Brian Dake

Republican state lawmakers are seeking co-sponsors for more than half a dozen bills they say are aimed at increasing Wisconsin’s supply of affordable housing.

“When I refer to affordable housing, I want to be clear, we’re not talking about subsidized housing,” said state Rep. Rob Brooks, a Saukville Republican who also works as a real estate broker. “What I’m talking about is the housing stock that was built just a generation or two ago. We’re talking about small ranch homes, bungalow homes, some of those homes built without garages or alleyways.”

Brooks and other backers introduced the package of bills at a state Capitol news conference Tuesday.

They say one of the proposals aims to streamline the process for creating new lots for housing subdivisions.

Another bill would allow smaller homes, known as accessory dwelling units or ADUs, to be built statewide. Those homes, which are often referred to as coach houses, are typically built on the same property near a larger single-family home.

In a cosponsorship memo, state Rep. Joy Goeben, R-Hoebert, said by allowing coach houses across Wisconsin, the bill aims to address the state’s housing shortage and support a “variety of housing options.”

“Under current law, Wisconsin does not have a statewide framework for ADUs, instead it is up to local governments to regulate these types of units,” the memo said. “This creates a patchwork of regulation across the state, making it confusing for property owners and renters alike. Allowing ADUs statewide, in the limited capacity being proposed in this bill, provides property owners with a reasonable pathway to realize the benefits of ADUs.”

The bill specifies ADUs could be created by converting an existing structure, like a garage, into a home. It also specifies that any accessory dwelling unit created after the bill took effect could not be used as a short-term rental.

Another part of the package would set aside $10 million to create a revolving loan program, allowing first-time home buyers to get second mortgage loans at zero percent interest. That’s in addition to a bill that would award grants to property owners, so they can convert multi-family housing into condos.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department and IRS issued proposed regulations identifying the occupations that customarily and regularly received tips before 2025, and therefore may be eligible for the deduction. The proposed regulations also address the definition of “qualified tips” and other requirements taxpayers must comply with to claim the deduction.

The “No Tax on Tips” provision, enacted with OBBBA, allows employees and self-employed individuals to deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips they received in a year, per return. Eligible taxpayers may claim the deduction on their 2025 tax return that they file next year.

The deduction for qualified tips is available to eligible taxpayers who itemize their deductions, as well as those who do not itemize and take the standard deduction. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with incomes above $150,000 (or $300,000 in the case of a joint return).

More information can be found here:

Major technology companies and foreign governments are rushing to respond after President Donald Trump late Friday announced plans to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas.

The fee would apply to new H-1B applicants, not renewals or current visa holders, according to a White House official. It will first apply in the upcoming lottery cycle, and it does not apply to 2025 lottery winners, the person said. The White House also clarified that the new $100,000 fee is not an annual charge, as previously reported by several media outlets.

Amazon employed the most H-1B holders — more than 14,000 as of the end of June. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google had over 4,000 such visas each, among the top 10 recipients for the fiscal year 2025.

A health insurance provider will stop offering individual and family coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace in 11 Wisconsin counties next year, meaning about 24,000 people will have to find a new insurer.

Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative plans to stop offering marketplace plans in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine, Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Calumet, Dodge, Waushara and Waupaca counties beginning in January.

A spokesperson for CareSource, the parent company of Common Ground, said in a statement that it had made “the difficult decision to exit 11 counties.” The spokesperson said about 24,000 affected members will continue to receive coverage through 2025 but will have to look for a new health plan when open enrollment begins November 1.

Common Ground will continue to offer coverage in 13 Wisconsin counties: Brown, Door, Green Lake, Jefferson, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Ozaukee, Shawano, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha.

Common Ground has been offering ACA marketplace coverage in eastern Wisconsin since 2014. On its website, Common Ground said the decision to discontinue coverage in parts of the state was not related to its recent merger with CareSource.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved a widely anticipated rate cut and signaled that two more are on the way before the end of the year as concerns intensified over the U.S. labor market even as inflation is still in the air.

In an 11-to-1 vote signaling less dissent than Wall Street had anticipated, the Federal Open Market Committee lowered its benchmark overnight lending rate by a quarter percentage point. The decision puts the overnight funds rate in a range between 4.00%-4.25%.

Newly installed Governor Stephen Miran was the only policymaker voting against the quarter-point move, instead advocating for a half-point cut.

In the post-meeting statement, the committee again characterized economic activity as having “moderated” but added language saying that “job gains have slowed” and noted that inflation “has moved up and remains somewhat elevated.” Lower job growth and higher inflation are in conflict with the Fed’s twin goals of stable prices and full employment.

“Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated” the Fed statement said. “The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that downside risks to employment have risen.”

Yesterday, Governor Tony Evers encouraged Wisconsinites and local businesses affected by severe weather last month to apply for federal disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Federal disaster loans from the SBA will be available for Wisconsinites and businesses impacted by devastating storms that occurred August 9 through August 12.

Please note that the disaster loan offerings through the SBA are complementary to and separate from Individual Assistance programs offered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Businesses and residents in Milwaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties may be eligible for physical damage and economic injury assistance through SBA, while businesses in Dodge, Fond du Lac, Jefferson, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, and Walworth counties may be eligible for economic injury assistance.

Eligible applicants may apply for the following SBA disaster loans:

• Home Disaster Loans – For homeowners and renters to repair or replace damaged real estate and personal property. As noted earlier, this is a complementary and separate program from FEMA’s Individual Assistance program;
• Business Physical Disaster Loans – For businesses and private nonprofit organizations to repair or replace disaster-damaged property, including buildings, equipment, and inventory; and
• Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) – Working capital loans for small businesses and nonprofits unable to meet financial obligations due to the disaster.

The deadlines for applications are November  10, 2025, for Home Disaster and Business Physical Disaster Loans and June 11, 2026, for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Applications for the loans can be submitted online via the MySBA Loan Portal at https://lending.sba.gov. For assistance, contact the SBA Customer Service Center:

• Phone: 1-800-659-2955
• Email: disastercustomerservice@sba.gov
• TTY: Dial 7-1-1 for relay services

Loan applicants may also be eligible for additional funds to cover mitigation improvements that protect property against future damage. SBA also offers refinancing options for qualified applicants and support for voluntary or involuntary relocation.

Setting the stage for a major ruling on presidential power, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to decide whether a 1977 federal law giving the president certain emergency powers allowed President Donald Trump to levy tariffs on nearly all goods imported into the United States through a series of executive orders.

In a brief order issued by the court’s Public Information Office on Tuesday afternoon, the court announced that it had granted review in two cases: Learning Resources v. Trump, in which two small businesses had asked the justices to weigh in on Trump’s power to impose the tariffs without waiting for a federal appeals court to rule on the Trump administration’s appeal; and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, in which the Trump administration had asked the court to review a ruling by a different federal appeals court striking down the tariffs. The court will fast-track the two cases, which will be argued together, and hold oral arguments in early November.

In a series of executive orders, Trump imposed tariffs that fall into two categories, which collectively cover a wide range of products from U.S. trading partners. The first category, known as the “trafficking tariffs,” apply to goods from Canada, China, and Mexico, which in Trump’s view have not done enough to halt the flow of fentanyl into the United States. The second category, known as the “reciprocal tariffs,” impose a minimum tariff of 10% (which can escalate up to 50%) on products from virtually all countries.

The law at the center of the case is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law that allows the president to take action to “deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States” if he declares a national emergency “with respect to such threat.” When he imposed the tariffs, Trump relied on IEEPA, and in particular on a provision of the law that authorizes the president, in times of national emergencies, to “regulate . . . importation” of “property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest.”

The Supreme Court instructed the Trump administration to file its opening brief on September 19, with the challengers’ briefs to follow on October 20. “The cases will be set for argument in the first week of the November 2025 argument session,” which begins on November 3.

Wholesale prices surprisingly fell slightly in August, providing breathing room for the Federal Reserve to approve an interest rate cut at its meeting this month, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Wednesday.

The producer price index, which measures input costs across a broad array of goods and services, dropped 0.1% for the month, after a downwardly revised 0.7% increase in July. On a 12-month basis, the headline PPI saw a 2.6% gain.

The core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also was off 0.1%. Excluding food, energy and trade, the PPI posted a 0.3% gain and was up 2.8% from a year ago.

Services prices, a key metric for the Fed when evaluating the stance of monetary policy, posted a 0.2% drop, helping drive wholesale inflation lower. A 1.7% slide in prices for trade services was the primary impetus, with margins for machinery and vehicle wholesaling tumbling 3.9%.

Goods prices did increase, but just 0.1% as core prices rose 0.3%. While final demand food costs were up 0.1%, energy was off 0.4%.

Last Thursday, the Trump Administration today announced its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, including nearly 150 proposals under the U.S. Department of Labor’s jurisdiction.

The department advanced a set of high-priority actions designed to reduce unnecessary burdens on employers and employees, with proposals addressing issues surrounding pharmacy benefit managers, independent contractors, joint employers, and others, including:

• Improving Transparency into Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fee Disclosure: Pursuant to President Trump’s April 15 Executive Order, “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First,” the department will look at ways to improve transparency around the direct and indirect compensation PBMs receive from employer-sponsored health plans.
• Transparency in Coverage: The department will examine ways it can improve market transparency in pricing and cost-sharing information for consumers.
• Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Retirement Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights: The department will consider the extent to which fiduciaries may prioritize environmental, social, and governance factors in investment decisions.
• Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings: The department is continuing to examine how to establish standards specifically related to heat-related injury and illness prevention.
• Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act: The department will look at the circumstances under which a business can be held liable as a joint employer.
• Employee or Independent Contractor Classification under the FLSA: The department will examine the circumstances under which a worker should be classified as an employee or independent contractor for the purpose of federal wage and hour requirements.
• Defining and Delimiting Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees: The department will determine whether certain salaried employees are exempt from FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements.
• Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology for the Temporary Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the U.S.: The department will consider updates to the methodology used to calculate the prevailing wage for H-2A workers.
• H-2A Temporary Agricultural Employment of Foreign Workers in Nonimmigrant Status: The department proposes to rescind certain burdensome requirements adopted under the Biden administration, many of which are currently enjoined as unlawful, for growers using the H-2A program for agricultural labor.