GOP Wave Will Push Pro-Growth Policies in the States

From the Associated Press:

One of the first places to test the new pro-business push will be Wisconsin, where Republican Gov.-elect Scott Walker has promised to call the new GOP-led Legislature into an emergency session on his first day in office Jan. 3.

Walker wants to lower taxes on businesses with fewer than 50 employees, impose new business-friendly limits on liability lawsuits and transform the state Commerce Department into a public-private partnership to lure companies to the state.

“I think it’s basically put-up-or-shut-up time,” Walker said after his November election. “We have a mandate from the voters of the state, and it’s one we don’t take lightly.”

In Michigan, voters elected the former chief operating officer of computer manufacturer Gateway Inc. to turn around a state that has consistently had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Republican Gov.-elect Rick Snyder immediately chose the former president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to lead his transition team.

“The business people we represent across the state are very excited about this change of leadership,” said Rich Studley, president and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

Snyder wants to eliminate the Michigan Business Tax, which generates about $2.2 billion annually, and replace it with a lower corporate income tax projected to produce about $700 million for the state. Advocates for social services fear that could nearly double Michigan’s projected budget shortfall to more than $3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.

“Without any additional revenues, it’s hard to imagine filling that gap and not having just a devastating effect on social services and human services,” said Karen Holcomb-Merrill, the state fiscal policy director for the Michigan League for Human Services.

In Iowa, Republican Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has said his plan to cut commercial property tax rates could cost the state up to $500 million over four years.

The theory behind cutting corporate tax rates is that businesses will be more likely to locate or expand in a state if they can keep more of their profits.

Read the whole thing here.