WED AM News: Talking Trade with Sarah Helton, Michael Best Strategies; Evers budget calls for schools funding boost and tax cuts, tax hikes for wealthy, manufacturers

February 19, 2025

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Michael Best Strategies Partner Sarah Helton discusses the impact new tariffs may have domestically and on major U.S. trading partners.

Helton, the firm’s practice group chair for government procurement and trade, says President Trump’s newly enacted tariffs on steel and aluminum and other goods have created a “period of uncertainty” for the international trade landscape.

“There hasn’t been much time for anyone to take a breath, so everyone is trying to understand exactly what is included in all these actions, what this means, what the implications are,” Helton said during the interview, which was recorded Feb. 13.

The conversation touches on the possibility for exclusions and exemptions under the tariffs, retaliatory actions by other nations, the political conversation surrounding Trump’s trade moves and more.

Helton weighs in on possible strategic goals underpinning the tariffs, noting Trump’s approach may be “his mechanism to be able to bring China to the table” in trade negotiations.

“They understand the pain points related to controls on critical minerals and what that means for the necessity for production of defense materials here in the United States,” she said, adding “it’s a signal to each, right, of flexing muscles, but also too of understanding the best way forward would be through cooperation.”

Helton shares her thoughts on questions around the legality of the tariffs, noting she expects some to be challenged in court. Earlier challenges to certain tariffs “were largely unsuccessful,” she said, noting courts have been reluctant to take action when national security is involved.

She also touches on the role of Congress in the tariff discussion, saying she “would be highly surprised” if lawmakers were to move forward with legislation related to tariffs.

“I think they’ll have to keep their constituents in mind,” she said. “There’s a lot of their constituents that are highly impacted by these tariffs, and not necessarily in positive ways.”

The podcast is hosted by Ken Wasylik, head of E.M Wasylik Associates, and M.E. Dey & Co. President and Managing Director Sandi Siegel.

Watch the full episode here.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— Gov. Tony Evers in his budget address called for creating a new program to audit health insurance companies that deny too many claims and passing a series of tax cuts.

The tax cut package totals $2 billion in relief via cutting local property taxes, eliminating the income tax on tips, and exempting products such as diapers and utilities from Wisconsin’s sales tax.

And he called for a new individual tax rate that would hit millionaires. He again called for a cap on a tax break for manufacturers. The moves would generate more than $2 billion in new revenue for the state.

Evers yesterday hailed his proposal as the “most pro-kid budget in state history,” from his proposals to address lead exposure to the investments in education.

“This budget is about doing what’s best for our kids—yes, by addressing pressing challenges facing our kids today,” Evers said. “But we must also work to do what’s best for our kids’ futures, too.”

See coverage of the guv’s speech.

See Evers’ prepared remarks.

Watch the speech on WisconsinEye.

— UW-Milwaukee is getting $1.4 million in grant funding as part of a research project on self-driving vehicles in rural areas.

The $15 million project, led by UW-Madison and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, will explore the use of autonomous vehicles to provide more transportation options for rural communities.

UW-Milwaukee is one of several partner centers in the Tribal and Rural Autonomous Vehicles for Equity, Liability, and Safety, or TRAVELS, Center. Tom Shi, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is the university’s lead researcher for the grant.

An initial phase of the project will identify rural transportation needs while developing and testing self-driving vehicle technology specifically for rural environments. Later phases will focus on piloting ideas developed in the first phase and implementing them with industry partners.

Shi says adapting self-driving cars to rural areas creates unique challenges, as these environments differ from the urban locations where many such vehicles have been tested and developed. That can include different road markings and conditions, obstacles like farm equipment and more.

“In addition to enabling AVs for passenger transport, we’re also working on critical technologies like high-precision mapping, communication between physical and digital infrastructure, and evaluating the policy impacts of AV adoption,” Shi said in the release.

Along with UW-Milwaukee, other partner centers include the University of Washington, Northern Oklahoma College and Morgan State University in Maryland.

See more in the release.

— The state Public Service Commission is awarding $750,000 in grants through two programs aimed at expanding access to telecommunications services.

The agency yesterday announced the funding opportunity through the Nonprofit Access Grant Program and the Lifeline Outreach Grant Program, which have $500,000 and $250,000 in funding available, respectively.

While the first program focuses on nonprofits expanding services for low-income households, people with disabilities and areas with high service costs, the second offers a discount on “essential” services like internet and phone for low-income recipients. Applications are due March 6 for the nonprofit program and March 26 for the Lifeline program, the release shows.

“Grant recipients will help people stay connected to their loved ones, educational and vocational resources, medical professionals, and more,” PSC Chairperson Summer Strand said in a statement.

See more in the release.

— A Madison-based AI health data company called Veda was recently granted its 10th patent, the fourth secured in the past four months.

The startup recently announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the patent, adding to its intellectual property portfolio, which covers broad data collection, accuracy modeling, human-technology interactivity and more.

“With our patented approach, organizations can dramatically reduce operating costs by automating complex business rules for data extraction, transformation and loading,” Veda CEO Meghan Gaffney said in a statement.

The company has 14 more pending patents, according to the announcement.

See more at Madison Startups.

— Milwaukee County officials have announced the launch of a new Overdose Dashboard, which will gather opioid epidemic data from various local sources.

Under the county’s Office of Emergency Management, the dashboard will pull from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office and OEM’s Emergency Medical Services records for use by public health officials, policymakers, researchers and others.

The announcement notes Black men in Milwaukee, particularly those over age 50, have been disproportionately impacted by fatal overdoses, underlining the need for targeted education, treatment and services tailored to those most affected.

“As Milwaukee County works toward our vision of becoming the healthiest county in Wisconsin, we must prioritize evidence-based, data-driven decisions to develop effective harm reduction programs and services,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in a statement.

See the dashboard and the release.

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