Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce

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1 Where Do Progressives Stand?
2 Hot Topics
3 Facts and Figures
4 In the News
5 Sources

[edit] Where Do Progressives Stand?

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is a corporate lobbying organization which is attempting to shift the priorities of state and federal government towards serving corporations at the expense of citizens.
The workings of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce have resulted in a steady stream of public policies that both take away badly-needed state and federal resources from to serve the narrow interests of corporate and reduce the ability of individuals to hold corporations accountable.
The Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce supports bills that would give taxpayer financed handouts to corporate interests, shift the tax burden away from corporations, or give tax breaks to the wealthy in times of economic crisis.
The WMC advocates for less tax responsibility and less accountability for corporations making its rise in influence harmful to the people of Wisconsin.

[edit] Hot Topics

WMC's History:

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) traces its roots back to the founding of the Wisconsin Manufactures Association in 1911. WMC’s current form emerged in 1975 through the merger of the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, the State Chamber of Commerce (incorporated in 1929) and the Wisconsin Council of Safety (founded in 1923).
WMC is the only state business association with the Chamber, Manufacturers Association and Safety Council in a single merged association. As the state’s largest business lobby, WMC has lobbied the Wisconsin state government for years, pushing for legislation and policies that benefit corporate interests.
In 1996, WMC came under fire for running “issue ads” targeting State Senate Democrats, which at the time were testing the limits of campaign finance regulations in regards to independent expenditures and the definition of “express advocacy.
In recent election cycles, WMC has stepped up their purchases of issue ads, with unprecedented expenditures focusing on the Wisconsin Supreme Court races. In 2007, WMC spent more than $2 million in support of Annette Ziegler at the same time attacking Ziegler’s opponent, Linda Clifford.
Today, WMC represents nearly 4,000 Wisconsin businesses employing more than 500,000 Wisconsin workers. Within the organization, WMC employs approximately 40 staff members and has a 48-member Board of Directors representing many different businesses around the state.

WMC's Mission:

WMC’s self-described mission is to create "meaningful, well paying jobs [to provide] economic security and dignity to Wisconsin citizens. A strong economy provides the tax base necessary to support government's role in education, building infrastructure, protecting the environment, and caring for the needy."
When it comes to government overseeing a fair redistribution of shared tax dollars, protecting water, air and open spaces and particularly “caring for the needy,” the role of government in WMC's eyes is one in which corporate rights before individual liberties and profit before people.
Each legislative session, WMC works closely with friendly legislators to pass legislation that protects corporations, increases corporate bottom lines bottom lines, and exempts more and more corporations from paying their fair share.
Each legislative session, WMC opposes critical legislation designed to protect workers, provide services to Wisconsinites and improve the quality of life in every corner of the state.

WMC's Campaigns:

With a seemingly limitless amount of resources, WMC is able to influence legislation and legislators through its multi-faceted approach. The methods WMC uses are not exclusive to the organization and its entities, but the volume of communications and the amount it spends are unmatched.
WMC advances its corporate agenda through the following four channels, each helping to ensure its mission is carried out:

Contributions:
- The current WMC Board of Directors has contributed over $380,000 to political candidates in Wisconsin.

Issue Ads and Mobilization:
- WMC has been using paid issue advertisements since the mid-1990s. Usually, these issue ads come during legislative, judicial and gubernatorial political campaigns. In 1996, WMC spent $400,000, but in the past 12 years the WMC Issues and Mobilization Council has dumped millions of dollars to influence voters.

Concerned Business and Industry PAC:
- Since 2003, WMC’s Concerned Business and Industry PAC has raised nearly $80,000 from other PACs, most notably, the Virginia-based Americans Tired of Lawsuit Abuse PAC. ATLA PAC received its funding from Americans for Tort Reform, an organization which seeks to limit the ability of citizens to hold corporations accountable for damages when one is harmed due to negligence or corporate malfeasance.
- Since 2003, WMC CBI PAC has also raised nearly $14,000 from individuals, mostly representatives of companies ranging from Alliant Energy to the Manitowoc Company.
- In that same time period, WMC CBI PAC has made contributions to 28 political and judicial candidates, the Republican Party of Wisconsin and two of the state’s legislative campaign committees.

Lobbying:
- Each session, WMC is at or near the top for dollars spent lobbying state legislators. Since 1999, WMC has spent $6,247,328 lobbying over 50,202 hours.

[edit] Facts and Figures

WMC's Pro-Corporate Legislation:

2007 AB-671: Exclude income from a business from being taxed. Potential cost to Wisconsin: at least $44 million a year
2007 AB-128: Shields corporations from liabilities when their products cause injury or harm.
2003 SB-261: Create $10 million+ in new tax credits for corporations. From the Legislative Fiscal Bureau: "Given the large number of business potentially eligible (50,000 or more...the revenue loss from the bill could be tens of millions of dollars annually and potentially more.")
2007 AB-853: Makes it easier for corporations to acquire land to build oil pipelines.
2005 AB-910: Allow taxation on capital gains to be deferred indefinitely. Potential cost to Wisconsin: $64 million in lost revenue annually.
2003 SB-249: Hands over $50 million annually for corporate capital investment tax credits.
2003 AB-507 & 508: Tax credits for energy consumed by corporations. Cost to Wisconsin: up to $30 million annually.
2005 SB-449: $10 million tax cut for "innovation projects."
2003 SB-197: Exemptions for corporations from paying state property or payroll tax. Cost to Wisconsin: $105 million over 4 years.
2005 AB-206: $3.5 million dollars per year in tax breaks to corporations for "research."

Pro-Worker, Family, & Wisconsinite Legislation that WMC Opposes:

2007 AB-274: Raising the state minimum wage.
2007 AB-40: Requiring proper disposal of waste that contains plychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's, which according research can cause cognitive development delays in children and liver cancer).
2007 SB-178: Requiring insurance companies to cover treatment for children diagnosed with Autism.
2007 SB-367: Requiring all coporations to submit annual statements to the Wisconsin Deparment of Revenue (Corporate Tax Accountability Act).
2007 SB-562: Healthy Wisconsin - Reducing health care costs and providing health care for all Wisconsinites
2007 SB-512: Prohibiting a company from requiring mandatory overtime for a worker in a health care facility.
2007 SB-219: Protecting consumers from excess charges for consumer goods.
2007 SB-375: Mental health insurance parity.
2007 AB 812: Protecting individuals who serve as a volunteer firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT) or first responder from being fired for temporary absence from work while responding to emergencies.
2007 AB-76: Increasing disposal fees for out-state garbage.
2007 AB-133: Requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for hearing aids and cochlear implants for children.
2007 AB-157: Setting a statewide greenhouse gas emission limit.
2007 AB-160: Requiring an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee who is pregnant or breast-feeding her child.
2007 AB-179: Providing health insurance coverage for wigs for cancer patients.

WMC's Calculated Cost:

Using non-partisan sources which track lobbying efforts, campaign spending and determine the potential fiscal impact of legislation, the group WMC Watch calculated the potential total cost to the state of Wisconsin from WMC. This includes each bill supported by WMC that would give taxpayer financed handouts to corporate interests, shift the tax burden away from corporations, or give tax breaks to the wealthy. It also includes each bill WMC opposed that would have increased payments from the Wisconsin’s corporations for the services they so willingly use but are so reluctant to finance.
- Since 2001, the potential cost of WMC’s agenda to the state treasury topped $10 billion – an average of $30 every second of every day of every month of each year. Stated simply - that's a cost of $1800 for every man, woman and child in Wisconsin.