Dem bill would create tax credit for beginning farmers

Legislation being circulated by Dem lawmakers would create a $5 million annual tax credit program for early-career farmers, helping to offset the cost of acquiring land and other farming assets.  Sen. Mark Spreitzer of Beloit and Rep. Jenna Jacobson of Oregon recently sent a co-sponsorship memo to other lawmakers on

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University research would likely decline if government took patent royalties

Innovation-inspiring funding for decades of research and patents in Wisconsin would be rolled back if the federal government skimmed profits from patents developed by federally funded universities, experts say. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last month in an interview with The Hill said it’s unfair that the federal government gives universities

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Wisconsin’s cybersecurity could use improvement, experts say

Wisconsin has a lot of areas to improve on when it comes to cybersecurity, including gaps in statutory definitions, AI use and collaboration between groups, experts say. A panel of experts during an Assembly Science, Technology, and AI Committee informational hearing yesterday provided several hours of insight into the current

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Dairy group, Van Orden call for immigration law change to help farms

The American Dairy Coalition, American Business Immigration Coalition and U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden at the World Dairy Expo advocated for immigration law changes to bolster the agriculture workforce. Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, said he wants to create a program attached to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s app

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Forestry Revitalization Act up for public comment this week

The Forestry Revitalization Act is up for public comment Thursday in the Senate Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry Committee. The bill aims to make Wisconsin a global aviation biofuel production hub through spending $210 million in state funds to attract what lawmakers have said would amount to a $1.5

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Businesses already raising prices in anticipation of tariff impacts

Wisconsin businesses have already started raising their prices in anticipation of tariffs driving import costs, experts told an audience in Ripon. The comments came during a Ripon College Center for Politics and the People panel discussion. Ken Wasylik, managing director of E.M. Wasylik Associates and co-host of the “Talking Trade” podcast,

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High risk stops most innovation investment policy advancement

Policies aimed at bringing new business to Wisconsin often get bogged down because of the risky nature of investments, Rep. Rob Wittke says. Wittke, R-Caledonia, made the comments during a Wisconsin Tech Council luncheon in Madison this week while talking about a pair of new bills to update the state’s

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