THU AM News: Assembly committee approves bill to form State Film Office; Advocates, business leaders argue against cutting clean energy tax credits

May 15, 2025

— The Assembly Ways and Means Committee has voted unanimously in favor of AB 231, which would create the State Film Office and a tax credit incentive for producing films in Wisconsin.

Filmmakers told lawmakers at a public hearing last week the bill would boost Wisconsin’s economy by providing resources and support to bring more films into the state.

Under the bill, film production companies could apply for a credit equal to 30% of the costs for salary or wages of Wisconsin residents paid to produce a film, video, broadcast advertisement or television production in the state. The bill would also allow a credit for 30% of production expenditures or 30% for the sales and use tax to establish a production company in the state.

The credit for any one company could not exceed $1 million, and the total money spent in credits could not exceed $10 million per year.

Rep. Nate Gustafson, R-Fox Crossing, said yesterday he’s “not a huge fan” of the bill and would like to have more conversations before final passage because it’s not ready for “showtime” quite yet. He still supported the bill during yesterday’s vote.

Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, said he’d like to see reporting or data on how the bill would impact the economy.

Gov. Tony Evers made a similar proposal in his budget. Under his proposal, the film production company may claim a tax credit equal to 25% of the wages or salaries paid to Wisconsin employees to produce the film. He also includes a total cap at $10 million and a $1 million limit for any individual applicant.

The committee also unanimously passed AB 17, which gives a tax credit for businesses to convert to a worker-owned cooperative or an employee stock ownership plan. And lawmakers unanimously approved AB 240, which creates a sales and use tax exemption for equipment associated with a search and rescue dog.

— Clean energy advocates and business leaders argued that cutting clean energy tax credits will hurt the Wisconsin economy and take away jobs, including in Republican districts.

Forward Together Wisconsin President Mandela Barnes argued at a press conference yesterday Republicans in Congress are increasing energy costs and setting back energy development in the state.

“The people of Wisconsin deserve better,” the former lieutenant governor and Dem U.S. Senate candidate said. “The country deserves better. Clean energy, as we know, is the future, and we have to continue to invest in it.”

The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday proposed rolling back President Joe Biden-era clean energy policies, including phasing out electric vehicle subsidies and clean energy tax incentives.

Wisconsin Building Trades Council Executive Director Emily Pritzkow said yesterday businesses have developed strategies and developers have planned projects counting on the clean energy tax credit incentive.

“Make no mistake, these credits are not just numbers on a balance sheet out in Washington, D.C.,” Pritzkow said. “They are representing real jobs, real economic growth and real progress towards Wisconsin sustainable energy infrastructure.”

U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, said in a statement to WisPolitics Republicans want to lower costs for Wisconsinites, and accused Democrats of pushing for tax hikes.

“The House GOP budget provides significant tax relief for working-class Americans,” Wied said in the statement. “We’re committed to reversing the costly Green New Scam policies of the Biden Administration, which led to massive inflation and made life unaffordable for Wisconsinites.”

— The president of Madison-based consultancy CyberNINES, Todd Streicher, says small businesses are struggling with the financial cost of cybersecurity compliance for defense contracts.

Streicher, the company’s co-founder and a board member for the National Defense Industrial Association Great Lakes Chapter, touched on the issue during a recent interview on WisconsinEye.

The discussion referenced the NDIA’s latest annual report, which shows the private sector faces an annual cost of $4 billion to implement required cybersecurity standards, with the cost to individual companies running upwards of $100,000 for three years of compliance.

Streicher said some resources are available to small businesses in this industry, pointing to the U.S. Small Business Administration. But he noted the company has been advocating about this issue for years, and it remains “a conundrum.”

“It’s been slow going, it needs to ramp up,” he said. “And that’s one of the things that we really need to bring awareness to, and create within this ecosystem … partners that can help contend with that, and help some of these companies. Otherwise they’re going to go out of that business, right, they’re not going to serve on defense contracts.”

Meanwhile, Pindel Global Precision CEO Bill Berrien said the Trump administration’s new tariffs are “a good thing” for the defense industry.

Berrien, who’s chairman of the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council, said “we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in requests” for quotes from manufacturers in the U.S. and overseas since the tariffs went into effect.

“Actually very optimistic about the impact of the tariffs … that reindustrialization that President Trump is driving is very powerful, and offers, you know, an opportunity and a motivation to make more in Wisconsin and in the U.S.,” he said. “Where we are making more in general, it also offers the opportunity to make more for the defense industrial base.”

Watch the video.

— April home sales in the greater Milwaukee area declined 5.3% over the year, marking the third month in a row of declining sales.

Across Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties, a total of 1,384 homes were sold in April, according to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors’ latest report. That’s 78 fewer sales than in April 2024.

On a year-to-date basis, the area has seen 4,396 home sales, which is 101 fewer than at this point last year. Compared to the same point of 2023, the local market has sold 314 more homes so far in 2025.

“Thus far in 2025 the market appears to be performing similarly to the last two years, a little behind 2024 but ahead of 2023,” authors wrote.

GMAR notes the limited housing inventory is contraining the market, rather than a shortage of interested buyers. The group says brokers in metro Milwaukee are reporting multiple offers for “appropriately priced” houses, with those priced between $200,000 and $399,999 making up more than 45% of the homes sold in April.

“That is the sweet spot for Millennial and Generation Z first-time home buyers, as well as empty nesters looking to downsize,” authors wrote.

The average home sale price in the four-county area rose 11.7% over the year, from just under $380,000 to over $424,000 in April.

See the report.

— Gov. Tony Evers is demanding the Trump administration drop any changes to federal aid to expand high-speed internet, writing in a letter “Wisconsinites in rural and unserved areas have waited long enough.”

The administration has paused implementation of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program. In March, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was conducting a “rigorous review” of the program’s framework, and national media reported that could result in a shift of funds from fiber to more satellite broadband and other wireless technologies.

Wisconsin was slated to receive $1 billion under the program.

Evers wrote in the letter the state’s plan for the money had already been approved, and Wisconsin has been moving forward with implementing it.

“We are ready to award these funds and build the networks and 21st Century infrastructure needed to support a 21st Century economy and workforce,” Evers wrote. “Wisconsinites are counting on these investments. We are hopeful that our federal partners will help us in keeping the BEAD program flexible and prevent unnecessary delays in getting all Wisconsinites connected to affordable, reliable high-speed internet.”

— State officials have rolled out $4 million in transportation assistance grant funding for recipients in 54 counties.

Gov. Tony Evers and the state Department of Transportation yesterday announced the round of Wisconsin Employment Transportation Assistance Program funding grants. They’re meant to help reduce transportation-related barriers for workers, funding ridesharing programs, public transportation investments, used car loan programs and more.

“Wisconsinites are hard workers by nature, but you’ve got to have a way to get to work in order to work hard and put food on the table,” Evers said in a statement.

See the release.

— Wisconsin’s district director for the Small Business Administration, Eric Ness, is stepping down this week after holding the position since 2001.

The agency yesterday announced Ness’ retirement, which comes after 35 years in the public sector. Ness has previously worked as acting regional administrator for the SBA, overseeing the Great Lakes region multiple times, and also mentored multiple new SBA district directors.

See the release.

Top headlines from the Health Care Report…

— The Medical College of Wisconsin has appointed Dr. Matthew Hunsaker as interim dean of MCW-Central Wisconsin in Wausau.

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