TUE AM News: New effort seeks to form cohesive plan for forest products industry; Bill would create PSC approval exemption for certain electric generation facilities

March 3, 2026

— A newly launched $1 million initiative aims to develop a cohesive strategy for Wisconsin’s forest products industry.

“We want to have a plan for the future, not just respond to what’s happening or what we think will happen,” Wisconsin Paper Council President Scott Suder said yesterday in an interview. “We want to have a solid plan based on real data … We don’t have that roadmap now, but that’s why we’re doing this.”

Partners in Wisconsin Forests FIRST — which stands for Forest Industry Roadmap and Strategies for Tomorrow — yesterday rolled out details for the two-year project allocated $1 million in state budget funding.

That grant went to the council and the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, which are working with the Wisconsin Council on Forestry on the effort. Their goals include creating a “long-term roadmap” for the sector, to ensure Wisconsin’s forests remain sustainable while supporting the various industries that depend on them.

“Wisconsin’s forest products industry has a very extensive and elaborate supply chain, from both the cutting of the trees to industries that utilize those wood products, to the consumer,” Suder said. “We want to make sure that entire process, that entire supply chain is healthy. It does begin with forests.”

Virginia-based Camoin Associates has been tapped to manage the project, which will be overseen by an executive committee made up of leaders from the participating groups as well as an administrator from the state Department of Natural Resources.

Next, organizers will form a steering committee as well, to work with the project manager to “ensure this roadmap sets Wisconsin apart,” Suder said. To create the plan, the initiative will include industry research and data analysis from currently siloed information sources.

In addition to the overarching workforce challenges bemoaned by employers throughout the state, the project will take a “deep dive” on more niche issues such as Wisconsin’s wood fiber supply.

“We’re going to take a look at major challenges,” Suder said. “We’re first going to do a wood fiber supply study to see what our supply looks like, what we will need for the future for the industry. We’re also going to do an inventory and analysis using the latest data.”

Findings will be used to estimate production needs in the future, Suder explained, as well as other relevant trends. He added the initiative may endorse specific policy proposals and legislation down the road, noting partners are interested in “ideas that are going to work” and make Wisconsin competitive in the years to come.

See more in yesterday’s announcement.

— Lawmakers are circulating legislation to allow construction of large electric generating facilities without first getting sign off from the PSC if the energy is primarily consumed on site.

Currently, any generation projection of more than 100 megawatts has to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Public Service Commission before construction commences.

Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, and Rep. Nate Gustafson, R-Omro, last week sent a co-sponsorship memo seeking support for LRB-6296/1.

The bill authors wrote the bill was part of an effort to allow data centers and other high-tech industries to “operate outside the traditional grid without shifting costs onto other customers.”

To qualify for the exemption from needing to get a CPCN from the PSC, the developer would need to demonstrate that at least 70% of the facility’s output will be used on-site for nonresidential purposes.

And if the facility were linked to a public utility’s electric infrastructure, the developer would have to pay all costs associated with that interconnection, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Meanwhile, another provision of the bill would bar electric public utilities from recovering in rates “any amount” for the rate of return on equity for retired egeneration facilities. Bill authors note ratepayers in the state currently owe nearly $1 billion on power plants that have been retired early.

The proposal would also have the PSC set up a website to display the procedural status for CPCN applications as well as any other necessary permit or approval needed for the proposed facility. That would cover those granted by the federal government, a state agency or local units of government.

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

See the memo.

— The president of a national sports gambling lobby accused Assembly lawmakers of “backroom dealing” over a bill that would give tribes control over online sports betting in Wisconsin.

Sports Betting Alliance President Joe Maloney cited the Feb. 19 voice vote passing AB 601 to the Senate as he charged lawmakers with working behind closed doors and behind residents’ backs.

“The people of Wisconsin unfortunately don’t have the benefit right now of knowing how their elected representatives voted,” Maloney said in a presser yesterday, calling it “another instance of backroom dealing in Wisconsin that residents are continuing to resent more and more.”

Four GOP lawmakers registered their opposition to the bill in the Assembly Journal after the voice vote. The bill is now in the Senate but has yet to receive a hearing, and its path forward is unclear.

Majority Leader Tyler August in a statement argued that a bill passes by voice vote when it has broad support and “reflects consensus among elected representatives.”

“The reality is that some groups are upset because they didn’t get their preferred result. But Wisconsin’s legislative process isn’t controlled by outside interests, and it’s not for sale. Our responsibility is to the constituents we serve,” August, R-Walworth, said. “I’m proud that my colleagues rejected arguments from an association with no real presence here and instead focused on ensuring fairness and accountability under Wisconsin law.”

Rep. Kalan Haywood of Milwaukee, the lead Democrat on the bill, did not immediately return requests for comment.

The bill would create a new exemption in the state’s definition of “bet” to allow for wagers placed on mobile or electronic devices by a person in Wisconsin, provided the service processing the bet is located on Wisconsin tribal lands and follows the state’s gaming compacts.

The lobby, which represents the five largest sports gambling companies in the country – DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics Sportsbook, Bet 365 and BetMGM – spent some $262,603 lobbying against AB 601 and its companion bill last year.

Maloney cited concerns raised by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty over whether the bill violated the state Constitution and federal statutes. He also argued the bill would create an unfair monopoly that would limit consumer satisfaction and state revenue.

“When we’re driving more competitors into the marketplace, we’re just delivering a better product for the consumer, and that’s delivering more back to the state, as opposed to monopoly or duopoly operations that won’t have the opportunity,” Maloney said.

He said the SBA’s members would be willing to work with the tribes as part of a “multi-stakeholder dialogue” with lawmakers.

Maloney also alluded to prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket increasingly targeting Wisconsinites, though he noted the lobby does not take a position on their legality.

Those services allow users to profit or lose money on “predictions” on sports, entertainment, politics, and any other number of things. Prediction markets are regulated under the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission instead of state and federal gambling statutes, making them legal in Wisconsin.

A Marquette University Law School poll released last week found 64% of Wisconsin voters opposed legalizing online sports betting in the state, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans.

— Total assets at state-chartered banks in Wisconsin rose by $4.2 billion over 2025, according to the latest state figures.

The Department of Financial Institutions yesterday announced total assets for these 116 banks had reached $74.4 billion at the end of 2025, marking an increase from $70.2 billion at the end of the previous year.

At the same time, net loans increased 5.8% to $53.7 billion, an increase of $3 billion over the year. And net operating income rose from $674 million to $848 million over the same period.

Kim Swissdorf, administrator for the agency’s banking division, notes asset measures look strong despite a “modest increase” in certain delinquency metrics. Banks’ past due ratio increased from 0.92% to 1.02% over the course of 2025.

“Continued strengthening of earnings and capital positions support stability across the state,” Swissdorf said in a statement.

See the release and full figures.

— The Senate Transportation and Local Government Committee voted 3-2 by paper ballot along party lines to advance a bill that would allow for and regulate the use of self-driving cars on certain Wisconsin highways.

SB 831 would create an Autonomous Driving Safety Board to oversee permits to operate autonomous vehicles. Applicants would have to provide certain information, including proof of financial responsibility for any damages, injury or death caused by the operation of an autonomous vehicle.

The board would have the authority to suspend or revoke permits if it determines that an autonomous vehicle poses an unreasonable risk to public safety.

Co-author Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Fox Crossing, has argued autonomous vehicles could help enhance mobility for senior citizens, people with disabilities and those in rural areas with limited public transportation options. She has said they would also reduce accidents caused by human error, lower transportation costs for businesses and create jobs.

Motorcycle rights group ABATE of Wisconsin opposes the legislation due to concerns about self-driving cars crashing and endangering motorcyclists.

— During a stop in Wisconsin, Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said he’s pushing for certainty from the Trump administration after the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on tariffs.

“Here’s one thing that we do know: the president likes tariffs,” Timmons told WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “So there are going to be tariffs imposed one way or another, and manufacturers have to be able to respond to that.

“I understand the president’s frustrated because he thought he had a tool that he does not have,” Timmons said. “But he’s got plenty of other tools if he does want to implement this. Our request to the administration is whatever you do, do it in a targeted way to deal with true, economic uncertainty or an unfair playing field or national security concerns so that we can plan around that.”

Timmons is in the midst of a nationwide tour. His Wisconsin stops included Rockwell Automation, Komatsu and CNH.

“Thanks to some really good policies, by frankly, both Republican and Democrat administrations here, and the great work of Kurt Bauer and his team at Wisconsin manufacturers, I think that Wisconsin is in great shape for future investment and job creation.”

The latest federal data shows the state has roughly 460,000 manufacturing jobs, a number that has seen a slow decline.

“I think you’re going to see a major uptick in employment,” Timmons said. “My gut tells me that we’ve lost about 100,000 jobs nationwide over the course of the last year. I think it goes back to what we were talking about earlier, that uncertainty. As soon as we have that playing field set, I think it’s going to unleash a whole lot of that optimism, a whole lot of investment here in the United States.”

See more from the show.

— UW-Madison researchers have created a new therapy for retinal diseases that could help patients at risk of losing their vision.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is touting the technology as a top licensing prospect in its health care portfolio of UW-Madison inventions. It was created by David Gamm, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, as well as postdoctoral researcher Celia Bisbach.

Their approach precisely targets and eliminates a protein called VEGF that leads to abnormal blood vessel growth within the eye, according to an overview from WARF.

Bisbach says the invention stemmed from a desire to take a more targeted approach to disease treatment. The method they developed creates a longer-lasting effect, “so you don’t have to keep getting injections into your eye over and over and over again,” she said in a video provided by WARF.

Gamm, who directs the university’s McPherson Eye Research Institute, notes treating macular degeneration is a multi-billion dollar industry. This condition affecting the retina can cause the loss of central vision in affected patients, disrupting their ability to recognize faces, read, drive and more.

“It’s a really huge problem in the aging population,” he said. “Takes away their independence, and really affects their activities of daily living.”

By selectively removing the targeted signaling protein from certain areas while “letting it do its normal job” in other parts of the eye, this method can treat the disease without causing undue harm elsewhere, Gamm said.

While the research project is still in its early to middle phases, it’s already demonstrated their method works well, according to Gamm.

Bisbach notes many drug companies are already targeting the VEGF protein with therapeutics.

“Most people are using … antibody inhibitor-based approaches, and my hope is that some of these companies will see this technology, and realize how closely their existing products can be adopted to … fit into this new therapeutic strategy,” she said.

Ultimately, this approach represents a “first foray” into its applications within the eye, and Gamm says it could pave the way for therapies treating other diseases elsewhere in the body.

Watch the video.

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