Brian Dake

Governor Tony Evers Tuesday night called for nearly $1.3 billion in new spending on mental health initiatives, addressing PFAS and bolstering the state’s workforce while calling for a big boost in state aid to local governments.

In his annual State of the State speech, Evers also knocked a GOP proposal to implement a flat income tax as a giveaway to the wealthy. And he used his fifth address to back a proposal to use up to 20 percent of sales tax revenues to boost shared revenue.

Evers had previously expressed skepticism of the suggestion to dedicate one penny of the state’s five-cent sales tax to increase the aid Wisconsin sends municipalities and counties. But he pitched his new openness to the idea as an effort to find common ground as the Dem guv once again faces a GOP-controlled Legislature that blocked many of his priorities during his first four years in the office.

Evers said the idea would mean an additional $500 million a year in new resources for local costs, including public safety, transportation and health.

“The state must fulfill its obligation to fund our communities, just like we must fully fund our public schools and invest in clean water,” Evers said. “Our state, our economy and our workforce depend on these investments.”

Beyond the $500 million boost in shared revenue, WisPolitics.com tallied nearly $1.3 billion in spending proposals Evers included in his speech. The biggest chunk was $500 million to address mental health, while he also proposed more than $360 million to make child care more affordable and another $100 million to help address PFAS.

Now, signs of a looming debt crisis among U.S. consumers are beginning to flash, and it is a triple whammy: credit card balances are at an all-time high, annual percentage rates (APRs) are up and more consumers are taking on debt than in 2021.

Discover Financial Services CFO John Greene issued an ominous warning last week, noting a sharp uptick in delinquencies. “In the card portfolio, the net charge-off rate of 2.37% was 87 basis points higher than the prior year and 45 basis points higher sequentially,” he said during the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently reported a 15% year-over-year increase in total credit card balances for the third quarter of 2022, which amounts to the largest surge in more than 20 years.

A new report from CreditCards.com released Monday shows nearly 3 out of 4 (72%) credit card debtors added to their balances over the past year. Nearly half (48%) took on additional debt due to rising costs, while 34% saw their balances jump due to rising interest rates. Twenty-four percent reported having a disruption in household income.

According to the company’s sister site Bankrate.com, there are also more people carrying debt, too. Some 46% of credit card holders are carrying debt from month to month, up from 39% a year ago.

Yesterday, the Internal Revenue Service today announced Monday, January 23, 2023, as the beginning of the nation’s 2023 tax season when the agency will begin accepting and processing 2022 tax year returns.

More than 168 million individual tax returns are expected to be filed, with the vast majority of those coming before the April 18 tax deadline. People have three extra days to file this year due to the calendar.

The filing deadline to submit 2022 tax returns or an extension to file and pay tax owed is Tuesday, April 18, 2023, for most taxpayers. By law, Washington, D.C., holidays impact tax deadlines for everyone in the same way as federal holidays. The due date is April 18, instead of April 15, because of the weekend and the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Day holiday, which falls on Monday, April 17.

Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until Monday, October 16, 2023, to file.

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2023 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on January 1, 2023, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 65.5 cents per mile driven for business use, up 3 cents from the midyear increase setting the rate for the second half of 2022.
• 22 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces, consistent with the increased midyear rate set for the second half of 2022.
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations; the rate is set by statute and remains unchanged from 2022.

The standard mileage rate for business use is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs.

It is important to note that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers cannot claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel expenses. Taxpayers also cannot claim a deduction for moving expenses, unless they are members of the Armed Forces on active duty moving under orders to a permanent change of station. For more details see Moving Expenses for Members of the Armed Forces.

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

Taxpayers can use the standard mileage rate but generally must opt to use it in the first year the car is available for business use. Then, in later years, they can choose either the standard mileage rate or actual expenses. Leased vehicles must use the standard mileage rate method for the entire lease period (including renewals) if the standard mileage rate is chosen.

Notice 2023-03 contains the optional 2023 standard mileage rates, as well as the maximum automobile cost used to calculate the allowance under a fixed and variable rate (FAVR) plan. In addition, the notice provides the maximum fair market value of employer-provided automobiles first made available to employees for personal use in calendar year 2023 for which employers may use the fleet-average valuation rule in or the vehicle cents-per-mile valuation rule.

Senate leaders unveiled a $1.7 trillion year-long federal government funding bill early Tuesday morning.

The legislation includes $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs and $858 billion in defense funding, according to a bill summary from Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The sweeping package includes roughly $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, boosts in spending for disaster aid, college access, child care, mental health and food assistance, more support for the military and veterans and additional funds for the US Capitol Police, according to Leahy’s summary and one from Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. It also includes several major Medicaid provisions, including one that could disenroll up to 19 million people from the nation’s health insurance program for low-income Americans.

However, the bill, which runs more than 4,000 pages, left out several measures that some lawmakers had fought to include. An expansion of the child tax credit, as well as multiple other corporate and individual tax breaks, did not make it into the final bill. Neither did legislation to allow cannabis companies to bank their cash reserves – known as the Safe Banking Act Act – or a bill to help Afghan evacuees in the US gain lawful permanent residency. Also, there was no final resolution on where the new FBI headquarters will be located.

The spending bill is the product of lengthy negotiations between top congressional Democrats and Republicans. Lawmakers reached a “bipartisan, bicameral framework” last week following a dispute between the two parties over how much money should be spent on non-defense domestic priorities. They worked through the weekend to craft the legislation.

The Senate is expected to vote first to approve the deal this week and then send it to the House for approval before government funding runs out on December 23. The bill would keep the government operating through September of 2023, the end of the fiscal year.

Millions of Wisconsin residents will be affected by two separate mergers of nonprofit hospital systems that were finalized earlier this month.

Gundersen Health System and Bellin Health completed a merger on Dec. 1. The next day, Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health did the same. Together, the mergers will impact about 8.5 million patients across several states.

Bellin and Gundersen will keep their respective names for the time being, as well as separate headquarters in Green Bay and La Crosse, while Advocate Aurora and Atrium will become “Advocate Health.” Marshfield Clinic Health System and Essentia health also announced merger talks earlier this year.

Hospital officials say the deals are aimed at improving patient care, and stem from organizations sharing similar missions and visions. But the mergers also have the potential to give hospitals more leverage to negotiate for higher prices with insurance companies.

However, University of Wisconsin-Madison Economist Alan Sorensen said mergers may give hospitals more leverage in negotiations with insurance companies.

He said insurance companies want to pay as low a price as they can negotiate, while health care providers want to get paid as much as they can negotiate.

“Those negotiations are enormously important for the bottom lines of these companies,” Sorensen said. “A lot of times what’s driving the mergers is that (hospital systems) feel like if they’re bigger, they’ll do better in those negotiations, they’ll have more bargaining power, they’ll be more indispensable to the insurance company.”

If health systems can negotiate for higher rates, he said, it could raise prices for patients.

“If the insurance companies have to pay higher prices to the hospitals, some of the increase is going to get passed through to the consumer in the form of higher insurance premiums,” Sorensen said.

Wisconsin’s 130 state-chartered banks continue to demonstrate solid financial performance as of September 30, 2022, according to data released today by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI).

Total assets of Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks stand at more than $67.1 billion through September 30, 2022, down from $67.8 billion reported September 30, 2021. Despite rising interest rates, the net interest margin is holding steady, decreasing slightly from 3.35% as of September 30, 2021, to 3.33% as of September 30, 2022. Net loans have increased 5.1% from September 30, 2021, up $2.2 billion.

In the twelve months ending on September 30, 2022:

• The capital ratio remained satisfactory at 9.38% compared to 10.97% in September 2021;
• The past due ratio improved to 0.56% from 0.76% in September 2021;
• Net operating income was over $594.3 million, but down from $679.4 million in September 2021 due, in part, to the end of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fee income and secondary market income;
• The return on average assets ratio showed a decline to 1.19% from 1.39% in September 2021; and
• Bank liquidity remained adequate but was impacted by the increase in the loans to assets ratio at 68.89% compared to 64.82% in September 2021.

“As interest rates continue to rise and economic uncertainty persists, Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks are displaying sound decisions and financial performance through the third-quarter of 2022,” said DFI Secretary-designee Cheryll Olson-Collins. “Overall, Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks are financially stable and a source of strength for the economy.”

Tens of millions of additional federal dollars are headed to Wisconsin to provide thousands of additional homes and businesses access to reliable, high-speed internet, the White House announced Thursday.

Speaking to reporters during a press call, Jacob Leibenluft, who leads a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department tasked with overseeing projects created by the American Rescue Plan, told reporters that $40 million for broadband infrastructure will be sent to Wisconsin — enough funds to connect an estimated 8,000 homes and businesses to high-speed internet.

That $40 million is just a portion of $189 million earmarked for Wisconsin through the Capital Projects Fund. The Capital Projects Fund is a $10 billion project created by the American Rescue Plan aimed at ensuring “that all communities have access to … high-quality modern infrastructure, including broadband,” according to the Treasury Department.

Joseph Wender, another Treasury Department official and director of the fund, said the remaining $149 million will be awarded at a later date after the department approves plans for how the money is going to be spent.

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Chair Rebecca Cameron Valcq said the state plans to use at least portions of the remaining funds on “digital connectivity” and “multipurpose community facility” projects. She said those projects — which she did not offer more details about Thursday — are under review by the Treasury Department.

The Supreme Court is beginning its new term,  and the public is back for the first time since the court closed in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, the court is considering an important water rights case that could limit federal regulation under the nation’s main water pollution law, the Clean Water Act.

Other significant cases include a controversial Republican-led appeal that could dramatically change the way elections for Congress and the presidency are conducted by handing more power to state legislatures. There’s also the case of a Colorado website designer who says her religious beliefs prevent her working with same-sex couples on their weddings. Next month, the justices will hear a challenge to the consideration of race in college admissions.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in September for the second consecutive month. The Index now stands at 108.0 (1985=100), up from 103.6 in August. The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions—rose to 149.6 from 145.3 last month. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—increased to 80.3 from 75.8.

“Consumer confidence improved in September for the second consecutive month supported in particular by jobs, wages, and declining gas prices,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The Present Situation Index rose again, after declining from April through July. The Expectations Index also improved from summer lows, but recession risks nonetheless persist. Concerns about inflation dissipated further in September—prompted largely by declining prices at the gas pump—and are now at their lowest level since the start of the year.”

“Meanwhile, purchasing intentions were mixed, with intentions to buy automobiles and big-ticket appliances up, while home purchasing intentions fell. The latter no doubt reflects rising mortgage rates and a cooling housing market. Looking ahead, the improvement in confidence may bode well for consumer spending in the final months of 2022, but inflation and interest-rate hikes remain strong headwinds to growth in the short term.”