Below is an excerpt from the most recent edition of
WisBusiness Tuesday Trends.
The full version of this weekly look at the state of Wisconsin
business is available for free to anyone who signs up for the
Tuesday Trends mailing list.
The full product includes several items in each of the
rising, mixed and falling categories plus a look at
upcoming business events across the state.
To get the full version of Tuesday Trends in your inbox every week,
sign up now for the free mailing list.
(If the preceding link does not work for you,
simply send an e-mail to trends@wisbusiness.com with
“Subscribe to trends” in the subject line.)
WisBusiness also publishes a summary of state business news
sent to paid subscribers every weekday.
Sign up for a
free two-week trial of WisBusiness subscriber products.
Rising
Transportation projects: Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to enact property and income tax cuts in the wake of new revenue projections has consumed most of the headlines about the state Capitol of late, but the latest budget numbers also show the state’s transportation fund is expected to finish the current biennium with a balance of $84.6 million — compared to the original projection of only $1.8 million. That leads to separate legislation to utilize some $43 million of that amount to speed up construction of 11 road projects around the state deemed priorities by the state Department of Transportation, including projects in Brown, Calumet, Door, Douglas, Langlade, Lincoln, Monroe, Outagamie, Sauk, Taylor and Walworth counties. Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb tells lawmakers the proposal is a “rare opportunity” to complete projects that are ready to be completed. Still, he acknowledges that the state continues to lose ground on highway needs, and legislative fiscal analysts say the transportation fund faces a structural deficit in the next biennium and would need $224 million in revenue growth to make that up. Walker has repeatedly said he’ll look to overhaul the transportation funding picture as part of a broader tax reform package in the 2015-2017 state budget.
Mixed
Dairy: The state’s farmers finally have a new federal farm bill after the U.S. House and Senate pass the five-year measure and the president signs it into law Friday. Although it passes with bipartisan margins in each house, critics surface in both the liberal and conservative wings of Congress, knocking provisions of the bill ranging from food stamp cuts to a lack of agricultural subsidy reform. Negotiations over the bill also drew the ire of the nation’s dairy farmers. One proposed provision would have limited milk production when supply was up, which Wisconsin producers argued would hurt their ability to grow their businesses. Instead, the final bill contains a dramatic overhaul of dairy subsidies, phasing out the current program in favor of subsidized insurance that would provide payments if the price of feed approaches milk prices. Industry observers say the measure will help curtail wild price swings, but one farm bill opponent — western Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind — says he’s concerned the program would benefit larger producers at the expense of smaller Midwestern farmers.
Falling
Printing industry: A group of companies reliant on the U.S. Postal Service — most notably from the state’s paper and printing industries — says they’d be hit hard by changes approved by a U.S. Senate panel last week. The postal bill would, in part, end Saturday delivery in the future, make permanent a recent, temporary rate increase for stamps, and restructure the service’s health insurance. The 4.3 percent postage stamp increase, in particular, would result in stamps climbing 6 percent overall when combined with an increase triggered by inflation — raising first-class stamps from 46 cents to 49 cents. Wisconsin industries said the cost increase would further hamper competition with digital technologies, and had lobbied for lawmakers to support an amendment from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, designed to rein in future rate hikes. Baldwin and Senate colleague Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, both serve on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee considering the bill. But Johnson instead tells the committee the best way for the Postal Service to resolve its financial issues would be to go through reorganization under the bankruptcy code.
