MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) – Wednesday marked Tax Day across the nation and the non-partisan Badger Institute used the opportunity to talk about ways Wisconsin can save businesses, create jobs, and even refill government coffers amid a health crisis.

If Wisconsin needs to levy more taxes to deal with revenue shortfalls from the coronavirus pandemic, the Badger Institute wants to make sure the hikes won't hurt businesses or wage and job growth.

Right now, Wisconsin has roughly $655 million in its so-called rainy day fund to cover unexpected shortfalls but the account is also the eighth worst-funded in the country.

“You're at about 3.8% rainy day fund balance as a percentage of expenditures and that's not much higher than states like Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kansas,” Katherine Loughead, senior policy analyst for the Tax Foundation, said.

Loughead said the money in that fund could be used to prevent tax hikes, especially if Wisconsin needs to take out a loan from the federal government to cover unemployment benefits.

However, the rainy day fund will need to be spent responsibly and, ideally, somehow refilled. Broadening the sales tax base could be one solution.

“A lot of states just aren't getting any revenue from grocery delivery services or meal delivery services or some of those newer economy, gig-economy, things which should be included in the sales tax base,” Loughead said. “They shouldn't be subject to excise tax but they should be part of the base.”

Badger Institute President Mike Nichols said that is the kind of pro-growth taxation he would push lawmakers to support.

• READ: Badger Institute and Tax Foundation report

“We think that's definitely preferable to hiking up, you know minimum wages, for instance, to $15 an hour which would kill all kinds of jobs, particularly in northern Wisconsin, so there are alternatives that are pro-growth and won't be job destroyers,” Nichols said.

The Badger Institute hopes Wisconsin can find a way to cover unemployment benefits and prevent employers from taking another hit.

Wisconsin will likely end up taking out a Title XII Advanced Authorization Loan to cover unemployment benefits as early as October or as late as September of next year.

The loan would need to be paid back in about two years, but if it's not in-state businesses would face higher federal unemployment tax rates.