News of the Day

A $700 million natural gas pipeline enhancement project designed to improve reliability and meet rising demand came online in Wisconsin and northern Illinois at the start of the month.

TC Energy, a Canadian company with a U.S. headquarters in Texas, announced the completion of the project on Monday.  The “Wisconsin Reliability Project” replaced about 51 miles of aging pipeline across Wisconsin and northern Illinois with modern infrastructure. The company said the change would improve safety and reliability.

TC Energy also upgraded natural gas compression facilities in Kewaskum and Weyauwega, as well as meter stations in Lena, Merrill, Oshkosh, South Wausau, Stevens Point and Two Rivers.

The company received approvals from federal regulators for the project in 2023 and 2024, according to a fact sheet from the company. Construction began last year and the project came into service on Nov. 1.

According to TC Energy, the pipeline will help meet a projected 45 percent increase in demand for natural gas in Wisconsin over the next decade.

Jon Draeger, vice president of U.S. Projects for TC Energy, said in a statement that reliable energy fuels everything from factories to farms.

“The Wisconsin Reliability Project connects our state to the energy it needs while creating well-paying jobs for local workers and generating millions in tax revenue that supports our schools and communities for generations to come,” Draeger stated.

Democrat Governor Tony Evers has quashed a GOP-backed bill that would have ordered tens of thousands of state employees to work in-person most of the time.

The original bill would have mandated in-person work for affected employees 100 percent of the time. Republican lawmakers later amended it to require in-office attendance during at least 80 percent of someone’s working hours in a given month. For many employees, that would have amounted to four days of in-person work each week.

In his veto message Friday, Evers said he opposes a “one-size-fits-all” mandate that would come at “great cost to taxpayers.”

“Under my administration, state government is working smarter and faster than ever before,” Evers wrote. “State agencies already are implementing robust accountability measures to ensure all state workers are fulfilling their responsibilities to the people of this state.”

A 2023 audit found that most Wisconsin state offices allow some form of remote work, although policies vary by agency.

“Without basic oversight, it’s nearly impossible to measure effectiveness and productivity,” state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said just before the proposal cleared Wisconsin’s Assembly in September. “What began as an emergency response has become a permanent work entitlement.”

As amended, the legislation included an exception for workers who were already allowed to work remotely before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. It also would have exempted employees of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which manages state retirement funds and other assets.

The goal of the legislation was ensuring accountability, sponsors said.

Months after a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling found that a Wisconsin-based religious charity should be exempt from certain taxes, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is challenging religious tax exemptions entirely.

Kaul’s action comes after the nation’s highest court ruled in favor of the Catholic Charities Bureau in Superior, striking down a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court from last year. The Wisconsin ruling would have subjected the charitable arm to the same unemployment taxes levied on other types of nonprofits.

At the heart of that dispute was a question of whether the faith-based social services organization was primarily a charitable group — subject to the same rules as nonreligious charities — or primarily a religious group, which would exempt them from some tax obligations, in the same way as houses of worship.

In a 9-0 decision, U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state had violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom by requiring the Catholic Charities Bureau to pay unemployment tax while exempting other faith groups. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the First Amendment requires the government to be neutral between religions.

“There may be hard calls to make in policing that rule, but this is not one,” Sotomayor wrote.

The ruling sent the case back to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where in an Oct. 20 remedial brief, Kaul argued that the U.S. Supreme Court did not offer a fix for that violation.

Kaul and two assistant attorneys general argue that removing the exemption from paying unemployment taxes for all affected religious groups — rather than expanding the exemption for other similar religious social service organizations — is the preferred remedy.

“By striking the exemption, this Court can avoid collateral damage to Wisconsin workers while still curing the discrimination the U.S. Supreme Court identified,” Kaul wrote.

“Discrimination is cured by restoring equal treatment, which can be accomplished here in one of two ways: either by expanding the statutory exemption to groups like Catholic Charities or else by eliminating it altogether,” reads the brief.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) delivered another 25-basis-point interest rate cut at its October meeting. The cut is the second this year and was not a surprise, as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled its likelihood in a recent speech. However, there were two dissenting votes—one in favor of a 50-basis-point  rate cut and one opposed to any cut. The lack of consensus on the committee raises doubts about the future path of Fed policy.  In addition to the rate cut, the Fed indicated that it will end its quantitative tightening program–the process of allowing its balance sheet to shrink–as of December 1st.

In its accompanying statement, the Fed indicated that it lowered the federal funds rate—the rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans—to a range of 3.75% to 4.0% in response to growing evidence that the labor market is weakening. However, it noted that inflation has moved up since earlier in the year and that lack of government data was a challenge in setting policy.

The statement also said that balance sheet runoff will end on December 1st. The Fed will stop redeeming maturing Treasuries and maturing principal payments for mortgage-backed securities (MBS) will be reinvested in Treasury bills. This move had been widely anticipated. The Fed’s balance sheet has declined by over $2.2 trillion in the past few years and reserves now stand at about 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). The Fed had indicated that it viewed a level of 8% to 10% of GDP as sustainable longer-term as it would leave enough reserves in the banking system to allow for proper functioning. The Fed’s goal has been to reduce reserves from an “abundant” level to “ample.”

Ahead of the announcement, the market had been discounting a series of rate cuts by the Fed with the federal funds rate falling below 3% by mid-2026. However, Powell indicated in the press conference following the meeting that there is no set path for monetary policy. With the committee increasingly divided on the outlook, short-term interest rate expectations may become more volatile. Intermediate- and long-term interest rates will continue to respond to expectations about economic growth and inflation.

Wisconsin homeowners and businesses hit by flooding and other natural disasters would have a new avenue to help rebuild under bipartisan legislation moving through the state Capitol.

The proposals would create a $30 million grant program offering aid for those not covered by federal disaster assistance.

They’re a direct response to flooding that hit southeastern Wisconsin in August after storms dropped up to a foot of rain in some places.

The legislative package directs the state Department of Military Affairs to create a grant program for individuals and businesses impacted by disasters in which the governor declares a state of emergency. It would set aside $10 million for grants to individuals and another $20 million for businesses through 2026.

Because the bill retroactively applies to declarations after January 1, 2025, individuals and businesses hit by August’s floods could qualify. Grants for individuals would max out at $25,000 for qualified property repairs. Businesses could get up to $50,000.

Lawmakers on the committee were generally supportive of the idea, though there were questions about what happens if a person or business gets a state grant and later qualifies for federal assistance. Knodl said if that were to happen, the legislation requires the state money to be paid back.

The United States announced finalized trade deals Sunday with two Southeast Asian nations — Cambodia and Malaysia — that contain provisions aimed against China, and further progress with two others in the region, Thailand and Vietnam.

The news came as President Donald Trump was in Malaysia for a regional leaders summit, and just days before he is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The two final deals and two framework agreements announced Sunday cover about 68 percent of approximately $475 billion in U.S. two-way trade with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“These landmark deals demonstrate that America can maintain tariffs to shrink the goods trade deficit while opening new markets for American farmers, ranchers, workers, and manufacturers,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for 75 million Americans will increase 2.8 percent in 2026. On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by about $56 per month starting in January.

Over the last decade the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase has averaged about 3.1 percent.  The COLA was 2.5 percent in 2025.

Nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.8 percent COLA beginning in January 2026. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 31, 2025. (Note: Some recipients receive both Social Security benefits and SSI).

Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. For example, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) is slated to increase to $184,500 from $176,100.

OpenAI and Oracle are behind the massive data center campus in Port Washington, a Wednesday statement from Vantage Data Centers confirmed.

Vantage Data Centers, which was previously the only known company behind the project, had originally said it would spend $8 billion on the development. The companies’ latest announcement said they plan to invest more than $15 billion at the new campus, which will include four data center buildings.

OpenAI is the company behind ChatGPT; Oracle is a software and cloud computing company. The Port Washington location is part of the companies’ Stargate program, a $500 billion push to expand artificial intelligence capacity across the nation. That initiative was announced in January by President Donald Trump.

OpenAI and Oracle’s data center campus in Port Washington joins sites in Texas and New Mexico as part of the Stargate program. It is the only Midwest site in the program. The tech giants recently agreed to develop 4.5 gigawatts of additional power capacity for the initiative, according to a July news post from OpenAI.

Wednesday’s announcement said the data center campus in Port Washington, named “Lighthouse,” could create more than 4,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs. Construction on the data center buildings will start soon and could be complete in 2028, according to Vantage.

Patients with UnitedHealthcare insurance once again have in-network coverage at Ascension Wisconsin hospitals and doctors’ offices.

United and Ascension Wisconsin announced Tuesday that they reached a new multi-year agreement to give United members access to Ascension’s hospitals and providers in Wisconsin.

According to United, the deal is effective immediately and retroactive to October 1, the day the insurer’s members lost coverage when the two sides failed to reach an agreement in a dispute over reimbursement rates.

According to an Ascension Wisconsin spokesperson, services that patients received from October 1 to October 13 will be covered at in-network rates and patients should not be billed for out-of-network costs.

Before reaching a deal Ascension and United had been locked in a months-long contract dispute. Ascension argued United was not offering reimbursement rates that covered rising health care costs, while United argued Ascension was asking for large price hikes that would raise costs for customers and employers.

A popular tax break for workers nearing retirement age to make extra catch-up contributions is changing next year, which will limit access to some high earners.

The IRS issued new regulations last month to implement a provision of a 2022 law known as the SECURE 2.0 Act, which requires that high earners who earned $145,000 or more in gross income as an individual the prior year make 401(k) catch-up contributions to after-tax Roth accounts starting with the 2026 tax year.

Under the rules that will remain in effect through the 2025 tax year, workers aged 50 and up were eligible to make their 401(k) catch-up contributions to either a before-tax traditional account or an after-tax Roth account, depending on their preference and what their retirement plan allows.

Making catch-up contributions on a before-tax basis allowed workers to receive an upfront tax break by using a deduction to reduce their taxable income — but the change means that high earners over the income threshold won’t have that option starting in the 2026 tax year.

Catch-up contributions are made in addition to normal contributions to 401(k) accounts.

In 2025, eligible workers over the age of 50 can make an extra $7,500 in contributions to their 401(k) in catch-up contributions in addition to the standard contribution limit of $23,500 for workers under 50.

There’s also a higher limit for workers between the ages of 60 and 63, who can make up to $11,250 in catch-up contributions in 2025.