— The head of NFIB Wisconsin says the state’s small business community opposes elements of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget aimed at paid family leave and a targeted retirement savings program.
“When the government mandates a retirement program, or mandates paid family and medical leave, that’s not trusting the private sector to do the right thing,” National Federation of Independent Business State Director Bill Smith said yesterday in an interview.
He said one of the main advantages of working for or owning a small business is flexibility, arguing such mandates “destroy that flexibility.”
“And as a result, we lose a competitive edge that we might have had, in terms of attracting potential workers to our businesses,” Smith told WisBusiness.com.
In his recent budget address, Evers pitched the family leave program as part of a plan to invest in the state’s workforce. He proposes using $243 million in state funds to seed the program, with a payroll contribution split evenly between employers and workers to continue funding the program for most private sector employees.
Through this structure, Evers said workers who need up to 12 weeks of paid family medical leave could begin taking it Jan. 1, 2025, thanks to the state dollars. The payroll contributions would then cover the costs going forward with the program self-sustaining starting in 2026.
Meanwhile, Evers is also proposing using $2 million to establish a retirement savings program for employees of small businesses who aren’t offered one through their employer. And he’s calling for the creation of a Small Business Retirement Savings Board to oversee this program.
Smith explained the NFIB had previously surveyed its members on similar proposals in 2019, and found strong opposition to both ideas.
“They just kind of resent government getting involved in these kinds of programs in the private sector … there’s all kinds of regulations that go with that, there was some concern expressed about liabilities for businesses that are required to offer a retirement plan,” he said, referencing the “significant cost” of offering this option.
And since 2019, he believes opposition among small business leaders will have only grown. He pointed to persistent economic challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic including supply chain disruptions, a worsening labor shortage and higher costs due to inflation.
Still, he noted NFIB’s state chapter does support other elements of Evers’ budget proposal, such as more funding for worker training initiatives, additional investment in broadband targeting underserved areas, and eliminating the personal property tax.
But he generally described Evers’ proposal as a “big government, pro-spending budget.”
“When he puts in initiatives like increasing the minimum wage, government mandates on employers and employees, that’s just the wrong direction to go for our state business community to grow and to prosper,” Smith said.
See more at WisPolitics.com: https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/evers-calls-for-family-leave-program-workforce-initiatives-in-budget-proposal
— Public Service Commissioner Ellen Nowak, a GOP appointee, has notified Dem Gov. Tony Evers she won’t seek to continue serving after her term ends March 1.
The state Supreme Court last year reaffirmed precedent from the 1960s that appointees can continue to serve until their successors are confirmed by the state Senate.
Nowak’s letter indicates she won’t seek to exercise that option.
“Over the last 18 years, it has been an honor and pleasure to serve the citizens of
Wisconsin in varying roles,” Nowak wrote. “I wish my successor the best as he or she continues the important work of the Public Service Commission.”
Nowak served on the PSC from 2011-18, including a stint as chair from 2015-18. Former GOP Gov. Scott Walker appointed her DOA secretary in early 2018. He then re-appointed her to the PSC in December 2018, just before his term ended, and the GOP-controlled Legislature confirmed her during a lame-duck session that month.
Evers rescinded the appointment and 81 others Walker made after a Dane County Circuit Court judge invalidated actions Republicans took during the extraordinary session. Evers later reappointed all but 15 of them, including Nowak.
But the state Supreme Court in a 4-3 ruling restored all the appointments, putting Nowak back on the PSC.
In addition to her service at the PSC and DOA, Nowak has worked as a legislative aide and for Waukesha County.
Read Nowak’s letter: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/230220Nowak.pdf
— Federal officials have announced nearly $30 million in new funding to public housing authorities in Wisconsin.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced nearly 2,770 public housing authorities are getting more than $3.16 billion from the agency for capital investments in local housing resources.
Of that total, $433 million is going to 488 organizations in the Midwest, including 89 public housing authorities located in Wisconsin.
Diane Shelley, the Midwest regional administrator for the federal agency, says the funds will help to “renovate and modernize the public housing stock to help ensure low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities have safe, decent and secure homes.”
Of the Wisconsin recipients, the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee is getting the largest amount with over $8 million in funding. Meanwhile, the Madison Community Development Authority is getting about $2.3 million, the La Crosse Housing Authority is getting $1.7 million, and the Housing Authority of the City of Superior is getting about $1.6 million.
See the full list of recipients here: https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PA/documents/PA_Report_2023_02102023.pdf
See the agency’s release: https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_23_038
— The Water Council has announced a new partnership with a Danish environmental group called CLEAN to “strengthen collaboration” between Denmark and the United States.
“The partnership will open doors between our members to enable innovation & opportunities in each other’s markets,” the Milwaukee-based water industry group wrote on Twitter.
See the tweet: https://twitter.com/TheWaterCouncil/status/1627654649019867137
— Rick Schlesinger, Milwaukee Brewers president of business operations, acknowledges the uphill battle to convince lawmakers to approve $290 million from the state surplus to pay for improvements and maintenance at American Family Field.
“We need both the Legislature and the governor,” Schlesinger said on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. “The reality is the governor independently decided that this is the announcement he wanted to make, and this is the plan he wanted to propose. And from our perspective, we’re not that influential that we can manipulate or overtly influence how specific things get rolled out. From our perspective, we were very pleased, obviously, with the governor taking the lead and making the announcement.”
The governor’s plan would direct the money to the stadium district, which owns American Family Field and is legally obligated to maintain the facility. In return, the team said it would agree to sign a new lease and stay in Milwaukee through at least 2043.
Last year, Forbes estimated the team’s worth at $1.2 billion.
“Without commenting on whether the Forbes number is accurate or not, the reality is that we’re not asking anything new from the district,” Schlesinger said. “We’re just asking the district of the obligations that it agreed to back in 1996 when it signed the lease.”
— Meanwhile, Tim Sheehy, chair of the stadium district board that would receive the state funds, says the current financial situation was “inevitable.”
“Oct. 6, 1995, at 4:55 in the morning the stadium funding bill passed,” Sheehy told “UpFront.” “And from that day forward, this day was inevitable because we were always going to get to a point where we would run through the funding that was put in through the sales tax and have to extend the lease. We’re here today, and it’s a wise investment going forward.”
The 0.1 percent five-county sales tax expired in March 2020.
“The challenge is then we have an asset right now that has about $87 million left in its fund,” Sheehy said. “The asset, just like a house that’s aged 20 years, will start to deteriorate. The Brewers will be less attractive in terms of getting fans to the stadium and we will end up in this slow spiral.”
Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, has also spent years lobbying lawmakers for an increase in shared revenue and a dedicated sales tax in Milwaukee and said lawmakers are closer than ever.
“We’re also closer because next year the city faces a $100 million increase in its pension cost,” Sheehy said. “So we’ve been talking about this since 2015 in anticipation of a cliff in ’23. It’s ’23. We need to make a decision.”
See more from the show: https://www.wisn.com/upfront
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report … </b></i>
— An expert with UW-Whitewater in a recent panel underlined the importance of addressing mental health alongside physical health for patients with diabetes and other conditions.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Sun Badger Solar’s financial turmoil causes anxiety for customers who spent thousands on incomplete projects
# Madison center for Black entrepreneurs receives major gift
# Why a major Milwaukee-area employer decided to reverse a $43B acquisition
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin farm numbers, average acreage unchanged
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=203&yr=2023
# EDUCATION
– Employers and community colleges stuck in ‘vicious cycle,’ Harvard researcher finds
# ENVIRONMENT
– DNR awards $6.5 million to restore, protect surface water
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=207&yr=2023
– While harmful algal blooms like it hot, a new study finds they can handle the cold
– Sturgeon spearing on Upriver Lakes closes with 285 sturgeon harvested
# FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– New BBQ vendor for Crossroads Collective, possible Dunkin’ in West Allis: Quick Bites
# HEALTH CARE
– Building blocks: Amery Hospital & Clinic
# LABOR
– Veterans job organization forms partnership with tech trainer, recruiter for upskilling
# LEGAL
– Wisconsin Farm Bureau statement on lawsuit over CAFO rules
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=206&yr=2023
– Owner of 100 East office tower in downtown Milwaukee suing city, claiming property assessment is double fair market value
– Milwaukee man sues Hyundai and Kia over car models that are easily stolen
# REAL ESTATE
– Metro Milwaukee home sales were down 33% in January
# RETAIL
– CBD business plans to open hemp dispensary in Third Ward
# TECHNOLOGY
– With post-pandemic momentum, Madison startup merges with Denver firm
# TRANSPORTATION
– After mostly favorable feedback, Bird Scooters may return to Janesville
– Allegiant to begin non-stop flights from Appleton to Pacific Northwest https://www.postcrescent.com/story/money/2023/02/20/allegiant-to-begin-non-stop-flights-from-appleton-to-pacific-northwest/69912187007/
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
UW-Milwaukee: Former House Speaker Paul Ryan visits UWM as part of Distinguished Lecture Series
