While one 25th Assembly District candidate calls for change from the state, the other believes he should return for another term.
Incumbent Paul Tittl and Challenger Chris Able debated yesterday on WOMT 100 and WCUB about several topics like data centers, education, and public safety.
One question concerned data center tax exemption through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) for “projects that involve buildings constructed or rehabilitated to house a group of networked computer servers to centralize the processing, storage, management, retrieval, communication, or dissemination of data and information.”
Able said he was concerned about the tax incentives because while data centers bring construction jobs, there aren’t as many career options after a project is completed.
“It would be a shame, depending on the size of the incentives, overly large incentives really are just costing us more in tax revenue than they are going to create,” he explained. “So I would want to see what the Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects as the costs of those based upon the size before I would be supportive of them.”
Tittl says while in the state assembly, he had voted for a data center tax credit bill for when data centers purchase building materials.
He also says data centers can bring a lot to the table.
Tittl stated, “They may not bring a lot of high-paying jobs, but they will bring tax revenue to your local communities.”
He mentioned a story from the State of Virginia in which he says a community is thriving after getting a data center.
Moving to education, both Tittl and Able were asked about Governor Evers changing a number in a previous state budget to fund education for 400 years.
Both candidates agree that’s not how it should have been done, and don’t believe any governor should have that power.
Tittl spoke out, saying, “I would be in favor of getting rid of that. It was very creative what they did. Let’s just say that. But I don’t like it. It’s not right to tax the people for the next 400 years. Able added, “What we need to do is to figure out exactly what the state share per student would be. The local government then has to make up the rest, and if they want to make up more than that, that’s their choice under local control.”
While both agreed, Able said he was not in favor of a constitutional amendment question on the November 3rd General Election because of how it was written.
Another question the candidates answered involved Wisconsin’s State Surplus and what should be done with it.
Previously, Tittl voted in favor of a deal made with Governor Evers that would have included no tax on tips, special education funding, and rebate checks.
“I believe that it was responsible,” he reflected. “Would I want it to go all back to the people, yeah, in some form. It’s going to go back to the people no matter what.”
He also added that the state cut taxes and still has surplus while adding to the state’s rainy-day fund.
Able sees the surplus differently, saying it’s not that the state collected too much, it’s that the taxes aren’t being spent as intended.
“We have allowed the Knowles-Nelson fund to deplete completely,” he commented. “So we haven’t been doing a good job on stewardship of our natural resources. We have underfunded the Department of Natural Resources, so that people have to, when they leave, we can’t even afford to replace them.”
On education, when asked about the state’s voucher school program, Tittl said he supports it, adding that it shouldn’t be the government’s job to tell a student where to go.
“Above anything else, parents can op for the right school for you,” he mentioned. “They know you better than anyone else as a child. “And the other thing is, the voucher program is not just open to everybody who wants to get in it. It is open to people of a certain poverty level based upon how many people in your family.”
Able says he supports the right to school choice and likes private schools, but there needs to be a new way.
Able replied, “I think it’s a funding mechanism that has to end. We need to find a better way to do things. And public money should be transparent to everybody in exactly how it’s being used.”
You can find the full 25th Assembly District debate between Paul Tittl and Chris Abel at SeehaferPodcasts.com.
We will host another debate on October 8th between 9th District State Senate candidates Amy Binsfeld and Christian Ellis.
