The states of Wisconsin and Minnesota share a long, rich history together. Both have German and northern European traditions, cold winters and a rich farming heritage.
However, political science Professor Lawrence R. Jacobs said that while both states used to share a populist progressive tradition -- that all changed during the 2010 election. He said the two elections for governor -- close races in each state -- yielded a very conservative Republican in Wisconsin and a very liberal Democrat in the state of Minnesota, with ever growing and huge policy differences.
Jacobs, who is the chair for political Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubert H. Humphrey School and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, said that when comparing economic growth, Gov. Scott Walker promised 250,000 private-sector jobs, but only realized 90,000 by the end of his first term. Meanwhile, Minnesota, led by Gov. Mark Dayton, has the fifth-fastest growing state economy, with private-sector job growth exceeding pre-recession levels.
Although Jacobs acknowledges more time and evidence is needed to prove success or not, he indicated that the lower-tax rate seen in Wisconsin hasn’t produced the results that has been seen in Minnesota, after employing the largest tax increase in recent history, targeting the top 1 percent of income-earners while lowering property taxes.
“A lot of the issues we’re talking about are pretty controversial. People don’t like their taxes to go up, of course, but there also seems to be pretty strong support for putting a lot of that money into education and job growth,” he said, adding that half of the $2.1 billion tax increase in Minnesota immediately went into reducing the deficit and reducing property taxes. He said 71 percent of the other half went into education, which he indicates “has gotten a lot more attention from economists as an important and smart investment in terms of the return for job growth in the economy.”
In contrast, the Walker administration reduced education spending by 15 percent, the seventh-sharpest reduction in the country.
Jacobs compared other areas of policy between the two states, including implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and fiscal policies. In an opinion piece, published in the Sunday New York Times, he wrote the lesson learned is “the anti-tax dogma fails to deliver a convincing optimistic vision that widens economic opportunity and security.”
