Brian Dake

FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance is available to the state of Wisconsin to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and tornadoes on July 27, 2026.

The President’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Forest, Outagamie, Vilas and Winnebago counties. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and families recover from the effects of the disaster.

Individuals and families who sustained losses in the designated areas should first file claims with their insurance providers and then apply for assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA App. If you use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, provide FEMA the number for that service.

Public Assistance federal funding is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged in Vilas and Winnebago counties.

On Monday, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced that Americans will have access to more reliable, accessible, and actionable information about what their health coverage includes and what they are likely to pay before receiving care under new regulations that strengthen federal healthcare price transparency requirements. The actions taken today to create a more transparent healthcare marketplace also ensure employers can make more informed decisions; researchers can better understand healthcare markets; and innovators can build better tools.

Updates to the Transparency in Coverage (TiC) rules, finalized today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in partnership with the Departments of Labor and the Treasury (the Departments), build on the historic health care price transparency rules established during President Trump’s first term.

The final rules improve the underlying healthcare pricing data by reducing duplicative and unnecessary information, providing more context about in-network prices, increasing available out-of-network pricing information, and strengthening accountability for the completeness and accuracy of published data. Reporting frequency for pricing information will change from monthly to quarterly, maintaining meaningful transparency while lowering administrative burden.

The rules also require group health plans and health insurance issuers to provide consumers with personalized cost-sharing information by phone, in addition to existing online tools.

These improvements will help technology developers build better consumer tools, give consumers more reliable information when comparing costs before receiving care, and enable employers and researchers to better analyze healthcare markets, all of which will help drive competition across the healthcare industry.

The Departments plan to begin development of the initial schema for the Prescription Drug File in November 2026 and will finalize it on or around May 2027. Plans and issuers will be expected to publish their Prescription Drug Files using this schema starting in December 2027 and monthly thereafter.

Recent data have found that the top 25% of the most expensive healthcare service prices have dropped by 6.3% per year following the initial implementation of price transparency requirements on hospitals and health plans.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Monday aimed at bringing down near-record diesel prices by waiving restrictions on cheaper red-dyed diesel. Red-dyed diesel is the same as regular diesel. It’s just untaxed and dyed red to distinguish it for off-road use only, such as for tractors or industrial purposes.

Allowing broad use of tax-exempt diesel could be especially helpful for truckers grappling with a historic spike in diesel set off by the war in Iran and amplified by attacks on Russian refineries and export restrictions in China.

The diesel move could also help farmers who rely on trucks to deliver their goods to market and to receive fertilizer and other supplies.

“For many years, farm vehicles, construction equipment and other off-road vehicles have used what’s known as red-dyed diesel. You know what that is? I don’t know what the hell it is, but whatever it is, it is supposed to be very good,” Trump said, before adding it’s “exactly the same as normal diesel.”

According to a fact sheet released by the White House, the order will “temporarily allow off-road ‘dyed’ diesel for highway use and defer the applicable Federal excise tax, lowering costs for Americans.”

The executive order instructs the Internal Revenue Service to waive penalties on ‘dyed diesel’ for highway use through the end of the year.

The catch is the tax obligations don’t go away completely, they are just deferred until next year. However, the order instructs officials to explore ways to forgive the tax obligations, including potentially legislation.

The order also instructs administration officials to encourage more states to adopt similar policies and to ensure farmers have access to dyed diesel in high-demand areas.

Diesel prices skyrocketed from $3.76 a gallon before the Iran war to a record of $6.53 a gallon on September 22, according to AAA. The national average price for diesel on Tuesday was $6.32 a gallon.

Normally, diesel for on-road use is taxed at 24.4 cents per gallon by the federal government. Diesel also faces state taxes, which average 35.5 cents per gallon, according to federal data.

Starting October 1, Wisconsin employers on average will pay 1.97% less in worker’s compensation insurance rates, saving an estimated $36 million for policies over the coming year, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced today with the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI).

The lower rates reflect Wisconsin employers’ attention to workplace safety for the benefit of workers and employers alike. The 2026 rate decrease, approved by OCI, marks the 11th straight annual decline in Wisconsin. The actual premiums vary by employer based on factors such as injury risk exposure.

“Workplaces that are fair, just and safe support the success of working families and give Wisconsin employers a competitive edge in recruitment and retention,” DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek said. “Partnerships between employers, workers and training providers are critical to advancing a culture of workplace safety and worker well-being.”

Worker’s compensation insurance rates are adjusted annually by a committee of actuaries from members of the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau (WCRB). This independent body examines and selects the methodology and trends that produce the proposed rate adjustment, which is then reviewed and approved by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. While the overall rate level will decrease by 1.97%, the impact on policyholders will vary based on specific circumstances.

“As we celebrate another year of rate decreases, Wisconsin employers can continue to count on our competitive insurance marketplace for affordable, high-quality coverage for their business and employees,” said Insurance Commissioner Nathan Houdek.

President Trump has said he may ask European countries to release some of their diesel reserves as he considers banning US exports of the fuel.

The president’s comment comes after diesel prices hit record highs on UK forecourts this week, as the Iran war continues to put pressure on the supply of refined fuels.

The UK is heavily reliant on imported diesel from the US. The UK has been discussing the US supply threats with the EU which is holding a meeting on Friday on the issue. Banning exports would flood the US market with diesel, and could bring prices down significantly for American drivers.

But experts warn such a ban would put further pressure on diesel prices in other countries, unless they can access further supplies.

The US is a vital supplier of diesel to the world, exporting between 1.2 and 1.5 million barrels per day, with most of it going to Latin America.

European countries including France, the Netherlands and the UK, also import a significant amount from the US following the reduction in Russian and Middle Eastern sources of diesel.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge cooled more than expected but remained elevated well above target in August as consumers continued to face price pressures.

The Commerce Department on Wednesday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.3% on a monthly basis in August and was up 3.4% from a year ago.

Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.2% on a monthly basis and 3% year over year. Both figures were cooler than economists’ expectations of 0.3% and 3.3%, respectively.

Federal Reserve policymakers are focused on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation.

Compared with July’s readings, headline PCE declined from 3.7% to 3.4%, while core PCE also fell from 3.3% to 3%.

A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board gives employers more flexibility to discipline workers for misconduct even when it’s linked with certain protected activities such as union organizing.

That’s according to an analysis by Milwaukee-based law firm Michael Best, which says employers have regained flexibility for dealing with “employee outbursts,” including “threatening, abusive, discriminatory, or otherwise inappropriate” conduct.

The NLRB last week restored a previously established legal framework, signaling a shift away from the board’s stance under the Biden administration, authors wrote. They noted the change from its previous more “employee-protective” approach to workplace conduct.

This prior approach generally allowed abusive and offensive outbursts to “go unchecked” if they were part of activities protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, which includes self-organizing and joining unions, per the law firm’s analysis.

Authors argue the latest decision “sets labor law back on a more reasonable course,” as employers can lawfully discipline their workers for inappropriate conduct if they would have done so regardless of whether the employee was engaged in protected activities.

“This decision represents the first overturn of Biden-Board precedent by the newly constituted Republican majority,” authors wrote. “It signals that more such decisions are likely on the horizon. The decision has important implications for workplace investigations, disciplinary decisions, and the enforcement of workplace conduct rules.”

Under the restored framework, the general counsel involved with a given case must first establish that the employee engaged in Section 7 activity, the employer knew of it, and the protected activity motivated the discipline.

If that’s demonstrated, then the burden shifts to the employer to prove it would have imposed the same discipline, even without the protected activity involved, due to the employee’s misconduct.

“As a practical matter, the inquiry now focuses less on whether the employee’s conduct retained the Act’s protection and more on whether the employer would have disciplined the employee regardless of any protected activity,” authors wrote.

Still, the NLRB decision doesn’t eliminate the risk of unfair labor practice liability, as employers still can’t discipline employees just because they engage in union activity or other protected activity, the analysis notes.

Authors urge businesses to ensure they’re applying workplace conduct rules consistently, while documenting their reasons for disciplinary actions and taking other measures to be sure they’re complying with the restored framework.

Meanwhile, employers should expect further changes in NLRB law now that the board has shown it’s willing to revisit Biden-era precedents, authors say. More reversals may be in store for election procedures, workplace policies, organizing rights and other areas in the coming months.

President Donald Trump said Saturday on Truth Social that he had “just approved new Fuel Economy Standards,” setting up a formal replacement of the Biden administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements. According to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the administration will announce the change Monday, when the new standards are expected to be finalized.

Under the Biden rules, the industry faced a fleetwide CAFE target near 50.4 mpg across cars and light trucks by the 2031 model year. A December proposal would have eased that to about 34.5 mpg over the same timeframe. Trump called the previous policy a “ridiculous EV Mandate.” He said the new standards would cut car prices, restart idled plants and restore jobs.

The rollback gives automakers more freedom to keep offering combustion vehicles without depending so heavily on hybrids and EVs. Combustion models can carry lower prices than comparable hybrids. The average U.S. new-car transaction price surpassed $50,000 in December. Congress, meanwhile, has already stripped the fines levied on automakers that miss mileage targets, a change worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the industry.

Wisconsin had a record-setting $2.13 billion in food, forestry and agriculture exports in the first half of this year, buoyed by rising exports to key markets in Canada and Mexico.

That’s according to the latest quarterly report from the International Agribusiness Center, which shows Wisconsin has climbed to No. 10 in the country for ag exports after seeing growth of 5.42% compared to the first half of 2025.

Led by Canada and Mexico, the state’s top five export markets also include South Korea, China and Japan, collectively making up 65% of Wisconsin’s total ag exports, according to the report. In all, the state exported to 134 countries in the first half of the year.

Ethanol exports to Canada rose by 71% while cranberries rose by 66%, sauces by 53% and pickles by 7%. At the same time, corn exports to Mexico increased by 135% while soybeans grew by 125%.

Meanwhile, report authors note East Asian countries “remained a strong area of growth” for the state, as meat cuts going to Taiwan grew by 69% while those going to South Korea rose by 107%. But exports to China continue to fall as exporters in Wisconsin explore new markets, dropping to $93 million in the second quarter from $131 million at the same point last year.

Broken down by broad category, crops made up 63% of the state’s ag exports for the second quarter, including grains, forestry, processed foods and beverages, the report shows. Dairy made up 18%, covering cheese, whey, lactose and milk proteins, while meat made up the other 18%, including livestock, bovine genetics, hides and furs.

Based on the latest export data, Wisconsin is the No. 1 state in the country for exports of cranberries, ginseng, specialty cheese, prepared meat, bovine genetics and mink pelts.

The ​Trump administration is halting enrollment in Obamacare health plans for more than 760,000 enrollees it believes were fraudulently signed up, ‌Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday, part of an anti-fraud effort he estimated would save $2.2 billion in taxpayer money.

The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services canceled about 315,000 plans last month, citing unverified citizenship or immigration documentation and suspected improper enrollments.

The agency will bar 569 brokers it accused of submitting “statistically implausible rates of plan year 2026 ​applications” without necessary applicant information such as a Social Security number.

Vance described the canceled group as “a mix of both phantom people, but also real people who just don’t meet the eligibility requirements,” including ​some he said who were signed up by brokers without their knowledge.

Vance said the administration would further verify between 419,000 and 450,000 more people to confirm they are legal US residents meeting income thresholds.

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said the enrollees were treated as “phantoms” because officials believe most either do not exist or were unaware they had coverage, ​having never filed a claim and being unreachable despite repeated contact attempts.

The administration is using an emergency-style rulemaking process to impose an ​immediate, industry-wide freeze on new Obamacare broker registrations, bypassing the usual advance notice-and-comment period. Oz called it a “temporary national moratorium” for six months, saying most fraud was ‌concentrated among ⁠such agents.