TUE AM News: Bill would make tax credit program more ‘flexible’ to drive investments in child care, housing; Wimberger circulating employment eligibility legislation

May 6, 2025

— Legislation from GOP lawmakers would make some state tax credit programs more flexible to drive investments in child care and workforce housing, bill authors say.

Rep. Dave Armstrong of Rice Lake and Sen. Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac are currently circulating a co-sponsorship memo for the bill.

It follows legislation signed into law last year that made changes to the state’s Business Development Tax Credit and Enterprise Zone Tax Credit programs, including allowing companies to claim credits for investments in workforce housing and child care programs, the memo shows.

Armstrong and Feyen say they’re hearing from employers that “WEDC was interpreting” the law to mean businesses needed to own the workforce housing and child care programs to qualify for tax credits, not only invest in them.

They argue “that was not the intent of Act 143’s lead authors” and the new legislation is meant to address that.

Under current law, qualifying recipients can claim tax benefits up to 15% of their investment in workforce housing for employees and up to 15% of their investment in creating a child care program for employees, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. That law restricts qualifying investments to “capital expenditures made by the person,” LRB wrote.

The bill would allow businesses to receive the credit for contributions made to a third party for building or rehabilitating workforce housing or establishing a child care program, as well as contributions made to a local revolving loan program. Plus, the legislation would get rid of a requirement that the qualifying programs must be for employees.

“By clarifying the law and in the process making it more flexible, more businesses may be willing to invest in workforce housing and childcare programs,” bill authors wrote.

The co-sponsorship deadline for the legislation is 5 p.m. on May 15.

See the bill text.

— State and local governments would be required to verify that prospective employees are eligible to work in the United States using the federal E-Verify program, under a bill being circulated by Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto.

Wimberger said because E-Verify is optional, bad actors can plausibly deny that they are exploiting illegally hired, cheap immigrant labor. He argued Gov. Tony Evers should support the bill, referencing the guv’s comments last week after border czar Tom Homan indicated Evers could be arrested over guidance he issued to state employees on how to interact with ICE.

“Governor Evers expressed concern recently that he might be accused of violating federal immigration law,” Wimberger said. “This bill should ease his concerns, since employees and contractors will need to be pre-screened to be lawfully employed.”

Evers’ office did not return a request for comment.

The proposal would require government agencies to verify the identities of people they intend to hire through E-Verify and prohibit them from being hired if they aren’t eligible to work in the U.S.

It would also prohibit the Department of Administration from awarding construction contracts to the lowest bidder if the employer doesn’t verify employment eligibility through E-Verify, or if the employer allows someone to work for them after E-Verify finds them ineligible to work in the U.S.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce declined to comment on the bill.

See the release.

— Dem Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined his 14th lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, accusing Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “dismantling” the Department of Health and Human Services.

The lawsuit, filed by 19 states, seeks an order forcing Kennedy to halt further cuts of staff and resources to HHS. Kaul argued the cuts are ripping necessary health resources from Wisconsinites.

“A dangerous mix of conspiracy theories and the extreme ideology reflected by DOGE are causing a staggering amount of damage to the extraordinarily important work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, resulting in increased and unnecessary risk to people’s health and well-being,” Kaul said in a release.

Kennedy had announced in March he planned to restructure HHS. He collapsed the department’s 28 agencies into 15 and slashed 10,000 federal employees in the department.

The lawsuit argued these changes will “undermine” the nation’s health system, shuttering infectious disease laboratories, firing mental health treatment workers and getting rid of the CDC maternal health team.

“This and other lawsuits we’ve joined are seeking to stem the harm,” Kaul said. “But it’s also critical for Congress to get off the sidelines and help stop HHS from continuing down this senseless course.”

WisGOP spokesperson Anika Rickard said in a statement to WisPolitics this is “another political lawsuit” by Democratic attorneys general.

“The majority of voters in Wisconsin elected President Trump for his politics, and the President is keeping his promises,” Rickard said. “Attacks on the Administration are an attack on the voters of Wisconsin.”

Other lawsuits that Kaul has joined against the Trump administration include everything from protesting Trump’s threats to end birthright citizenship and cuts the Department of Education to opposing Trump’s order blocking transgender people from the military.

— The Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee School of Engineering have announced a new program giving MSOE students more opportunities to explore careers in health care.

The two institutions yesterday rolled out the Student Pathways to Flourishing in the Health Professions program, which will start in fall 2026. Through the program, students at MSOE will be able to explore various MCW graduate programs, according to the announcement.

The program includes presentations and workshops for undergraduate students featuring perspectives on in-demand health care fields. The offering is meant to support students who can use skills in business, technology, health sciences and artificial intelligence to “improve the lives of others.”

MSOE President John Walz says students that pursue the program will be “prepared to leverage advanced technologies and lead in a rapidly changing landscape” as part of the next generation of health care professionals.

And Dr. John Raymond, president and CEO of MCW, is highlighting the opportunity for mentorship through the program. Mentors and other faculty will help participating students as they navigate the first steps of joining the health care field.

“Our two powerhouse, long-standing institutions are uniquely positioned to bring together emerging and innovative pathways to health professions available to undergraduates,” Raymond said in a statement.

MCW and MSOE are launching the effort with programs in pharmacy, precision medicine, genetic counseling and public health, but they plan to eventually expand the program to other professions.

See the release.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— The Wisconsin Farmers Union is calling on members of Congress to pass a comprehensive national farm bill as part of a nationwide advocacy effort.

WFU President Darin Von Ruden says delays in approving a strong five-year farm bill are layering “uncertainty on top of instability” for farmers in Wisconsin.

“Federal funding freezes, expired programs, trade disruptions, and input costs are putting real pressure on farmers,” he said in a statement. “We need Congress to do its job and pass a strong five-year Farm Bill. The future of family farming depends on it.”

The previous federal Farm Bill expired in 2023 and has been extended for one-year periods since then, according to WFU. The group argues this leaves farmers in the dark amidst “volatile markets, rising input costs, and growing consolidation” in agriculture.

WFU and other state chapters of the National Farmers Union are calling for a new farm bill that “strengthens the farm safety net,” builds on voluntary conservation programs, delivers “fast and reliable” risk management programs and restores balance and opportunity in the marketplace. Plus, they’re calling for legislation that has broad support from both farmers and consumers.

See the release.

— UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin says university officials have concerns as the Trump administration continues to target universities nationwide.

“It’s been a whirlwind, and there have been a number of things that cause us concern,” Mnookin told WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “The research we do at UW-Madison is such an incredibly important part of, well frankly, the Wisconsin economy and innovation and invention, and there are a lot of challenges to the funding for that research, and we are concerned about that.

“We’re also concerned about academic freedom,” Mnookin added. “And the ability of universities to give students transformative experiences and serve our state.”

The Trump administration is investigating UW-Madison and dozens of universities nationwide amid its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the treatment of Jewish students on campuses across the country.

Mnookin said she has not received any updates from the administration on the scope or status of the investigations.

University officials are also closely tracking cuts to federal research grants. Officials have said that of the roughly $1.7 billion in grants last year, $1 billion came from the federal government.

“At this point, we have had a number of grants frozen or eliminated, and in some cases, we don’t even fully know why,” Mnookin said. “Those grants can range from topics like a researcher who’s studying teens’ online behavior and how it affects their mental health to topics like weather satellites and how we do a better job of detecting fires so we can prevent them from getting out of control. So we have lost grants across an array of areas, and that is concerning, and we’re also concerned about the possibility of more to come.”

See more from the show.

Republican plan to overhaul the federal student loan system will affect more than half of Wisconsin students

‘Avoid political ideology,’ NIH director says during Medical College of Wisconsin visit

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Wisconsin meat industry sees growth in 2025

BANKING

– First Business Bank announces CEO succession plan

ECONOMY

– Sentry survey finds 60% of C-suite execs don’t expect growth within their companies in 2025

EDUCATION

– Speaking at Medical College of Wisconsin NIH director defends grant cuts, says academic freedom is a priority