Brian Dake

The IRS published Schedule 1-A (Form 1040), Additional Deductions, along with updated instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, that explain how taxpayers can claim the new deductions for tips, overtime, and car loan interest, and the enhanced deduction for seniors.

Schedule 1-A does not differ from the draft version issued last year for calculating the four deductions enacted by H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, on a single form. The instructions do provide details on how all four apply, however.

Taxpayers calculate the amount of the deductions that apply to them, add the amounts together, and include the total on line 13b of their Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR, U.S. Income Tax Return for Seniors, or on line 13c of Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return.

The form also includes a section for calculating the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income, which is used in calculating phaseouts for the four deductions.

All four deductions expire after 2028.

Gov. Tony Evers says he’s optimistic that he and Republican legislative leaders will strike a deal to lower property taxes and increase school funding.

At a Madison luncheon event hosted by WisPolitics Thursday, Evers said that he will meet again with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, in the coming weeks.

“We’re still talking, we’re hopeful that we get some solutions soon,” he said. “When you do things in a bipartisan way, you give things up, get something in return, same with the other side. And so we’re continuing to do that.”

He and GOP leaders have gone back and forth for months over how to reduce Wisconsin’s high property tax rates. While Republican leaders blamed his “400-year veto” for increasing school revenue limits, Evers said investing in schools would reduce the need for communities to go to referendum.

Republicans eventually backed off their demand that Evers repeal his veto, and Evers suggested Thursday that he’s holding fast to his preferred funding mechanism for schools, which would be increased school aids.

“I believe that if we want to take make a huge effort around equalized aid for the state of Wisconsin schools, we should be putting more money into that, and that will help property taxes be relieved,” he said.

In their last public counter to the governor, Republicans proposed a different type of tax relief, calling for $1.48 billion in direct tax rebates to residents. On Thursday, Evers called the effort to mail out rebate checks “maximum politics.”

“That’s (an) election year issue,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s wise.”

Two Democratic state legislators announced a bill Tuesday, backed by a coalition of labor unions and political organizations, that would raise the minimum wage in Wisconsin from $7.25 to $20.

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and Rep. Angelina Cruz (D-Racine) have drafted a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 immediately, followed by regular increases until it hits $20 in 2030. From then on, the state wage floor would be pegged to inflation.

“About 800,000 workers in Wisconsin earn less than $20 an hour. They are home health care providers, early childhood educators, grocery workers, nursing assistants, the backbone of our communities,” Cruz said. “This bill is about dignity, it’s about fairness and it’s about building an economy where, if you work hard in Wisconsin, you can afford to live in Wisconsin.”

The bill provides small business owners, who employ 50 or fewer workers, more time to transition to the new wage floor. It also raises the tipped wage from $2.33 an hour to $7.50.

The legislation has backing from a coalition of unions and political organizations, including the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Union (MASH), United Auto Workers (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Citizen Action of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Working Families Party and Our Wisconsin Revolution.

“Even if it doesn’t pass this session, we know that elected officials will become accountable this fall,” Roys said. “Maybe it’s the last bill of 2026 and maybe it’s the first law of 2027.”

Wisconsin companies exported $27.12 billion in goods during 2025, a decrease of $687.6 million or roughly 2.5% for the year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The total was the state’s lowest since 2021 and marked the second consecutive year of decline.

Exports started the year on a good trend with year-over-year gains in January and March leading to a 2.1% increase for the first quarter. Starting in April, Wisconsin exports declined year-over-year for six straight months, including a 9.2% drop in April and a 7.4% drop in May. For the second quarter, exports were down 7.2% and they declined 3.4% in the third quarter. October did show a 2.6% year-over-year increase and December was up 1.8%, but a 7.6% decline in November left the state down 1% for the quarter.

Geographically, the declines were driven by some of Wisconsin’s largest trading partners.

Exports to Canada, the top destination for Wisconsin products, fell 8.6% or $706 million to $7.52 billion. It was the lowest level of exports to Canada since 2020. Exports to Mexico, the second largest destination for Wisconsin products, were down 7.1% to $4.04 billion, a decline of $309 million. Exports to China, the third largest destination for Wisconsin in 2024, declined 34.5% or $535 million to $1.02 billion. It marked the lowest level of exports to China since 2006.

Exports to the rest of Asia, on the other hand, increased 9.2% to $4.93 billion, a gain of $415 million.

Europe also saw an increase, importing 6.6% from Wisconsin to reach $6.19 billion. The Netherlands in particular drove the increase with a 29.8% increase to reach $1.04 billion. It was enough of an increase to propel the country to be the top European destination for Wisconsin products.

Exports to Germany, the top destination in 2024, decreased more than 17% or $195 million to $942 million.

Other top European destinations in 2025 included the United Kingdom, up almost 14% to $872 million, Belgium, down 5.3% to $760 million and France, down 7.6% to $384 million.

Exports to South America increased 6.4% to $1.7 billion and exports to Africa were up $132 million or 41.2% to $454 million.

Wisconsin’s exports to Australia, the fifth largest destination for the state’s products in 2024, dropped nearly 17% to $671 million for 2025. The decrease was enough to push the country down to 11^th as a destination for Wisconsin products.

The Supreme Court dealt a blow to President Trump’s trade agenda on Friday, siding against him in a case challenging the legality of tariffs that have shaped global markets and U.S. supply chains.

By a 6–3 vote, the majority concluded that the law cited to justify the import duties “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the court. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

The two cases, which Trump has described as “life or death” for the United States, have forced the Supreme Court to confront how far a president can go in reshaping U.S. trade policy.

The challenges — Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections Inc. — were brought by an educational toy manufacturer and a family-owned wine and spirits importer challenging the legality of Trump’s tariffs.

Both cases turn on a central question: whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gave the president authority to impose the tariffs, or whether that move crossed constitutional lines. The disputes followed Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, a sweeping package of import duties he said would address trade imbalance and reduce reliance on foreign goods.

The two cases, which Trump has described as “life or death” for the United States, have forced the Supreme Court to confront how far a president can go in reshaping U.S. trade policy.

he Wisconsin REALTORS Association (WRA) has released its January 2026 Real Estate Report, showing new listings fell significantly, leading to tighter inventory statewide.

Compared to a few years ago, there are fewer existing home sales and higher home prices. Existing home sales in Wisconsin fell 3.9% compared to January 2025. The median price rose 7.9% over the past year to $315,000.

Amy Curler, board chair of the WRA, said, “Total listings grew on an annual basis for 28 straight months before declining in January. We suspect this is just a temporary deviation from the trend, and we’re cautiously optimistic that the spring and summer markets will see growing inventories.”

Despite higher house prices, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell 86 basis points from January 2025 to January 2026. This helped lift the Wisconsin Housing Affordability Index by 2.2 percent, which is its highest level since January 2024.

The strongest home sale price increases were seen in the Northeast, with an increase of 11%, and the Southeast with 10%.

In his eighth and final State of the State address Tuesday night, Gov. Tony Evers said Republicans have chronically underfunded Wisconsin schools and blamed them for increased property taxes after negotiations for a tax cut stalled this week.

In comments to reporters after the speech, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said negotiations would continue and he remains “optimistic” about the prospects for a tax and spending deal.

That work likely won’t include approval of a $2.3 billion package that Republicans sent him this week, which included a tax rebate plan.

“Local property taxes go up when the state fails to do its part to meet its obligation,” said Evers, calling for a plan to get “meaningful resources to K-12 schools and provide property tax relief.”

“And it must balance these important obligations a heck of a lot better than the plan Republican leaders sent me this week,” he added.

With the state Assembly due to wrap up business this week, Evers called on lawmakers to stay in Madison and said he’d call a special session of the Legislature in the coming weeks with the goal of banning partisan gerrymandering. The governor has the power to call a special session but no power over how legislators conduct it

After the speech ended, Republican leaders said Evers was claiming credit for victories secured by their party in the Legislature.

In a televised speech, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said Wisconsin is strong “despite the governor, not because of him.”

“If the Democrats were in charge in Madison, Wisconsin would be a very different place. Jobs would flee to other states. … Our increasingly mobile workforce would leave for states with lower income tax rates,” he said. “Thankfully, that’s not reality. And thanks to the state Legislature, the state of our state is strong.”

While median wages in Wisconsin have kept pace with inflation over the last 25 years, many essential household costs have risen much faster than wages and overall inflation.

That’s according to a new report from Forward Analytics, the research arm of the Wisconsin Counties Association. It highlights the rising costs for essential expenses like housing and healthcare as the primary constraint on household budgets across the state.

Preliminary estimates show that median household incomes in Wisconsin rose by 90 percent from 2000 to 2025, while overall costs of goods and services measured by the Consumer Price Index have increased by 87 percent during the same period, the report states.

Much of a household’s typical budget is tied up in goods and services that are hard to reduce, substitute or eliminate, like housing, health care, transportation and education, the report notes.

The report looked at cost increases across a variety of goods and services, broken down by essential costs and discretionary, or nonessential, costs. Most of the essential costs examined outpaced median incomes, while most discretionary costs decreased over the last 25 years.

The biggest increase among essential costs came from hospital services, which have increased by 274 percent since 2000, the report found.

Those hospital costs include inpatient and outpatient care, and represent the price that’s paid by consumers and by insurance companies toward hospital services.

An administrative law judge has ordered some changes but upheld key state permits for Enbridge’s $450 million plan to reroute an oil and gas pipeline around the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

In her decision, Administrative Law Judge Angela Chaput-Foy wrote the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources met state requirements and permitting standards when it issued a wetland and waterway permit, stormwater permit and water quality certification for the Line 5 reroute.

“While the Band expresses concern regarding potential impacts, they have failed to provide evidence demonstrating that the authorized activities will, in fact, violate state water quality standards,” Foy wrote. “The fears that they express are fears; they lack evidence showing that these changes will occur and impact water quality.”

Foy went on to say that environmental groups also failed to show that more baseline data should be required to certify the project meets state water quality standards. Even so, Foy ordered four modifications to Enbridge’s wetlands permit.

Those changes affect monitoring of wetland restoration after construction. They also require more work to assess the risk of artesian aquifer breaches. Enbridge must also clarify it’s obtained a permit for taking a threatened plant in Wisconsin, as well as obtain a separate permit for stabilizing banks within waterways.

Rob Lee, an attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates said in a statement there’s a “strong” case for appealing the decision. The group is weighing next steps.

The Trump administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have announced massive changes to the nation’s environmental policy, moving to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding results on which the United States of America’s current emissions regulations are based. President Trump and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin maintain that this is the single largest deregulation action in American history.

Back in 2009, EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson signed two distinct findings related to the endangerment brought by and causes of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Obama administration and the EPA moved to limit these specific gases based on the results of the Endangerment Finding study, rolling out tighter emissions regulations for new vehicle fleets and powertrains. Detractors have argued that the EPA does not possess regulatory authority, and that Congress must be involved in establishing emissions rules.

The EPA under Zeldin first proposed rescinding the findings altogether back in July 2025, and has already rolled back tailpipe emissions regulations established by his political predecessors. With this new action, Trump and Zeldin have terminated green emissions standards imposed from 2012 onward, with no plans to impose them beyond 2027. Zeldin announced that the EPA will be advising automakers to kill start-stop technology, which he referred to as the “Obama Switch” during the press conference. (It is important to note that start-stop technology has never been mandated by the government.)