Francesca Hong for Governor Wisconsin
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Francesca Hong for Governor Wisconsin

CITIES, TOWNS & TRANSIT

Bringing Wisconsin Together To Get The Job Done

Your town is having a hard time paying for the things that make your life better. Act 12,a Republican policy, entrenched a conflict between state and local governments by establishing unreasonable state power over how cities and towns can raise and spend money. This pattern has repeated over decades and led to widespread local budget shortfalls, ineffective governance, and negative impacts on quality of life. It’s a fiscal trap that forces local governments to choose between ever-increasing property taxes and damaging service cuts.

Fran believes in a new path forward. The state can be a good partner to your town by shifting some control over revenue and spending to municipal governments. A new model allows for increased efficiency in many areas that can vastly improve economic and social life across the state — like investing in public transit programs that serve Wisconsinites from all walks of life.

The one-size-fits-all approach from Madison has failed to bring results. Here’s CITIES, TOWNS & TRANSIT, Francesca Hong’s plan for what works better.

GET POLITICS OUT OF MONEY

Fix revenue sharing and increase local control

Act 12 was a political gambit with drastically different consequences for different parts of Wisconsin. While it brought needed support to small towns, this support was designed to come at the expense of larger communities: it’s no coincidence that Republicans have funneled money to areas where they get more votes, using revenue as a tool to punish Democratic voters and people of color. 

In her first budget, Fran will fight for a new model. Every community in Wisconsin can do better than they do under Act 12—we are not going to abandon the gains made for smaller municipalities, but Republicans didn’t fund the program properly or responsibly. We need to address the fiscal constraints local governments have rather than slapping on a politically derived formula completely detached from their needs.

Fran believes in a better system that rises above partisan politics to materially benefit all Wisconsinites, not just those who vote for her. 

States, Cities, And Towns Are Partners, Not Rivals

Act 12 was an 11th-hour Machiavellian political deal hammered out quickly after decades of ignoring local government. Fighting over scraps makes municipalities and the state distrust each other—that’s no way to make a better Wisconsin. Fran’s talked to elected officials all over Wisconsin and understands that we can’t afford a policymaking process like this. She’ll form an advisory commission bringing members of the governor’s office, state legislature, county boards, and municipal governments together to collaborate on what local governance looks like in Wisconsin. And it doesn’t end with shared revenue: Fran knows that we need to look at and tune up all the other state aid programs for local governments and make sure they’re helping our cities, counties, villages and towns work.

Local options for local funding

Fran believes local voters should have a say when it comes to funding necessities like road repair, libraries, public transit, and parks in their own communities. Current state law prohibits such local decision making. Her plan for a local option income tax would let voters decide on taxing very high earners (income over $500,000 for individuals, or over $1,000,000 for married filing jointly). This is one way we can give communities more power over their own funds.

We’re All In This Together

Cut property taxes by making everyone pay their fair share

The super-rich don’t pay their fair share to make our state run, so Republicans make regular Wisconsinites subsidize the difference. Current policy places a major burden on working homeowners and seniors to fund schools through referendums that consistently raise their taxes. Instead, Fran’s plan would include a 1% increase in the top income tax rate and create a new bracket for millionaires and extreme corporate profits.  As a state representative, Fran proposed a measure that would cut the average property tax bill by more than 40%. 

Everyone benefits from well-funded public education that isn’t tied to a crushing tax on regular property owners. This plan simply asks the super-rich to pay their fair share.

Close tax loopholes for billionaires and corporations

Republicans want to exempt their donors from the rules everyone else has to follow. The Manufacturing and Agricultural Tax Credit (MAC) is a Scott Walker initiative that has wasted billions of state dollars to subsidize Wisconsin’s ultra-rich. 

The MAC is a tax break that cuts a flat 7.5% from eligible applicants’ tax rates, meaning some corporations have, essentially, a 0.4% tax rate while eligible individuals get away with a 0.15% income tax. Fran believes in helping Wisconsin businesses that help Wisconsin in return, and this credit isn’t going to businesses that need it. Since it’s a tax credit based on corporate profits, small or struggling businesses can’t take advantage of it the way huge corporations can. In real life, the MAC is a handout to Wisconsin’s ultra-rich, who get to pay much, much less in income tax than anyone else in this state.

Of the estimated $496 million spent on the MAC in the fiscal year 2023–2024, 71%, or $350 million, went to letting some of the richest people in Wisconsin pay less than a quarter of a percent in income tax. That’s three times what free universal school meals would cost. 

Our position is simple and efficient: tax breaks, if they exist, should be proportional to the impact a company has on Wisconsin wages. We should tie the MAC to employment activity by setting it as a function of actual taxable wages paid, remove the personal income loophole, and spend the freed-up $300–$400 million on real programs that help real people be able to afford to live in our state.

STATION TO STATION

Local Control of Reliable Transit

We all need transportation to meet many of our basic needs.  Whether you need a ride to a monthly medical appointment or to commute to work, reliable transit can improve quality of life for millions of Wisconsinites who have places to go. By stabilizing funding for public transit in all communities, we can ensure everyone gets a chance to participate in our shared economic and social life.

Transit is too often framed as a rural versus urban issue. The truth is, we all need a reliable way to get from point A to point B. However, Fran recognizes the best modes of travel can be very different across Wisconsin. That’s why she supports the creation of Regional Transit Authorities, which give local governments options to raise revenue, collaborate efficiently, and develop transit systems that meet the real needs of their people. Research shows this model offers better, more reliable service and could reduce spending for many people, as transportation is the second highest cost for Wisconsin families. 

Whether exploring a new part of the city you’ve always called home or traveling across a regional system, transit will connect all Wisconsinites to better services and new opportunities.

Bring Neighborhoods Together Through Smart Development

The best transit systems unify people within and between communities. But right now, Wisconsin’s housing and transportation systems are siloed, driving up household transportation costs and limiting affordable housing near jobs, schools, and transit. Transit-oriented development, which focuses on building neighborhoods with easy access to essential services, is one way we can make the most of transit investments. These spaces improve quality of life, reduce costs, and revitalize local business districts. Fran supports policies that make it easier to put together vibrant, thoughtfully built neighborhoods in big cities and small towns alike.

Establish Transit Options for Rural Wisconsin

Transit needs are different in different places. While a bus rapid transit line moves thousands of people per day in Madison or Milwaukee, on-demand service that can pick up and drop off anywhere is a much better fit for smaller communities. 

Fran’s Regional Transit Authorities would give smaller towns and rural regions their own options for identifying and establishing transit solutions that make sense for them. Right now, rural and suburban areas across Wisconsin have little to no transit service, leaving seniors, low-income families, and disabled residents stranded. Under Fran, Wisconsin will develop state-supported public microtransit pilots where fixed-route service is not viable; helping people get to their jobs, access healthcare, and tend to their daily needs.

Rural and suburban Regional Transit Authorities can collaborate across towns and counties, too. Intercity bus service and stable transit funding are some of the most useful tools for bridging the rural-urban divide and giving rural residents better access to medical care, education, and employment.

Transit & Healthcare

If you can’t make it to a doctor’s appointment, a hospital, or a dialysis center, you don’t have accessible healthcare. Wisconsin’s medical transit systems are fragmented, meaning worse outcomes and missed appointments. Fran’s going to expand Medicaid’s Non-Emergency Medical Transportation services and guide our transit plans with an eye for paratransit.

Paratransit helps all sorts of folks — it means people with disabilities have more autonomy over the care they receive, caregivers don’t lose work hours through unreliable transit, older folks can age in place instead of needing to move out of their communities, and rural hospitals can have reliable inflows of outpatient care that keep them afloat.

Build Transit That Works For Everyone

Amtrak was set to build a much-needed passenger line connecting Milwaukee and Madison before Scott Walker killed the deal. The bustling Borealis line shows that there’s a demand for mass transit in Wisconsin. A new plan to build a high-speed rail connection between the two cities is projected to cost $250 million, with the state putting up about $50 million of that. It’s a bargain that will generate 200 permanent and local union jobs.

In addition, Fran supports funding for bike and bus infrastructure, expanded sidewalks, and incentives to create electric vehicle (EV) charging ports.

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By submitting this form, you consent to receive donation asks, voter contact, and informational emails from Francesca Hong. Email frequency varies. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email. Privacy Policy & Terms.

Join the Movement

Let’s show them that we make better possible!

Invest in a fairer wisconsin

Donate
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