THU AM News: Eli Lilly and Company contract reveals more details on tax credit agreement; Dems circulating bill to create back-to-school sales tax holiday

August 21, 2025

— Under the recently signed contract between WEDC and Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical business is eligible for up to $18 million in tax credits for job creation and $82 million for capital investment.

The contract, which was signed Tuesday, includes more detail about the Enterprise Zone tax credit agreement between the Indiana-based company and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

Gov. Tony Evers and WEDC rolled out the incentives for the company Aug. 5, announcing the state is providing up to $100 million in performance-based tax credits to support the company’s planned $4 billion investment in Wisconsin. Those incentives are contingent on Eli Lilly and Company creating at least 700 jobs and making at least $2.2 billion in capital investment.

The allocation period for these tax credits runs through the end of 2036, the contract shows.

The job creation tax credits can only be earned for full-time employees in the defined Enterprise Zone who earn an annual wage of at least $30,000, according to the contract. They’re calculated at a rate of 7% of the wages between that amount and $100,000 paid to those employees, determined more specifically by a calculation laid out in the agreement.

Meanwhile, the capital investment tax credits will be calculated at a rate of 10% of the cost of the company’s “significant capital expenditures” in the Enterprise Zone.

Along with the job creation goals laid out in the agreement, it also includes a job retention goal of 117 jobs.

The contract defines a full-time job as a nonseasonal job that pays more than $22,620 — equal to 150% of the federal minimum wage — and which offers retirement, health and other benefits.

It also lays out the process for what happens if the company defaults on the agreement and fails to address the issue during a “cure period” specified in the contract.

In the event of default, which can include the company ceasing operations in the Enterprise Zone and not resuming within 12 months as well as other scenarios, the company initially has 30 days to address the default. WEDC has discretion to extend that period if the company is working on fixing the problem, but can’t extend the cure period more than 90 days.

Once WEDC has decided to end the agreement following a failure to address the default, the state Department of Revenue can recover up to 100% of the tax credits verified by WEDC and claimed under the contract, as well as related court costs and other fees.

When asked for comment on the terms of the contract, a spokesperson for Eli Lilly and Company said “we are confident in the progress we anticipate making at our Kenosha manufacturing site both with our investment and our hiring.”

See more here.

— A pair of Dems are circulating new legislation to create a back-to-school sales tax holiday to ease the financial burden on families, putting a new spin on a policy first implemented under GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

Rep. Jenna Jacobson, of Oregon, joined Sen. Brad Pfaff, of Onalaska, at a press conference outside the state Capitol yesterday announcing the proposal. They argued the bill will help Wisconsinites struggling with rising costs. When Walker implemented a similar policy in 2018, Dems dismissed it as an election year-gimmick.

Asked what’s changed since then, Pfaff noted he wasn’t in the Legislature when Republicans approved a back-to-school sales tax holiday under Walker. Pfaff said he would have supported similar legislation back then if he had been in office.

“I don’t know if we would have called it a gimmick in 2018 if I would have been in the state Senate,” Pfaff said. “This is a real piece of legislation. Let’s face it, I think that we do need to have a conversation in this state when it comes to what we can do in order to help working families.”

Jacobson is running for state Senate to unseat Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green. She said she doesn’t expect Republicans like Marklein to “step up,” arguing they tend to “roll over and focus just on their donors and the wealthiest among us, the special interests who are holding their purse strings.”

State GOP spokesperson Anika Rickard in a statement to WisPolitics criticized Jacobson for voting against tax cuts in the past.

“Jacobson can pretend to care about putting more money in families pockets all she wants, but she’s continuously voted against tax cuts. Marklein has always fought to keep money in the pockets of hard-working Wisconsinites,” Rickard said.

The Walker-era sales tax holiday took place over a 5-day period, during which sales taxes weren’t charged on school supply items $75 or less, articles of clothing $75 or less, computers $750 or less and computer supply items $250 or less. Early on in his first term, Gov. Tony Evers said he didn’t think the policy worked as an incentive.

The sales tax holiday under Walker was estimated to reduce sales tax revenues by $14 million in 2017-18, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Jacobson and Pfaff’s proposal would eliminate sales taxes on school supplies and clothing for three days, starting on the first Friday in August. During that period, articles of clothing priced $150 or less and school supply items priced $100 or less would be exempt from sales tax. Under the bill, the Department of Revenue would backfill local government sales tax revenues lost due to the tax holiday with general purpose revenue.

Evers’ office did not respond to a request for comment on the bill.

— GOP lawmakers are circulating a bill to create a new tax exemption for ski lifts to “bolster Wisconsin’s vibrant skiing industry.”

Sen. Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac and Reps. Brent Jacobson of Mosinee and Tony Kurtz of Wonewoc recently sent a cosponsorship memo on the legislation to other lawmakers.

They note the state has 33 ski areas, the fourth-highest total among U.S. states after New York, Michigan and Colorado. Skiing is a “major driver” of tourism in the state, with about $275 million in annual economic output and 1.44 million visits during the latest skiing season, the memo notes.

Currently, equipment for “snowmaking and snow-grooming” at ski areas is exempt from sales and use tax, and LRB 4125/1 would create a similar exemption for the purchase of ski lifts and machines and equipment used to operate them.

“Based on previous investments by Wisconsin ski areas, the [installation] of a new ski lift and improvement of current lifts has led to substantial increases in visitors,” they wrote. “Since lift tickets are subject to Wisconsin’s sales tax, the increased sale of lift tickets will help to offset any reduction in revenue from the sale of the new ski lift.”

The cosponsorship deadline is Aug. 27.

— Shipping totals through the Port of Green Bay remain lower than last year, but a “welcome uptick” in activity in July improved the picture.

That’s according to the latest figures from the port, which show about 215,000 tons of cargo passed through in July. That’s nearly 77,000 tons more than the prior month.

And while total tonnage so far this shipping season is 36% below the same point of last year, that’s an improvement from last month, when totals were down by 47% over the year.

Port Director Dean Haen notes salt shipments were resuming in July while vessel traffic has doubled from two months ago.

“While we are still working to close the gap from earlier this year, volumes of commodities such as wood pulp, cement and petroleum products show encouraging momentum,” he said in a statement. “We remain confident we’ll come close to matching last season’s tonnage.”

Top commodities for July include salt, cement, limestone, coal, petroleum products and wood pulp. Twenty vessels visited the port last month, up from 15 in June.

See more in the release.

— State health officials are warning of potential measles exposures at travel centers in St. Croix and Rock counties.

The state Department of Health Services on Tuesday issued a release urging residents who may have been exposed to look out for measles symptoms and check their vaccination status. The warning is linked to possible exposure from an out-of-state traveler.

The periods of potential exposure include parts of the morning and early afternoon of Aug. 4 at Flying J Travel Center in Roberts and Pilot Travel Center in Beloit. DHS says it’s working with the St. Croix County Public Health Department and Rock County Public Health to notify people who might have been exposed to the measles.

Measles symptoms usually start 10 to 21 days after exposure, DHS says, so anyone who was exposed Aug. 4 would likely experience symptoms between Aug. 14-25. These can include runny nose, high fever, tiredness, cough, irritated eyes and a bumpy rash that starts at the hairline and moves to the arms and legs in three to five days.

“As measles cases continue to be reported throughout the country, travel-related exposures may become more common,” the agency said. “Staying up to date on the MMR vaccine is the best way to stay protected from measles.”

The potential exposures announced Tuesday are unrelated to previously announced cases in Oconto County from Aug. 2, as those were linked to a common source during out-of-state travel, according to DHS.

As of Tuesday, nine cases of measles have been confirmed in the state.

See the release.

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