MON AM News: New effort aims to help WI companies benefit from Japan’s $550B investment pledge; Bill would help fund child care staff training

January 26, 2026

— The newly formed Wisconsin-Japan Strategic Investment Partnership aims to help companies in the state benefit from Japan’s pledge to invest $550 billion in the United States.

This commitment was made as part of a trade deal between Japan’s government and the Trump administration, which was struck last summer. Trade officials from both countries signed a memorandum of understanding in September outlining more details for the agreement, which also secures lower tariffs on Japanese imports.

Kurt Bauer, president and CEO of WJSIP partner Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, says the effort seeks to “maximize Wisconsin’s chances” of attracting Japanese investment across targeted sectors. That includes advanced manufacturing, critical minerals and metal extraction, energy, medical products and shipbuilding.

He and others involved in the partnership spoke Friday during an online news conference hosted by WMC.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who chairs the WJSIP, called Japan’s pledge a “tremendous” opportunity for the state. He touted earlier Japanese investments in Wisconsin, pointing to soy sauce maker Kikkoman as a sterling example.

The company, which has been in the state since the early 1970s, broke ground in 2024 on a new $560 million production facility in Jefferson County, adding to its existing presence in Walworth County.

“You got to realize that Japan is really invested in Wisconsin … Japan is way and away the biggest investor in Wisconsin’s economy of any country in the world,” Thompson said Friday.

Thompson’s comments on Kikkoman were echoed by Andrew Seaborg, honorary consul of Japan in Wisconsin and co-founder of the Japan America Society of Wisconsin. In addition to highlighting the soy sauce manufacturer’s new facility — slated to open later this year — he noted Japan’s Fujifilm is spending $200 million on a new North American headquarters in Madison.

“This is an absolutely unbelievable opportunity,” he said of Japan’s half-trillion dollar pledge. “Both the United States and Japanese governments want to identify the highest quality projects possible, and our goal here is really to give Wisconsin companies the maximum possible lead time.”

He explained Japan’s Strategic Investment Initiative has an asymmetric funding structure, with project cash flows being split 50-50 until the capital expenditure amount is recovered. After that point, profits are split 90% to the United States and 10% to Japan, Seaborg said.

Projects considered for funding through the SII will need to be large, ranging in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, with a confirmed Japanese partner on board.

Seaborg added the SII program will favor “proven, talent-ready regions” and later entrants will face a more competitive pipeline than those who get involved early. Referencing initial meetings and outreach being done by WMC and others in the partnership, he said no other states are taking such a proactive approach.

“Wisconsin really does have a head start,” he said.

Members of the partnership include Foley & Lardner, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, the Japan America Society of Wisconsin, Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, Michael Best & Friedrich, Michael Best Strategies, Milwaukee 7, Thrive, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, WMC and the Wisconsin Technology Council.

— Circulating legislation would provide state funding for child care staff training, with authors calling it a “smart, strategic investment” to address workforce concerns.

A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire, and Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim, D-Appleton, recently began circulating a co-sponsorship memo for the bill.

They point to the growing child care staffing shortage in the state and nationwide, noting it’s making it harder for people to find affordable care.

Under their bill, the state Department of Children and Families would get an additional $2.17 million per fiscal year of the 2025-27 biennium for child care quality improvement. This is meant to replace pandemic-era temporary federal funds that DCF used to help cover the cost of Child Care Foundational Trainings, which are required for many child care workers without certain higher education credits.

The training courses cost $200 on average, based on 2024 figures, which authors call a “significant financial barrier” for those looking to work in child care. The extra funding provided to DCF under the bill would fully cover the cost of more than 10,830 training courses, according to the memo.

“By removing financial barriers to required training, this bill expands access to the child care profession, strengthens workforce recruitment and retention, and improves the quality of care available to Wisconsin families,” authors wrote.

The co-sponsorship deadline is Friday at 5p.m.

See the bill text.

— Dem lawmakers say their legislation to help cover the cost of patient lifting devices for assisted living facilities would lead to better care for residents after a fall.

Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim, D-Appleton, and Rep. Lori Palmeri, D-Oshkosh, rolled out the two bills on Friday.

They note many residential care facilities, nursing homes and other such facilities have policies preventing staff from helping patients after they’ve fallen down. Instead, they’re directed to call 911 and wait for emergency responders to come help, according to today’s announcement.

The lawmakers note local responders are having to respond to hundreds of thousands of lift assist calls per year.

“Many of these folks aren’t even injured — they just need a hand getting back on their feet,” Dassler-Alfheim said in the release. “We need to start empowering healthcare workers to safely assist the residents under their care, and that’s what these bills do.”

One bill, LRB-1002, would establish a program under the state Department of Health Services providing grants to facilities for patient lifting devices. Authors say staff could use these devices to help uninjured residents who have fallen down, rather than having to call emergency medical services.

The other, LRB-1003, would create fall prevention and recovery training programs for workers at nursing homes and other assisted living facilities.

Palmeri says patients end up shouldering most of the cost for policies preventing staff intervention in case of a fall.

“If someone in an assisted living facility needs a lift assist but no transport, Medicaid and Medicare don’t pay for that — the bill goes to the facility and the facility passes it on to the resident,” she said.

See the release.

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— In a recent GOP radio address, Rep. Shannon Zimmerman says his data center bill will “strike a balance of economic and strategic benefits while protecting Wisconsin’s interests.”

“Assembly Bill 840 regulates how data centers are built and operated throughout our state,” the River Falls Republican says. “This bill requires the Public Service Commission to make sure that any costs for building or expanding electric infrastructure that primarily serves a data center are paid for by the data center itself.”

Zimmerman says the bill will set environmental and financial safeguards, requiring data centers to use cooling water in a closed-loop system to recycle water and report annual water usage.

The bill passed the Assembly Tuesday, and now is before the Senate.

Register here for a virtual luncheon being held Wednesday by WisPolitics/WisBusiness/State Affairs and the Wisconsin Technology Council. It will explore competing legislation seeking to regulate data centers in the state.

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