WED AM News: Economic leaders bemoan Trump policies, ask for more stability and transparency from administration; DSPS delays commercial building plans

September 17, 2025

— The Trump administration’s efforts to lower interest rates as tariffs drive higher prices undermine the Federal Reserve’s credibility, a UW-Madison economics professor says.

Menzie Chinn, economics professor at UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, during yesterday’s WisPolitics-State Affairs and Wisconsin Tech Council luncheon argued the current administration’s goal of lower interest rates is at odds with the Fed’s historic efforts to control inflation. Chinn said the credibility of the Fed “is under assault right now.”

The Fed’s job is to keep inflation around 2% annually, which the agency has largely been able to do for years, he added.

But Trump is currently trying to force Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook out of her position, which many argue undermines the Fed’s independence. And a member of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran, has just been confirmed to be a member of the Fed board. And tariffs threaten to heighten inflationary pressure and slow growth in future months.

The Fed is expected later today to release a new policy statement, including a slight reduction in interest rates.

“But lowering interest rates is printing money relative to what otherwise would have happened, and that’s when you get inflation,” Chinn cautioned.

— The panelists also said the Trump administration’s tariffs have led to unpredictability, uncertainty and will likely lead to increased costs in Wisconsin.

A panel, including Chinn, said Wisconsin’s manufacturing, construction and agriculture industries so far have largely weathered the storm of tariffs. Businesses have been able to use lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and tariffs from the previous Trump administration to help navigate the turbulent times.

Since the pandemic, businesses have strengthened supply chains and worked to ensure they can source products, materials, suppliers and buyers domestically. They’ve used those lessons to help stay afloat this year, the experts said.

But they also worried about economic stability and growth in the coming years.

Buckley Brinkman, executive director and CEO of the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity, said he dreams that “the three branches of government all start to do their jobs the way they were intended to do them so that we don’t have people constantly crossing the lines on what the original founders intended.”

“And that will end up with better policies, better ideas and more stability overall,” he continued. “And the second thing I’m dreaming about, and I think is coming about, is that people realize the critical importance of manufacturing to the economy.”

Roberta Oldenburg, director of business development for science and tech at Findorff construction, said she’s looking for more predictability and transparency.

“Because the changes that keep happening impacts pricing and planning, and no one really likes that,” she said. “So, again, more predictability and transparency so we can plan ahead.”

Chinn said he wants to see the U.S. Supreme Court support the International Trade Court in striking down those tariffs that are imposed under the International Economic Emergencies Act.

“That would at least take away a lot of uncertainty, and I think uncertainty is a lot of what’s slowing down the economy on top of the higher input costs,” Chinn said. “There will still be uncertainty because there’s still policies that keep on being thrown at us – immigration, other trade policies, foreign direct investment snafus like raiding a Hyundai plant. So even getting rid of those tariffs, we’d still be in, I think, bad shape.”

Pam Jahnke, director at the Midwest Farm Report Network, simply asked for stability, noting Wisconsin’s soybean farmers, whose primary buyers are in China, have already been severely hurt by the tariffs.

“Just let me know what we’re doing,” she said. “I think to be honest, some of the damage has already been done. You can retract the tariffs, put a sunshine face on everything, [but] the damage has been done.”

Watch the luncheon.

— The Department of Safety and Professional Services is delaying by one month the hard deadline for commercial building plans to meet upgraded standards after industry concerns over the costs.

The agency first sought two years ago to implement changes to bring Wisconsin in line with the 2021 International Building Code standards, but was blocked by a legislative committee. It had planned to require plans to meet the new standards Oct. 1, but will now push that back to Nov. 1.

DSPS Secretary Dan Hereth noted legislative delays mean this is the first upgrade to the code in a decade “and represents a big change for the industry.”

“We want to be good partners to Wisconsin’s building professionals,” Hereth said today.

The changes impact commercial buildings, including multi-family residential buildings. Some of the coming changes included higher insulation standards and stricter air leakage control.

The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules blocked implementation of the changes in the fall 2023 amid lobbying from business groups. But the state Supreme Court this summer ruled the committee can no longer indefinitely block administrative rules in a lawsuit Dem Gov. Tony Evers filed over the building codes and other proposals from his administration. DSPS then moved to implement the rules by Oct. 1 before granting the one-month delay.

John Schulze, a lobbyist for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, said the group’s members “are still concerned about the new building code driving up costs on taxpayers, employers, and workforce housing. That said, we appreciate DSPS listening and delaying the new code’s effective date by one more month.”

— Department of Financial Institutions Secretary-designee Wendy Baumann faced few questions during a Senate committee hearing on her appointment.

The news comes as Gov. Tony Evers is suing the Republican-led Legislature, which he argues is ignoring a court decision earlier this year that upheld his administration’s authority to create and enforce administrative rules. Evers in January selected Baumann to lead DFI, before the July ruling that effectively barred the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules from indefinitely suspending rules drafted by agencies through objections.

Despite the rift between Evers and the Legislature, Baumann only faced one question yesterday from Senate Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage Committee Chair Sen. Rob Stafsholt. The New Richmond Republican just asked how Baumann, whose background primarily revolves around working in southeastern Wisconsin, could also help rural areas.

Baumann, who served as president of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiatives Corporation, said she’s made a point to visit both urban and rural communities around the state as much as possible.

“And while, yes, I live in a suburb of the Milwaukee Area, having regional offices in WWBIC, I was at them very often and working with individuals and have a good understanding of the needs in rural communities.

— The Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity has announced three new events in September and October to release its 2025 Wisconsin Manufacturing Report.

See more in events.

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