News of the Day

Wisconsin has stopped blocking laid-off workers who receive disability benefits from collecting unemployment insurance — a response to court rulings that the practice violated federal discrimination law.

Now U.S. District Judge William Conley will consider whether and how the state should compensate workers for past denied claims. Attorneys representing the state and affected workers plan to propose remedies ahead of a hearing on Wednesday.

The state law in question prevented recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) — a monthly benefit for people with disabilities who have worked and paid into Social Security — from collecting unemployment insurance after losing work.

In proposing the law under Gov. Scott Walker in 2013, Republican lawmakers claimed that simultaneously collecting disability and unemployment benefits represented “double dipping” that “may constitute fraud.”

Conley ruled in July 2024 that the law violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, citing its “disparate impact on disabled workers seeking unemployment insurance benefits.”

But the ruling was not immediately implemented. The state’s Department of Workforce Development continued denying unemployment claims until Conley ordered it to stop in July.

Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, increased 2.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 939,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Permits for future single-family homebuilding edged up 0.5% to a rate of 870,000 units.

Overall residential project starts, including apartments, jumped 5.2% to a rate of 1.428 million units and permit issuance fell 2.8% to 1.354 million units.

The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most common U.S. home loan, fell to 6.58% last week, the lowest level since October, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed. That rate is down by nearly half a percentage point since January.

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) released its annual Equalized Values Report. The report shows Wisconsin’s total statewide equalized property value as of January 1, 2025, was $982.8 billion, an 8% increase over the prior year.

Growth occurred in all property classes and was led by value changes in residential and commercial property. Equalized values are based on data from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.

Report highlights:
• Change in equalized value = $75 billion, an 8% increase from 2024
o $60.5 billion due to market value increases (7%)
o $15.2 billion due to new construction (2%)
• Florence County saw the largest increase at 17.84% followed by Iron and Rusk at 17.77% and 17.40%,
respectively.

Equalized values are calculated annually and used to ensure statewide fairness and equity in property tax distribution. The equalized value represents an estimate of a taxation district’s total taxable value and provides for the fair apportionment of school district and county levies to each municipality. Changes in equalized value do not necessarily translate into a change in property taxes.

Spending at U.S. retailers rose 0.5% in July, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Retail sales picked up across categories last month, especially at car dealerships and furniture stores, which saw sales climb 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively. Online sales jumped 0.8% in July, coinciding with Amazon’s Prime Day sale. Spending also picked up at gas stations and department stores.

Meanwhile, spending was down among only a handful of categories, including home improvement stores (-1%) and electronics retailers (-0.6%). Restaurants and bars also saw sales decline in July, falling 0.4%

A subset of retail sales that excludes volatile categories — known as the “control group” — rose 0.5% in July. That measure is seen as a better gauge of underlying consumer demand.

Wisconsin companies on average will pay 3.2% less in worker’s compensation insurance rates starting Oct. 1, 2025, 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 2025 rate decrease, approved by OCI, marks the tenth year in a row worker’s compensation insurance premiums have declined in Wisconsin. The actual premiums vary by employer based on factors such as injury risk exposure.

“Workers deserve to feel safe and protected in the workplace, and strong workplace safety practices across Wisconsin help make that possible,” said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek. “Our state is committed to fostering a culture of fairness and safety in the workplace – a commitment which benefits workers, their families, and communities while supporting the competitiveness of employers in our state.”

Worker’s compensation insurance rates are adjusted annually by a committee of actuaries from members of the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau. 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 Commissioner of Insurance. While the overall rate level will decrease by 3.2%, the impact on policyholders will vary based on specific circumstances.

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The report shows total household debt increased by $185 billion (1%) in Q2 2025, to $18.39 trillion.

Mortgage balances grew by $131 billion in the second quarter and totaled $12.94 trillion at the end of June 2025. Credit card balances rose by $27 billion from the previous quarter and stood at $1.21 trillion. Auto loan balances also increased by $13 billion and totaled $1.66 trillion. HELOC balances rose by $9 billion to $411 billion, representing the thirteenth consecutive quarterly increase. Student loan balances edged up by $7 billion and stood at $1.64 trillion. In total, non-housing balances rose by $45 billion, a 0.9% increase from Q1 2025.

The pace of mortgage originations increased slightly, with $458 billion newly originated mortgages in Q2 2025. There were $188 billion in new auto loans and leases appearing on credit reports during the second quarter, an increase from the $166 billion observed in the first quarter of 2025. Aggregate limits on credit card accounts continued to rise by $78 billion, representing a 1.5% increase from the previous quarter.

Aggregate delinquency rates remained elevated in the second quarter, with 4.4% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency. Transition into early delinquency held steady for nearly all debt types except for student loans. Student loans saw another uptick in the rate at which balances went from current to delinquent due to the resumption of reporting of delinquent student loans. Transitions into serious delinquency were mixed across debt types: auto loans and credit card debt were largely stable, mortgages and HELOCs edged up slightly, and student loans rose sharply.

People who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are set to see a median premium increase of 18 percent, more than double last year’s 7 percent median proposed increase, according to an analysis of preliminary filings by KFF.

The proposed rates are preliminary and could change before being finalized in late summer. The analysis includes proposed rate changes from 312 insurers in all 50 states and DC.

It’s the largest rate change insurers have requested since 2018, the last time that policy uncertainty contributed to sharp premium increases. On average, ACA marketplace insurers are raising premiums by about 20 percent in 2026, KFF found.

Insurers said they wanted higher premiums to cover rising health care costs, like hospitalizations and physician care, as well as prescription drug costs.

But they are adding in higher increases due to changes being made by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress. For instance, the majority of insurers said they are taking into account the potential expiration of enhanced premium tax credits.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to build on earlier efforts aimed at reducing outdated, unnecessary, and burdensome pricing regulations in the marketplace for certain broadband services provided to businesses and other entities. The Commission will begin a comprehensive review of its business data services rules with a focus on eliminating ex ante price controls and tariffing obligations.

For years, the Commission regulated the market for business data services that provide dedicated transmission of data at guaranteed speeds and service levels. These services are purchased by businesses, schools, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments. Because incumbent local exchange carriers historically held local monopolies on circuit-switched telephone service, the Commission has long regulated legacy business data services’ rates, terms, and conditions of service. As this market has become more competitive, this approach distorts incentives for private operators to invest in network upgrades and competitively price services.

Recognizing substantial and growing competition in the business data services market, the Commission took significant deregulatory steps beginning in 2017. The Commission streamlined its regulations to remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on legacy circuit-based services and to promote long-term innovation and investment in modern packet-based services. With this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission looks to build on this progress by reducing regulatory burdens, increasing competition, and further spurring economic growth.

This action looks to market competition rather than over-regulation to ensure that rates, terms, and conditions of service are just and reasonable. In light of marketplace and technological developments, today’s action proposes to eliminate ex ante price controls for business data services provided by carriers nationwide. This item alternatively proposes to modernize the competitive market tests used to determine where there is sufficient competition for certain services that would justify further pricing deregulation. In the interim, while the Commission builds and reviews the record in this proceeding, the Order temporarily pauses the triennial updates to the competitive market tests.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently unveiled a package of new initiatives, pilot programs and regulatory changes to the long-haul trucking industry. Wisconsin trucking companies say it’s a welcome relief from the challenges the industry has faced in recent years.

The changes include funding to create more truck parking, withdrawing a proposed rule that would limit truck speed and cracking down on illegal double-brokering.

Dan Johnson is the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association, a nonprofit trade association representing about 900 companies in the transportation industry. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that the changes come as Wisconsin trucking companies slowly recover from a post-pandemic freight recession, where capacity for shipping was high but the volume of freight was low.

“The last couple of years have been a little difficult for some of our trucking companies in Wisconsin,” Johnson said. “But we are optimistic that things will start to improve.”

The package includes changes that remove what the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration calls “one-size-fits-all mandates.” One withdraws a proposed rule that would require the use of speed limiters — devices that restrict the maximum speed of a vehicle. Johnson expressed his support for that change.

“It doesn’t necessarily work,” Johnson said. “Driving too slow can also be a problem. And if you have trucks trying to pass each other, and they can’t pass each other because there are speed limiters in place, that could create congestion.”

Pilot programs in the package offer more flexibility to the limit on how long a driver is allowed to be on the road. Currently, a driver can’t drive more than 11 hours at a time and their workday must be completed within a 14-hour window. That rule is meant to prevent fatigue that could lead to road accidents.

One of the pilots introduces a “pause clock” option, which would allow drivers to pause the 14-hour workday window to account for delays, traffic or time spent resting.

Johnson said he doesn’t think it poses a safety issue to allow more flexibility for drivers.

Participation in Wisconsin apprenticeships is at a record high, according to a new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

In 2024, 17,509 people participated in the state Department of Workforce Development’s Registered Apprenticeship Program, up from 9,872 people in 2013. The program offers apprenticeships in about 200 occupations.

Participation was also up for the state’s youth apprenticeship program, designed to give high schoolers one or two years’ coursework and paid work experience, similar to the adult program. In the 2025 fiscal year, the number of high schoolers involved was 11,357, more than double the count of 5,104 in 2019.

“We are seeing increasing participation,” said Joe Peterangelo, research director at the Wisconsin Policy Forum. “But given the demand, there are still opportunities to expand what we have across the state and across different industries.”

The rise in apprentices is good news for industries reporting a shortage of workers, such as construction, manufacturing and health care, the report noted.

But youth enrolled in apprenticeship programs for other fields, such as agriculture, could benefit from more adult apprenticeship options, Peterangelo said.

“We found there are actually not a lot of connections being made from youth apprenticeships to registered apprenticeships that would then provide pathways for those youth into careers,” Peterangelo said. “So there may be opportunities to improve, to strengthen those connections.”

The report authors analyzed state and federal labor data and interviewed more than a dozen “workforce development leaders” to understand apprenticeship participation trends.