is best anytime today (Thursday), but if necessary no later than tomorrow mid-morning.
Please do not send this Advisory to the Governor's Office, but instead refer to the comments above in your own message. AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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