Politicians from both parties regularly misrepresent their influence in creating or killing jobs. The governor's race should put that on full display. Here's an example, courtesy of Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzegerald.
Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), writes a column today, blaming Wisconsin Democrats for driving jobs out of the state through oppressive tax policy. He holds them responsible for Polaris' recent decision to move to Iowa, Minnesota and Mexico.
If it's easier for companies like Polaris to make snowmobiles in Mexico than it is in Wisconsin, clearly our state is doing something wrong.
Yes. If our standard of living and wage expectations are higher than those in Mexico, jobs will likely move south of the border. I guess you could call that "doing something wrong."
Now...about Minnesota. An odd example for an anti-tax advocate to use, considering that the Gopher State has higher taxes than Wisconsin in just about every imaginable area. Its personal income taxes are higher, its average per-capita tax burden is virtually the same, but most importantly, its corporate taxes are considerably higher. In fact, the Tax Foundation, an organization which generally pushes for lower taxes, rates Minnesota's business climate as slightly worse than Wisconsin's.
Then there's Iowa. That state's corporate tax rate is much higher than Wisconsin's.
So why is Polaris really moving?
The realignment of Polaris' manufacturing footprint will strengthen the Company's position in the powersports industry, as it will enable Polaris to have production facilities closer to customers in the southern United States and global markets the Company currently serves or expects to serve in the future.
As Fitzegerald's column conveniently left out, snowmobiles only account for part of the company's operation. It also manufactures other "power-sports" vehicles that are in demand in places like Arizona and Texas.
What's probably happening is the company is increasing efficiency by moving to a low-cost plant in Mexico, as well as parceling some of the Wisconsin operations to its existing plants in nearby Iowa and Minnesota. It likely has little to do with tax policy.
