FRI AM News: Milwaukee-area tech transfer leaders express concern on federal research cuts; GMAR reports ‘essentially flat’ home sales in August

September 12, 2025

— The leaders of tech transfer offices at Milwaukee-area research universities are expressing concern about federal research cuts.

They spoke yesterday during a Wisconsin Technology Council luncheon in Milwaukee, focused on programs in the region that help bring scientific innovations from the academic world to commercial application.

“It’s not a one-to-one correlation between inventions and dollars in, but we have to have robust, investigator-initiated, pushing back the frontiers of science sort of research, which is incredibly expensive,” the Medical College of Wisconsin’s director of office of technology development, Kevin Boggs, said. “And so, it’s the federal government that has the money to do that.”

MCW has about $350 million in annual research expenditures, according to figures shared during yesterday’s event, leading to up to 60 invention disclosures and 30 new patent applications per year.

Kalpa Vithalani, executive director of technology transfer for Marquette University, said the institution has lost between $1.5 million and $2 million in federal research funding so far. She noted one project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions was cut entirely.

“And so, no more continuation of thinking about research in that direction,” she said yesterday. “That said, right now we have some amazing funding from ARPA-E for a program in our engineering school again, where a couple of faculty members are at the cusp of building a model for an electric motor for aircraft. So there is still obviously so much excitement.”

Still, she added she’s “a little trepidatious of course with any further uncertainty and cuts that we haven’t heard about.”

Marquette University has between $37 million and $49 million in annual research expenditures, leading to about 16 invention disclosures and five to seven new patent applications per year, yesterday’s presentation showed.

Meanwhile, UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation President Jessica Silvaggi said the university is “definitely under the pinch” with multiple grants being delayed or cancelled. That extends to funding expected from the federally funded Small Business Innovation Research program, she said.

“Even our own SBIRs for some of our startups were about to come in, all things go, then they said, ‘Oh, you have foreign influence, you’re collaborating with someone from China, done. Like, you don’t get the money,’” she said. “And they were just about to sign the dotted line, so that’s really concerning for a startup waiting for 16 months for that money.”

— The Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors reports “essentially flat” home sales in August as prices continued to rise.

A total of 1,641 homes were sold last month across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties, a slight decline of 0.3% from August 2024’s total of 1,646 homes sold.

At the same time, prices rose 5.9% over the year to reach an average price of $448,898 in August, reflecting the area’s high demand.

Report authors point to an “interesting trend” to illustrate that trend, noting total inventory has risen slowly over the last two years to reach 3.3 months in August. That’s one of the highest totals for this figure since 2020.

But looking at homes that don’t already have an offer, inventory levels go down to 1.6 months. GMAR says that figure hasn’t been above that level since 2019.

“In other words, even though we see more listings come on the market, most are being snatched,” authors wrote. “The total inventory number is rising, but buyers are placing offers on most of those properties, pushing the inventory level of houses without offers down to 1.6 months.”

The group says ideal inventory levels would be closer to 6 months, but the Milwaukee metro area would need another 3,840 units to hit that level. So far this year, about 1,000 units have been built, the report shows.

See the report.

— The state Assembly has voted 57-37 to pass AB 211 to exempt tobacco bars from an early 2000s-era law banning smoking in most public places in Wisconsin.

The bill would exempt tobacco bars that existed on or after June 4, 2009, only allow cigar and pipe smoking, and aren’t a retail food establishment. Tobacco bars that existed on June 3, 2009, are already exempt from the smoking ban under current law.

Seven Dems joined Republicans in favor: Reps. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, of Milwaukee; Clinton Anderson, of Beloit; Karen Kirsch, of Greenfield; Vincent Miresse, of Stevens Point; Amaad Rivera-Wagner, of Green Bay; Christine Sinicki, of Milwaukee; and Shelia Stubbs, of Madison.

The chamber signed off on an amendment adding more requirements for tobacco bars on top of the requirement that they not be a retail food establishment, including prohibiting those under 21 from entering.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network slammed the move, arguing the bill creates a “significant loophole” in the Wisconsin Clean Indoor Air Act.

“Assembly Bill 211 fails to protect the health of workers and patrons, will confuse the public and be difficult to enforce and continues to tie the hands of local municipalities that may not want these types of establishments in their communities,” said Sara Sahli, the network’s Wisconsin government relations director.

But bill authors in an earlier cosponsorship memo said the legislation “in no way weakens the smoking ban” and argued it’s a pro-business change that allows for growth while preserving public health standards.

“It simply strikes a balance between protecting public health and respecting the autonomy of businesses and individual freedoms. Cigar lounges, by their nature, are designated spaces for smoking, and this bill ensures that they can continue to operate within a strictly regulated framework,” they wrote.

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 Assembly has signed off 51-44 along party lines on a bill to bar the use of public money to pay for health care services for those in the country illegally.

Rep. Angela Stroud, D-Ashland, said the bill is part of a larger GOP playbook to blame immigrants for Republicans’ failures. She said Republicans are trying to get a headline rather than solve problems.

“We don’t need to pass a law to prevent us from using state money to provide health care to undocumented people because we don’t do that in Wisconsin,” Stroud said.

AB 308 would bar the use of public money to pay for health care services for those in the country illegally. Undocumented immigrants are already prohibited from enrolling in BadgerCare, but bill authors have argued the legislation is necessary to prevent the state from expanding coverage.

Co-author Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, pointed to states like Illinois and Minnesota who made the change, leading to high costs for taxpayers. Markesan said adding undocumented immigrants to the Medicaid rolls would put the state in dire financial straits.

“If we add them all to our Medicaid rolls, this state will go bankrupt, or we will have to drastically raise taxes, which none of us on this side of the aisle want to do,” Dallman said. “So again, this bill is just making sure that this state, or this administration, which is pushing the limits every chance they possibly can, does not have the ability to outright try to bankrupt some of our benefits and some of our programs, which our Wisconsin state citizens paid into and expect and deserve when they need it the most.”

Exact Sciences launches blood test that can detect cancers earlier

Where VBA stands two years after one of area’s largest capital raises

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– 2025 winter wheat planting tips for Wisconsin growers

BANKING

– Employ Milwaukee expands BankWork$ program to Racine, eyes statewide growth

EDUCATION

– How enrollment is shaping up at UWM for fall 2025

– 70% of families and students polled say they want weighted grading, survey shows

LABOR

– Family pushes for answers in man’s Sun Prairie manure pit death