Ron Johnson says his Oshkosh firm and many others benefited from 2017 business tax cut he championed

For months, Democrats and their allies have claimed that Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and some of his top donors benefited from a key provision he pushed for in President Donald Trump's signature 2017 tax bill.

During a meeting with GOP supporters Friday in Medford, Johnson was asked by an audience member how they should respond to an ad attacking the senator for his wealth and support for the measure.

Johnson acknowledged the Oshkosh-based plastics business he owned, Pacur LLC, benefited from the small-business tax provision, as did some of his prominent donors.

But Johnson, running for re-election, said many other businesses benefited as well, according to a recording obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

"Now, did my business benefit? Sure. Did some of my donor businesses? Sure. When you give tax relief to everybody, everybody benefits," Johnson said.

"So they want to make it sound like I carved out some loophole for a couple of people. What I did is I made sure that 95% of American businesses weren't left behind in tax reform. I'm really proud of that achievement."

The issue may persist throughout the campaign as Democrats try to flip Johnson's seat, which could determine the party that controls the U.S. Senate.

During the meeting in northern Wisconsin, Johnson defended his work on the pass-through provision and said he received criticism from the White House and talk radio in Wisconsin as Republicans were pushing hard to pass the sweeping tax overhaul.

"I was making sure that every small business in America and Wisconsin got tax relief and would be able to remain competitive with the big guys," he said.

In August, an investigation from ProPublica found that the tax provision Johnson championed delivered millions in tax savings to key donors of his campaigns, Dick and Liz Uihlein of Pleasant Prairie-based Uline and Diane Hendricks of Beloit-based ABC Supply.

Johnson pushed for a tax break for small businesses and other so-called pass-through entities. In these businesses, profits pass-through to the owners who pay taxes on their personal returns.

Johnson has said pass-through entities represent more than 90% of all businesses and during the 2017 tax overhaul he sought to keep them competitive with large publicly held C-corporations.

Pacur LLC, the Oshkosh-based plastic company that Johnson helped found, was structured as a pass-through business. Johnson disclosed in his official statement of economic interest that he sold his interest in the business for between $5 million and $20 million in 2020. He said the deal had been in the works since 2018.

Johnson's campaign spokesman Jake Wilkins said the audio "is exactly what Senator Johnson has said in public and private for years.

"Despite strong opposition, he secured tax relief for more than 90% of U.S. businesses who benefited from it after it became law. While it is true that Pacur is an LLC and received tax relief along with the other more than 20 million tax filers that take advantage of his efforts, that’s the necessary result of ensuring all businesses get a tax cut so they can remain competitive with big business C-Corps. It is a gross distortion to imply his tax cuts were a special deal for a few. His tax cuts benefited the many."

Wilkins also launched a broadside over ads that have run on the subject.

"If media outlets were honest and unbiased, they would fact check the Democrat attack ads and label them ‘mostly false,’ " Wilkins said in a statement. "Although the ads do contain a kernel of truth, they grossly distort the full impact of his important legislative achievement and falsely imply a selfish motive."

During the Taylor County meeting, Johnson took on what he called the "distorted attack ads" that have run against him.

"They said I doubled my wealth," he said. "That's true."

Johnson explained that after he got elected in 2010 he took all of his "marketable securities" and placed them in cash so that he would have no conflicts. Meanwhile, the stock market went up 3.8 times.

He said the reason his wealth doubled is that he sold his business.

"I sat on cash," he said. "I'm still sitting on cash. I knew during the COVID recession that this was a good time to invest in the stock market. I didn't. I stayed invested in, I've just got cash, OK."

He added: "I'm not asking anybody to feel sorry for me."