Month: October 2025

The state Assembly approved a rash of bills on Tuesday aimed at expanding affordable housing in Wisconsin.

Backers of the GOP-authored initiatives said they’re looking to expand on bipartisan housing legislation passed in 2023 and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, although the legislation passed Tuesday would still need to clear the state Senate.

Among the bills is a proposal to allow some building projects to move forward without having to comply with a new commercial building code that was promulgated after a Supreme Court decision that altered the state rulemaking process.

Other legislation would establish mandatory rezoning for certain residential requests and allow for the construction of more Accessory Dwelling Units, sometimes known as in-law suites.

Two other bills would establish a “starter” home loan program of up to $60,000 at zero percent interest, and a reimbursement grant program of up to $50,000 to reimburse the conversion of multifamily housing into condos.

President Trump said on Monday that his administration will impose a 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks next month.

“Beginning November 1st, 2025, all medium and heavy-duty trucks coming into the United States from other countries will be tariffed at the rate of 25%,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The U.S. trucking industry is a cornerstone of the national economy, moving roughly 73% of all domestic freight, according to the American Trucking Associations.

Around 2 million Americans work as heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, with many more employed as mechanics and support staff, according to data provided by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

What’s more, profit margins across the U.S. logistics sector are typically slim, leaving it highly sensitive to any unexpected increases in operating costs.

The top five import sources by customs value are Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany and Finland, according to data compiled by the United States International Trade Commission.

In early 2023, the European Union implemented a ban on seaborne imports of diesel fuel, commonly called gasoil, from Russia following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine the previous year. The ban reoriented trade flows as Europe imported more diesel from the Middle East and the United States rather than Russia. This summer, Europe’s increased reliance on imports from the Middle East, coupled with conflict-related disruptions to refineries and escalating geopolitical tensions, contributed to a tightened global diesel market.

Before the ban, Russia supplied a significant portion of Europe’s diesel imports, accounting for 50% in 2022, according to data from Vortexa. The 2023 ban on diesel imports from Russia led to a rerouting of global trade flows of distillate. Distillate from Russia made its way to buyers such as Brazil and Türkiye, while importers in the rest of Europe needed new sources of distillate to backfill the lost volumes from Russia. In 2024, European distillate imports from Russia accounted for less than 1% of total seaborne imports from outside the region.

European imports of Russia’s distillate were replaced with increased imports of distillate from the United States and the Middle East. New refinery capacity in the Middle East, including the Al Zour refinery in Kuwait and the Duqm refinery in Oman, helped to supply the additional volumes of distillate to Europe. U.S. distillate exports shifted from Latin America to meet demand in Europe.

Earlier this year, escalating tensions related to Iran’s nuclear program led to rising geopolitical risks to petroleum supply chains from the Middle East to Europe. An attack on a 197,000-b/d refinery in Haifa, Israel, in mid-June led to significant tightening in Mediterranean refined product markets in the early summer.

Conservative Judge Maria Lazar has launched a campaign for the state Supreme Court, telling voters her race will be different than the highly politicized elections that have become the norm in Wisconsin.

Lazar is running for the seat being vacated by conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, who was first elected in 2016 and decided in August not to seek a second term.

Lazar, who has served on Wisconsin’s District 2 Court of Appeals since 2022, announced her candidacy in a four-minute video posted Wednesday morning. She used the message to attack District 4 Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, who’s running for Supreme Court with the backing of Democrats.

Lazar was previously a judge on the Waukesha County Circuit Court, winning elections in 2015 and 2021.

She worked as an attorney for the Wisconsin Department of Justice from 2010 to 2015 under Republican Attorneys General J.B. Van Hollen and Brad Schimel. Prior to that, she was an attorney in private practice for more than 20 years.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division today announced four opinion letters designed to promote clarity, consistency, and transparency in the application of federal labor standards.

The opinion letters provide official written interpretations from the division that address real-world questions and explain how laws apply to specific factual circumstances presented by individuals or organizations, that may also have a broader interest to those impacted by the issue presented.

The opinion letters issued today are:

• FLSA2025-03: Addressing whether a restaurant employer may include “front-of-house” oyster shuckers in a traditional tip pool with servers for whom the employer takes a tip credit under section 3(m)(2)(A) of the FLSA.
• FLSA2025-04: Addressing whether “emergency pay” provided to firefighters and other employees of a city must be included in the regular rate of pay used to calculate overtime premiums under section 7(e) of the FLSA, and, if so, how to calculate the regular rate when such pay is included.
• FLSA2025-05: Addressing whether two entities that are physically connected, and whose ownership, management, and operations appear common, are jointly and severally liable for all aspects of compliance under the FLSA.
• FMLA2025-02-A: Addressing how to calculate the number of hours of Family and Medical Leave Act leave available to correctional law enforcement employees who work a fixed “Pitman Schedule” requiring 12-hour shifts over a two-week cycle that includes mandatory overtime.

The public is encouraged to use the division’s new opinion letters page to explore past guidance and submit new requests. The division will exercise discretion in determining whether and how it will respond to each request, which will focus primarily on attempting to address issues of broad-based concern.

The Wage and Hour Division offers multiple compliance assistance resources to provide employers the information they need to comply with the law. Employers and workers can contact the division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243).

The Point Beach Nuclear Plant along the lakeshore will operate for an additional 20 years. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved subsequent license renewal for Point Beach Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2, extending operations through 2050 and 2053, respectively.

“This approval ensures that Wisconsin’s only nuclear plant will continue to provide safe, reliable, low-cost energy for generations to come,” said Brian Bolster, NextEra Energy Resources president and chief executive officer. “We are proud that Point Beach will remain an integral part of Wisconsin’s energy future and a vital contributor to the state and local economies.”

Since beginning commercial operations in 1970 (Unit 1) and 1973 (Unit 2), Point Beach has been a cornerstone of Wisconsin’s energy infrastructure. The facility:

• Generates enough electricity to power nearly 1 million homes and businesses.
• Supplies approximately 14% of Wisconsin’s total electricity.
• Maintains grid stability.
• Operates on a 1,200-acre site along Lake Michigan.