Brian Dake

A new Federal Communications Commission report shows that high-speed residential broadband is now more ubiquitous than ever before.

The study found that from June 2024 to June 2025, the number of Americans lacking access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service decreased by about 23%.

Over a two-year period, this reduction was approximately 43%. Today, 96.9% of Americans have access to a fixed terrestrial broadband service at 100/20 Mbps, the FCC reported.

The report also cited data showing increased competition. Twenty-three states now have more than 50% of locations served with fixed wireless at 100/20 Mbps, the FCC said.

Other key findings include:

• Over a two-year period, the percentage of rural Americans lacking access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service decreased by over 44%. Further, with the inclusion of satellite, 100/20 Mbps rural broadband deployment is nearly universally available in rural areas.
• The number of Americans lacking access to mobile 5G with a minimum speed of 35/3 Mbps declined by over 30% over a two-year period. Today, almost 95% of American homes and businesses are covered by 5G at 35/3 Mbps speeds.
• The number of competitive options available to Americans also continues to grow. As of June 2025, 77% of Americans have access to three or more fixed services at 100/20 Mbps, and 43.4% of Americans have access to three of more fixed terrestrial services at 100/20 Mbps.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.1% on a monthly basis and is up 3.4% from a year ago.

The monthly data follows a reading of negative 0.4% in June, while the annual figure is slightly cooler than last month’s 3.5% reading.

So-called core prices, which exclude volatile measurements of gasoline and groceries to better assess price growth trends, were up 0.2% from a month ago and are 2.5% higher year over year. The monthly figure represents a slight uptick after price growth was flat in June, while the annual figure is slightly cooler than last month’s 2.6% reading.

Energy prices fell 1.5% on a monthly basis in July, but remain up 14.7% from a year ago. That follows a decline of 5.7% in June, when energy prices were easing quickly.

Food prices increased 0.1% from a month ago and are up 3% compared with last year. The food at home index declined 0.1% in July and is up 2.7% from a year ago, while the food away from home index rose 0.3% in July and is 3.4% higher than last year.

Housing prices rose 0.1% in July, which the BLS noted was responsible for about two-thirds of the total monthly increase, while the shelter index is up 3.2% from a year ago. Tenants’ and household insurance prices decreased 0.1% in July but are up 4.8% from a year ago.

Transportation services prices rose 0.3% in July and are up 2.9% from a year ago. Airline fares rose 2.2% in July and are up 25.5% over the last year.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule that permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.  The final rule is effective on its publication in the Federal Register. FinCEN today also announced that it will delete previously reported information by U.S. persons—now exempt from the reporting requirements—from the beneficial ownership information database.

“Today’s action is a victory for common sense and American small businesses,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “President Trump promised to cut red tape, and this final rule delivers. Treasury is eliminating a burdensome reporting requirement for millions of law-abiding business owners without compromising our national security.”

The final rule:

• adopts the exemptions set out in the interim final rule issued in March 2025, making the rollback of beneficial ownership reporting by U.S. companies permanent;
• exempts U.S. persons who have obtained FinCEN IDs from any obligation to update or correct the information they originally provided to FinCEN to obtain their FinCEN IDs;
• eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to report U.S. person “company applicants” (i.e., the individuals who helped those foreign companies register to do business in the United States);
• exempts foreign pooled investment vehicles registered in the United States from reporting the beneficial ownership information of a U.S person in control of the investment vehicle; and
• confirms that FinCEN will delete information about any individuals—company applicants, beneficial owners, or recipients of a FinCEN ID—that FinCEN reasonably believes is a U.S. person (e.g., the information is linked to a U.S. passport or U.S. driver’s license).

Under the final rule, foreign entities that are reporting companies will still be required to report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals.

In addition to the final rule, FinCEN has issued Frequently Asked Questions, and will be updating guidance on FinCEN.gov to reflect the final rule.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin governor Tuesday, marking an unexpected comeback after suspending his campaign earlier in the race.

Crowley won with 39.8% of the vote and Francesca Hong took second with 39.4% of the vote.

Tuesday capped off a whirlwind of a primary that saw a seven-candidate field narrow to four in the course of two months. Crowley dropped out of the race on July 8 and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. The move set up Rodriguez as the front-runner for the Democrats. But just days later, she fired her campaign manager over inaccurate campaign finance filings.

The scandal blew up in Rodriguez’s face and, by the end of that week, she ended her campaign. Crowley hopped back into the fight and grabbed the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers.

In a statement on social media, Evers said Crowley “earned this win” and “can’t wait for him to be our next governor.”

Tuesday’s results set up a race between Crowley and Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany to succeed Evers.

The IRS on Wednesday issued Notice 2026-28, providing guidance on how employers can use the new premium-based method to calculate the expanded credit for paid family and medical leave (PFML) under the 2025 tax law.

H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly referred to as the OBBBA, made the PFML credit in Sec. 45S permanent and made substantive changes to enhance the credit and expand its availability to a broader group of employers. However, employers must ensure that their written leave policies are compliant during the first full year that the amended Sec. 45S changes are in effect, which is 2026.

H.R. 1 offers greater incentives for businesses to offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave, which employees may use to recover from a serious health condition or to care for certain family members with serious health conditions, the IRS said.

H.R. 1 also made other changes to the credit, including:

• Expanded eligibility: Employers can claim the credit for employees with six months of service and for part-time employees customarily working 20 hours or more per week.
• Expanded coverage: Employers can claim the credit for insurance premiums to provide leave or for wages paid during leave.
• State and local mandates: Employers can count leave provided under state or local mandates toward the eligibility for this federal tax credit, but not toward the credit calculation.

Beginning in 2026, employers can claim the credit for premiums paid for PFML insurance policies, in addition to wages paid during PFML leave. Also beginning this year, more employers providing paid family and medical leave that meets certain requirements can take advantage of a general business tax credit. That credit ranges from 12.5% to 25% of wages paid to qualifying employees for up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave per tax year.

To help employers apply the new premium-based method, the notice addresses how the premium-based method compares to the wage-based method; how to allocate the qualifying premiums; and how to elect between the premium method and the wage method.

Forthcoming proposed regulations will provide broader guidance to address the statute comprehensively and provide certainty to taxpayers, the IRS said.

According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States remained the world’s largest crude oil producer in 2025, extending a streak that began in 2018 when the United States overtook Russia to become the world’s leading producer.

Crude oil production in the United States, including lease condensate, averaged a record-high 13.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2025, breaking the previous U.S. and global production record of 13.2 million b/d set in 2024. U.S. crude oil production was about 40% higher on average in 2025 than that from the next two largest global crude oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. crude oil production has been buoyed by continued gains in drilling productivity and operational efficiency across key shale basins, which allow operators to extract more oil per well. The growth in output continued in 2025 despite lower oil prices; West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices dropped from an average of $77/b in 2024 to $65/b in 2025 amid global oversupply. Production growth was particularly strong in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, which had a 4% increase in crude oil production, from 6.3 million b/d in 2024 to 6.6 million b/d in 2025. The Permian accounted for approximately 48% of U.S. production in 2025.

Shale oil and gas development in the United States became notable when in 2008 it reversed a multi-decade decline in U.S. crude oil production. U.S. crude oil production powered by shale development has turned the United States into not just the world’s largest producer, but the largest producer of crude oil ever.

The difference between the United States and other major producers widened in 2025, with Russian output largely unchanged and Saudi Arabia recording modest growth as a result of OPEC+ unwinding voluntary production cuts. Crude oil production including lease condensate in Saudi Arabia increased from 9.2 million b/d in 2024 to 9.6 million b/d in 2025. Russia’s crude oil production averaged 9.9 million b/d in 2024 and remained largely unchanged in 2025 as a combination of voluntary production cuts and effects of the conflict with Ukraine limited crude oil output growth.

A transmission utility has filed plans with state and federal regulators aimed at shielding customers from transmission costs tied to data centers.

Late last month, American Transmission Company and We Energies filed an application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin seeking approval of a transmission charge agreement for Microsoft’s data center in Mount Pleasant.

It comes as ATC is planning more than $2 billion in transmission infrastructure projects tied to data center developments across Wisconsin. Those range from new high-voltage power lines and substations to upgrades to existing facilities.

The proposal is the first in a series of agreements aimed at making sure customers aren’t on the hook for transmission costs for data center projects, including others in Port Washington and Beaver Dam.

Bob McKee, director of interconnection solutions at ATC, said the company requires minimum transmission charge agreements when transmission construction costs exceed $100 million or when transmission facilities are designed to serve more than 100 megawatts of demand.

“We’ve had other ways to protect customers from costs associated with the transmission capacity requested for a specific large load project, like a data center,” he said. “This is the newest protection. This is just another mechanism that we’ve put in place after gauging, over time, developments in our footprint.”

In a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ATC said the agreement is designed to protect customers as energy needs ramp up for Microsoft’s project in Racine County and if the project ends up using less transmission capacity than planned.

Under the terms of the agreement, the PSC application says ATC will calculate a minimum transmission charge that would require We Energies to pay for the full amount of transmission capacity requested for the project, even if Microsoft ultimately uses less capacity than anticipated.

“It starts charging that utility for this transmission capacity that they requested for their customer when those facilities go in service, not necessarily when they start using it,” McKee said.

WEDC provided $229 million to 303 businesses and other recipients in Wisconsin in the latest fiscal year, exceeding the prior year’s total of $198 million.

That’s according to Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary and CEO John Miller, who discussed the state agency’s annual impact yesterday during a meeting of its Board of Directors. He noted the total is the highest for a given year since 2018. WEDC was created in 2011.

“This work encompasses all sorts of different areas we work in, helping communities create and retain vibrant downtowns, attracting businesses to our state and providing them with the resources to grow, enabling startups to progress from concept to reality and promoting Wisconsin goods and services throughout the world,” he said.

He noted the dollar figure also captures the agency’s work to attract foreign direct investment into Wisconsin from elsewhere around the world.

Miller yesterday also touted the agency’s most high-profile business attraction deal of the year: Eli Lilly’s expansion in Kenosha County, providing up to $100 million in tax credits for the $4 billion project. That includes $18 million for job creation and $82 million for capital investment.

Meanwhile, WEDC in fiscal year 2026 provided 225 grants to businesses, nonprofits and communities in the state totaling $39.26 million, reaching 67 of the state’s 72 counties, Miller said.

Governor Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency after severe storms caused widespread damage throughout eastern Wisconsin on Monday.

At least one tornado has been confirmed by the National Weather Service with preliminary surveys indicating an EF3 tornado damaged the Menasha and Appleton area.

“We are continuing to assess the devastation and destruction Wisconsin is seeing, especially in the Fox Cities, and we are committed to doing everything we can to help every family, business, and community affected recover,” said Gov. Evers.

“This emergency declaration will ensure every available resource is deployed so we can respond quickly to the needs on the ground, and I want to thank the neighbors, emergency and first responders, local partners, and volunteers who are already working to help to restore essential services, clean up neighborhoods, and assess the damages. Together, we will recover and recover stronger, and I ask everyone to keep the families and communities affected in your thoughts over the coming days and weeks as they rebuild.”

Multiple fire services, law enforcement, public works, utilities, volunteer organizations and other emergency response agencies have been deployed to help the public with recovery operations.

The State of Emergency Operations Center was elevated to a “level 3.” Gov. Evers’ declaration will help ensure agencies, local partners, utilities and emergency management officials can continue working together and respond quickly to damage and effects caused by the severe weather.

Wisconsin Emergency Management, has been working with counties to assess damage and determine resources needed for a speedy recovery.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has voted to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to rescind the requirement for employers and other covered entities to file an annual report with the EEOC summarizing aggregate data on their employees’ race and sex (reports known respectively as the EEO-1, EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, EEO-5, and EEO-6 reports or EEO Data Reports), and the recordkeeping requirements related to these reports.

The EEOC’s regulations currently require all organizations covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act — including over two million employers — to file these annual reports, regardless of whether or not an employer or other covered organization has ever been accused of a Title VII violation via a charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC. According to agency estimates, the EEOC’s current data collection requirement imposes costs of almost $275 million on employers every year, as well as almost $4 million of costs on the EEOC to administer this data collection.

In the NPRM, the Commission determined that the EEO Data Reports are inconsistent with equal employment opportunity law, may raise constitutional concerns, and collect data that is not narrowly tailored or necessary to enforce anti-discrimination statutes. Under Title VII, the EEOC is not required to impose these reporting obligations and may eliminate them when they are inconsistent with the law, not useful, or counter to enforcement priorities. The NPRM concludes that any limited value of the reports is outweighed by the significant burdens they impose on employers and on the Commission — particularly because employers must submit them annually without any specific indication of a potential violation.

“The Commission’s proposal to rescind the EEO Data Reports is consistent with the text of Title VII and Supreme Court precedent,” said EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas. “The proposed rescission of the EEO Data Reports reaffirms the founding principle that every individual is created equal and therefore is entitled to equal treatment under the law. Because the EEO Data Reports require all covered employers to categorize employees by race and sex annually, disconnected from any allegation of a Title VII violation or related Commission enforcement proceeding, the EEO Data Reports stand in direct tension with Title VII’s requirement that employment practices be colorblind. Collecting such data about employees’ race and sex — absent any specific allegation of discrimination — not only risks hindering effective enforcement of equal employment laws but also raises constitutional concerns. The Commission’s authority to request specific, tailored records relevant to a charge investigation, however, remains unchanged.”