To the editor,
Paul Hambleton's recent letter, written as chair of the St. Croix County Democrats, deserves important factual context.
Yes, Rep. Shannon Zimmerman authored legislation …
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To the editor,
Paul Hambleton's recent letter, written as chair of the St. Croix County Democrats, deserves important factual context.
Yes, Rep. Shannon Zimmerman authored legislation creating a sales-and-use-tax exemption for qualifying data-center investments. But the policy ultimately became law as part of Wisconsin's 2023–25 state budget, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed. Bipartisan legislation to drive investment in Wisconsin.
More importantly, calling a sales-tax exemption money "given away" is misleading. It is not a government check written to a company. A qualifying business must first make substantial investments in Wisconsin, receive certification, and purchase eligible equipment or property before the exemption applies. If that investment never occurs here, there are no qualifying Wisconsin purchases to claim the exemption on. A tax rate multiplied by money never spent is zero. Maybe he didn't really understand it, or maybe he meant to mislead.
Wisconsin has long used sales-and-use-tax exemptions as economic policy. Manufacturing machinery and equipment receive exemptions, as do numerous purchases associated with farming and agriculture. The purpose is straightforward: encourage investment and economic activity within Wisconsin.
The suggestion that Zimmerman personally "profited" from Wisconsin's data center exemption because he's worked in tech is absurd. Data centers provide the computing infrastructure behind cloud services, digital applications, and the internet services businesses and consumers use every day.
Let's also make clear that Zimmerman authored a bill earlier this year that specifically protects energy ratepayers, the environment, and communities from big tech. Paul may have conveniently forgotten that.
Voters deserve the full context, not rhetoric suggesting a legislator personally pocketed a tax benefit created to attract capital investment to Wisconsin.
There is plenty to debate about data center policy. That debate should begin with the facts.
Tony Nasvik
Town of Clifton
