WED AM News: GOP bill would expand low-income housing tax credit program; WI joining lawsuit against Deere & Company

February 12, 2025

— Legislation from Republican authors would expand the state’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program while requiring more than a third of the credits go toward rural projects.

Rep. David Armstrong, R-Rice Lake and Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, recently began circulating the bill for co-sponsorship. In a memo to other lawmakers, they note Wisconsin has a housing crisis as “there simply isn’t enough affordable housing” to meet demand from working-age residents.

“This in turn hurts, among other things, the ability of Wisconsin employers to recruit employees,” they wrote.

The LIHTC program, administered by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, allocates up to $42 million in income tax credits annually. These go to owners and investors that develop or rehabilitate low-to-moderate-income housing. Under the bill, that amount would increase to $100 million.

Since starting in 2018, the program has awarded credits to 71 projects, 40 of which are finished and the other 31 are currently under development, the memo shows. These credits are helping fund the development of nearly 6,000 units.

“Going into the 2025 cycle, WHEDA has already received applications for projects asking for $20 million in housing tax credits, but current limitations mean that WHEDA has only $7 million in new state housing credits to grant annually,” bill authors wrote. “Clearly, there’s a demand that’s going unmet.”

Their legislation would require WHEDA to allocate at least 35% of credits per year to projects located in rural areas, on top of an existing requirement that the agency prioritizes projects in communities with fewer than 150,000 residents. Authors note that wouldn’t apply in years when WHEDA doesn’t get enough applications for rural projects to meet that requirement.

Under the bill, the program would also drop a requirement that projects are financed with tax-exempt bonds and certain qualifying insurers could also claim the credit.

Bill authors have set a co-sponsorship deadline of noon Monday.

See the memo.

— Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Wisconsin is joining a lawsuit against farm equipment maker Deere & Company, arguing the company’s alleged “monopoly practices” are driving up repair costs for farmers.

In a release yesterday, the AG said Wisconsin is joining four other states and the Federal Trade Commission in suing the company for “alleged use of unfair practices” that prevent farmers from making repairs on critical machinery.

The company’s practices keep farmers and independent repair shops from fixing equipment made by Deere & Company, “forcing” farmers to use the company’s network of authorized dealers when repairs are needed. The lawsuit says the “unfair steering practice” has increased the company’s profits while putting the burden of higher repair costs on farmers.

The Illinois-based company reported net income of $7.1 billion for fiscal year 2024.

In an earlier statement on the lawsuit filed by the FTC, Deere & Company said it would “vigorously defend itself against this baseless” suit.

“The complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and procompetitive product design,” the company said in a release.

Kaul’s announcement notes the company’s “dominant market share position” in the farm equipment market, adding the only “functional” software repair tool that can be used on Deere equipment is made by the company. Because it only provides this tool to authorized dealers, farmers can’t turn to independent repair providers or fix their own equipment.

“This case is seeking to make the market for farming equipment repairs more competitive,” Kaul said in a statement. “When Wisconsin farmers need to get their farming equipment repaired, they should be able to get the repairs at a fair price, without unnecessary delay.”

The lawsuit aims to require the company provide access to its Service ADVISOR repair tool — and any other repair resources available to authorized dealers — for any owners of large tractors and combines from Deere as well as independent repair shops.

Other states involved in the suit include Arizona, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

See the release.

— Economic indicators for the Milwaukee area ended 2024 on a “relative high note,” according to the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s December trends report.

MMAC reports 13 of the 23 economic indicators it tracks showed year-over-year improvement in December, compared to 10 positive indicators in November.

Bret Mayborne, the group’s vice president of economic research, says 10 of the indicators for 2024 overall were improved over 2023. He points to growth in mortgages, air passenger totals, government employment and a longer workweek for manufacturing workers as bright spots for the year.

“In aggregate, monthly indicators for the metro area have been mostly lackluster in 2024 but there has been some positive momentum in 2024’s fourth quarter,” Mayborne said in the report.

Four of the region’s 10 major industry sectors had more jobs in December 2024 than a year prior, MMAC says.

Professional and business services saw its first annual job increase in nearly two years, with a 0.6% increase seen in December. And while the information sector lost jobs for the 24th consecutive month, it had the smallest year-over-year decline during this period, with a 1.8% loss.

See more in the report.

— A federal judge in Massachusetts has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from reducing the amount of federal NIH grants that can go to overhead costs.

The administration on Friday announced it was moving to limit the amount of indirect funding for projects to 15%. Wisconsin and 21 other states then filed suit Monday.

The order gives the Trump administration until Friday to respond with a hearing scheduled for Feb. 21.

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— DATCP announced former Dem state lawmaker Julia Lassa has been appointed administrator of the Agricultural Development Division.

Lassa most recently worked as the state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in the Biden administration.

Lassa served in the Legislature from 1999-2017. After four years in the Assembly, she won a special election to the state Senate representing the Stevens Point area. She ran unsuccessfully for the 7th CD in 2010, won reelection to her Senate seat in 2012 and then lost in 2016.

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