FRI AM News: WisBusiness: the Podcast with Natalie Jordan, Cultural Care Au Pair; ABC, NFIB slamming utilities’ union labor pledge for clean energy projects

March 29, 2024

— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Natalie Jordan, senior vice president of government relations at Cultural Care Au Pair.

She discusses proposed State Department changes that would affect aspects of the national au pair program, as well as related impacts in Wisconsin. The federal agency last year proposed more than 200 changes to the program, which gives people aged 18-26 from other countries the opportunity to travel to the United States and live with a host family under a special visa.

“One of the benefits they have is not only to expose their children to a cultural exchange experience, but also they receive child care support,” she said.

Jordan touts the impact of the program over the past 40 years or so, calling it a “successful form of kitchen table diplomacy.” And she acknowledges the program has room for modernization and improvement, but argues the State Department proposal would disrupt that success.

“These regulations propose such significant changes as to really change the program as we know it today,” she said.

The federal agency is proposing a change to the stipend for the au pair program, moving it from a uniform compensation to a regional four-tier system, Jordan explained.

“Either you would have the program become three times more expensive than it is today for families in, for example, New York or California,” she said. “And then for families in Wisconsin, what you would have is actually the stipend would become less than it is today, but why would an au pair then choose to go to Wisconsin if they can make three times more in another state?”

She argues the proposed changes would either make the program unaffordable in high-stipend regions or unattractive to potential au pair visitors to Wisconsin.

“And that would be such a loss for Wisconsin, and really for au pairs to experience such an amazing part of the United States,” she said.

Jordan also says the proposed regulations introduce “unnecessary” complexity to the au pair program with new requirements, such as having the host family track the meals of the au pair. She raises “grave concerns” about how that and other changes would impact this relationship.

Cultural Care Au Pair has headquarters in Boston and Denver.

Listen to the podcast and see the full list of WisBusiness.com podcasts.

— Associated Builders and Contractors and the state chapter of the NFIB are slamming a recent pledge by Wisconsin utilities to use union labor on clean energy projects.

In a release yesterday, ABC and Wisconsin’s chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business noted 70% of the state’s construction workers are employed by “open shop” contractors and would therefore be excluded from working on the many wind, solar and battery storage projects planned for the coming years.

“It’s vexing that Wisconsin utilities would deprive their ratepayers of savings from having all responsible Wisconsin contractors compete for their business,” the groups said in a statement.

The state’s largest utilities — Alliant Energy, Madison Gas & Electric, WEC Energy Group and Xcel Energy — have all signed onto the pledge, according to a release.

The pledge was announced this week by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council and Wisconsin Operating Engineers Local 139. These labor groups note nearly 19,000 construction jobs will be required to build clean energy projects planned between now and 2030.

The utilities have pledged to “ensure that our renewable energy projects in Wisconsin employ local union workers and are built according to recognized, competitive labor standards,” according to the labor groups’ release.

In a separate statement yesterday, a spokesperson for Milwaukee’s WEC Energy Group noted the utility will work with labor partners to ensure “developers and contractors building these projects hire Wisconsin-based contractors that employ union workers to the fullest extent possible.”

Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, calls the pledge an “innovative, first-in-the-nation partnership” between the state’s union workforce and participating utilities.

“Most importantly, utilizing competitive labor standards — including area standard wages, benefits, and training opportunities — ensures the economic impact of these projects stays in our local economy,” she said.

Meanwhile, an Alliant Energy spokesperson yesterday said the Madison-based company has “relied heavily on local contractors and the skilled craftsmanship of workers hired through local union halls,” including carpenters, electricians and laborers.

See the ABC/NFIB release, and listen to an earlier podcast with Pritzkow.

— UW System President Jay Rothman has announced a proposed 3.75% tuition hike for resident undergraduate students in the 2024-25 academic year.

Last year, the Universities of Wisconsin raised tuition 5%—the first increase since a state-imposed tuition freeze starting in 2013. State lawmakers lifted the freeze in 2021.

Rothman said the latest hike would be a “modest increase” when considering inflation levels. He noted universities are also reviewing their spending and considering how to reduce expenses.

“But we also need to take a look at the revenue needed to maintain our operations. It’s even more critical to maintain quality in the wake of 10 years of a tuition freeze, declining state support on an inflation-adjusted basis and experiencing the impacts of inflation,” Rothman said.

Rothman said the increase is estimated to generate approximately $39 million in revenue, which he said largely keeps pace with inflation.

Senate Universities and Revenue Committee Chair Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, in a statement to WisPolitics encouraged UW to “first focus on re-envisioning our delivery of higher ed in Wisconsin.”

“By making that our priority, we ultimately protect and improve the UW brand, we realign our structure and infrastructure, we likely improve our enrollment trends for both in-state and out-of-state students, and we prevent the need to increase tuition during these already challenging economic times,” Hutton said.

Meanwhile, UW-Madison PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals in a statement to WisPolitics praised Rothman for using the tools he has to support the universities, saying the past tuition freeze was “draconian” and limited UW’s ability to compete.

“PROFS also strongly supports financial aid for those students who need it, and we are pleased that UW-Madison has worked hard to come up with financial aid resources as the Legislature has failed to provide the needed new financial aid funding,” Bernard-Donals said.

The Board of Regents is set to take up the proposal at next Thursday’s meeting hosted by UW-Platteville. Rothman said non-resident students will also see increases, which will be detailed in the board’s meeting materials.

The average cost of attendance will increase 3.8% when room and board costs are taken into account, according to a UW release. Segregated fees will increase an average of $74 annually. And seven universities are proposing additional hikes to address needs such as academic advising, financial aid and faculty hiring.

The UW is set to release an affordability review in the fall assessing tuition costs in comparison to the universities’ peers.

Under the proposal, resident undergraduate tuition and segregated fees for the coming academic year would be:

UW-Madison: $11,604
UW-Milwaukee: $10,398
UW-La Crosse: $9,896
UW-Eau Claire: $9,643
UW-Stout: $9,386
UW-Stevens Point: $9,049
UW-River Falls: $8,824
UW-Superior: $8,813
UW-Green Bay: $8,700
UW Oshkosh: $8,532
UW-Platteville: $8,425
UW-Whitewater: $8,406
UW-Parkside: $8,271

See the UW release.

— Exact Sciences is developing a new esophageal cancer test in partnership with the Mayo Clinic’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Madison-based diagnostics company yesterday announced results from a study exploring the test’s effectiveness, including data showing “high sensitivity and specificity” for the Oncoguard Esophagus test. Findings were published recently in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

The test is meant to detect esophageal adenocarcinoma, or EAC, as well as precursor conditions including Barret’s esophagus. EAC is the most common type of esophageal cancer in the country, according to Exact Sciences, but the majority of cases are diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease because earlier stages show few signs.

Dr. Prasad Iyer, a professor of medicine with Mayo Clinic’s cancer center, notes more than 80% of patients diagnosed with EAC die within five years of diagnosis.

“Standard methods of screening can be invasive and costly for patients, which is why there has been a recent push to change the screening guidelines to include non-endoscopic tests,” he said in a statement, adding the new screening test being developed is minimally invasive.

The release notes about 30 million Americans are at high risk for developing the disease and should be screened. But Paul Limburg, chief medical officer for Exact Sciences, says “only a small number” of eligible patients currently undergo testing.

“At Exact Sciences, our work has always focused on the latest innovations in screening and testing to help patients and clinicians have accurate, less invasive, and cost-effective options,” he said.

See more in the release.

Top stories from the Health Care Report…

— The Department of Public Instruction has allocated nearly $12 million in federal grants to 40 school districts to help them address student mental health needs.

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UW campuses plan to raise in-state tuition in the fall

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TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

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– This week’s precipitation has replenished subsoil, farmers say

CONSTRUCTION

– Construction equipment manufacturer lays off Racine County employees

EDUCATION

– UW president proposes 3.75% hike in resident tuition next school year

ENVIRONMENT