News of the Day

Wisconsin has Eighth-Lowest Auto Insurance Costs in United States

Wisconsin is among states with the least expensive auto insurance rates, but premiums in the metro Milwaukee area are rising faster than the national average, a new report says.

A study by the online auto insurance search engine and research firm The Zebra found Wisconsin had an average annual premium of $1,040 for car insurance, which was lower than all but seven states in the United States.

In the survey, Michigan had the highest annual average premium, at $2,610. North Carolina had the lowest, at $865. Overall, the report said, car insurance rates are higher than they’ve ever been, with a national average annual premium of $1,427, or 20% higher than in 2011.

Wisconsin historically has had among the lowest auto insurance rates in the U.S., and part of the reason is many insurance companies want to do business in the state, Franken said. According to the most recent report from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, in 2016 there were about 175 companies offering private passenger car insurance in Wisconsin.

“We’re pretty proud of that history, and we hope it continues,” Franken said. “I think it’s the positive regulatory climate, positive litigation climate and a lot of credit to the state drivers.”

The study said insurance companies are penalizing distracted drivers for the first time since the advent of cellphones, though still not nearly as much as other dangerous traffic violations.

To compile the survey, The Zebra said, it conducted a comprehensive auto insurance pricing analysis between September and December using its proprietary quote engine, using data from insurance rating platforms and public rate filings. The Zebra said it examined nearly 53 million rates to explore trends for specific auto insurance rating factors across all U.S. zip codes, averaged by state, including Washington, D.C.

Trump Expected to Announce Stiff Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

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Lower Corporate Tax Rate Projected to Save Wisconsin Utility Customers more than $275 Million

Customers of Wisconsin utilities are projected to save more than $275 million from the new lower rate for federal corporate taxes, based on estimates compiled by the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group.

The corporate tax rate was lowered to 21% from 35% as part of the recent tax reform and tax cut legislation. Projected taxes are included as an expense when setting utility rates and the cost is passed onto customers.

The state’s utilities were required to file their projected tax savings with the Public Service Commission last month. Matthew Spencer, a spokesman for Public Service Commission, said the commission is expected to decide this year on how to apply the savings to customers’ bills.

Based on the PSC filings, the initial annual savings from the lower tax rates are:

  • We Energies electric customer – $97 million
  • We Energies natural gas customers — $20 million.
  • WPS electric customers — $41 million.
  • WPS natural gas customers — $7 million.
  • Madison Gas & Electric — $6 million to $9 million for electric customers and $2 million to $3 million for natural gas customers (1.2% to 1.9% average reduction).
  • Alliant electric customers — $40 million to $50 million
  • Xcel electric customers — $25 million to $30 million.

The projected savings range roughly from 1% to 4% of customers’ bills, depending on the utility.

 

Wisconsin Attorney General Leading Federal Lawsuit Against ACA

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel is leading a multi-state legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Schimel and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit Monday in a federal court in northern Texas. The lawsuit represents 20 states, including Wisconsin.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the health care law in 2012, ruling the penalty on individuals without health coverage was a tax and allowed under the Constitution.

But Schimel said that legal foundation no longer applies.

“In the tax relief bill, the Congress eliminated the tax penalty,” he said. “So that left the individual mandate hanging out there all by itself.”

The lawsuit argues the entire law should now be struck down.

“The Obama administration lawyers argued during the course of the case in 2012 in the Supreme Court that without the individual mandate, the rest of it doesn’t stand,” Schimel said. “Now that the tax penalty’s gone, the individual mandate can’t stand, which means the rest of it can’t stand.”

Walker spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Walker authorized the lawsuit “because it questions the constitutionality of Obamacare.”

But she added that “as long as (the ACA) remains, Wisconsin will work within the confines of that law to help Wisconsin families.”

Critics said overturning the law would hurt Wisconsin residents.

Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse said in a statement that, if successful, the lawsuit “could take health insurance away from 416,600 Wisconsinites, raise premiums, and end the Medicaid expansion, which has been critical for combating the opioid epidemic and keeping rural hospitals afloat.”

State Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Lawsuit Challenging TIF Districts

The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments Friday in a lawsuit challenging a common tool cities use to spur development.

A group of taxpayers is challenging Eau Claire’s use of tax incremental financing (TIF) districts to provide a cash payment to the developer of a $45 million public-private downtown redevelopment known as the Confluence Project. They argue the $1.5 million cash payment to the developer violates the state constitution’s uniformity clause, which requires all property within a taxing jurisdiction to be treated the same.

Attorney General Brad Schimel is backing the city in the case, saying if the challenge is successful it could affect the $10 billion Foxconn project in Racine County where the village of Mount Pleasant has approved a $764 million TIF district for the Taiwanese manufacturer.

TIF districts are typically blighted, industrial or mixed commercial/residential areas designated by a municipality as undevelopable without some form of public assistance. The municipality issues bonds to pay for infrastructure or part of the development. The bonds are repaid over a set number of years with property taxes generated by the increased value of the property.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has previously upheld the constitutionality of TIF districts. The circuit court and court of appeals both upheld Eau Claire’s decision.

The Supreme Court could decide to uphold the constitutionality of cash payments, but still send the case back to a lower court to review whether the city followed state law in determining that the area was blighted.

Eau Claire assistant city attorney Doug Hoffer said he was confident the law was on the city’s side heading into the oral arguments, but was even more confident afterward.

Lawmakers Approve Bill Restricting Local-Government Control on Employment

The State Assembly voted on Thursday on a proposal to prevent local governments from adopting mandatory labor-peace agreements and other requirements related to employment laws.

Assembly Bill 748 seeks to put in place statewide rules for occupational licensing, overtime and other employment matters. Supporters of the legislation say it would prevent the state from having employment requirements that vary greatly from one government jurisdiction to the next. Uniformity, they argue,w ill make it easier for companies to know what rules they have to follow when doing business in Wisconsin.

The provision concerning labor-peace agreements, for instance, would prevent local officials from requiring employers to sign onto these sorts of agreements before doing municipal work. Employers who sign labor-peace agreements agree to not resist employees’ unionization attempts.

Beyond that, the bill would:

  • scrap local governments’ ability to set minimum-wage requirements for contractors who are working on local public-works projects; and
  • prohibit local governments from enforcing occupational-licensing requirements that are stricter than those set by the state;
  • set a statewide standard for regulations concerning employee scheduling, hours and overtime;
  • establish uniform statewide regulations for employee benefits;
  • make it clear that employers throughout Wisconsin have the right to ask job applicants for salary information;
  • prevent local governments from establishing a wage-claim process that is separate from the one set by the state.

The legislation had once called for the setting of a statewide standard to determine when employment discrimination had occurred. But an amendment introduced earlier this week scrapped that provision.

To become law, AB 748 still needs the state Senate’s approval and Gov. Scott Walker’s signature. Lawmakers in the Senate have said they plan to convene in March for the final time this legislative session.

Contractor Liability Bill Heads to Assembly

Legislation that that could decrease contractors’ legal costs and liability has received a boost that could have it before the Wisconsin Assembly on Thursday, the last day lawmakers in that chamber plan to meet this legislative session.

The proposal, Assembly Bill 773, calls for a series of changes to the state’s civil-litigation rules. Among other things, it would curtail the state’s construction statute of repose, which contractors commonly invoke when defending themselves against personal-injury lawsuits alleging negligent design. Current law bars lawsuits involving injuries that occurred more than 10 years after a given construction project had come to an end. AB 773 proposes reducing that window to six years.

Although enjoying support from industry groups like the Wisconsin Builders Association, the proposal had appeared to be stalled in the Assembly Judiciary Committee with little chance of being sent to the full Legislature for a vote. But, late on Monday, lawmakers arrived at a compromise that will seemingly allow the bill to advance and the bill was scheduled for a vote before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Among the proposed changes to the bill is one that would give plaintiffs an additional year to sue contractors over allegations of negligent designs. Rather than six-year limit in the current version of AB 773, the amendment would allow lawsuits to be filed within seven years of a project’s wrapping up.

The committee adopted that amendment on Tuesday and voted 6-3 to give the bill a favorable recommendation.

The bill’s next stop is the Assembly. Should it pass there, AB 773 still needs to be voted on by the full Senate and signed by Gov. Scott Walker.

Separately from the construction statute of repose, the proposal would make various changes to procedures used to gather information during litigation, placing time limits on depositions, restricting how many depositions could be requested and changing rules governing what electronically stored information parties must either retain or produce.

Although these changes appear unrelated to construction, supporters of the bill have contended they could cause contractors who are involved in litigation to spend less money and time responding to discovery requests.

Michael Screnock and Rebecca Dallet Advance in Supreme Court Race

Sauk County Judge Michael Screnock and Milwaukee County Judge Rebecca Dallet will compete for a 10-year term on the state’s highest court in the April 3 general election.

The two candidates prevailed in Tuesday’s primary election, topping Madison attorney Tim Burns, who was eliminated from the race.

Screnock, who is backed by conservatives, earned the most votes after arguing to voters he would set aside his personal views or policy preferences and apply the law as it’s written and not in a way to seek a certain outcome.

“Tonight’s results serve as proof that voters across Wisconsin value the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary focused on upholding the rule of law and respecting our Constitution and the separation of powers, regardless of their political affiliation,” Screnock said.

Dallet, who is backed by some liberals, came in second after receiving the support of hundreds of judges and lawmakers across the state. She ran to the left of Screnock, who is heavily backed by conservatives, and to the right of Burns, who ran as an “unshakable champion of progressive values” who would “stand up” to Gov. Scott Walker.

She emphasized her 10 years of experience as a judge presiding over more than 10,000 cases — a resume she characterized as evidence of her ability to be an impartial jurist. She said in an interview Tuesday that her experience set her apart from her opponents.

State Home Sales Rose 2.8% in January

Home sales in Wisconsin rose 2.8 percent in January, compared to January of 2017, according to the Wisconsin Realtors Association’s latest report.

The number of home sales rose despite a sharp decline in listings. The inventory of homes for sale in the state was down 16.4 percent in January to 24,607. That represents a supply (the time it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at a given time) of just 3.5 percent. That is a seller’s market. A 6-month supply is considered a balanced market.

The number of new listings in January was down 4.5 percent in the state, compared to January of 2017.

“Tight inventories dominated Wisconsin’s housing market throughout 2017 and that challenge has continued into the first month of the new year,” said WRA chairman Peter Sveum. “Strong economies typically translate into strong home sales. The only factor holding us back from an even stronger housing market is lack of supply.”

With rising sales and declining inventory, home sale prices continue to rise. The median home sales price in the state was up 6.8 percent in January, compared to a year ago, to $168,500.

“Rapid price growth is a result of high demand, fueled by a great economy and very low mortgage rates,” said WRA president and CEO, Michael Theo. “The good news is low mortgage rates, combined with solid income growth, have kept our housing affordable, even as home prices have grown at a rapid pace,” “One big concern, however, is that the strong economy has begun to generate more inflation, and the threat of inflation is what causes long-term interest rates to move up, which will further erode our affordability.”

Legislative Republicans Want Income Tax Rate Cut Paid for with Tax Code Tweaks

Legislative Republicans are contemplating an income tax cut paid for with tweaks to the state tax code as part of their end-of-session legislative sprint.

Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, said Friday he is working on a bill that would make changes to Wisconsin’s tax code to conform with the recent changes in federal tax law.

If the state doesn’t make changes to its own tax law, state taxpayer income will be based on federal law prior to the tax law changes Congress and President Donald Trump recently passed.

If the state adopted all of the changes in federal tax law, it would reduce state tax revenues by $315 million, the fiscal bureau reported in a memo this week. The memo identified 41 different changes in state law that would be needed to conform with federal law, with 26 of the changes generating additional revenue and the others reducing tax collections or having a minimal impact.

Kooyenga said the changes to the state tax code being proposed would result in a net increase in tax collections of roughly $90 million. He wasn’t able to provide a list of which changes would be included and which wouldn’t.

To offset that tax revenue increase, he said the bill would likely include adoption of the income tax rate reduction Gov. Scott Walker proposed in his 2017-19 budget but Republicans ultimately rejected.

“This isn’t big sexy tax reform, this is maintenance of the tax code,” Kooyenga said. “We’ve got to make this easier for businesses and individuals.”

Walker’s income tax cut proposal would have reduced the lowest marginal tax rate from 4 percent to 3.9 percent and reduced the second-lowest rate from 5.84 percent to 5.74 percent while expanding the amount of income covered by that bracket by $30,000.

The income tax cut would cost about $100 million a year, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Walker’s office estimated the cut would save $139 over two years for a median-income, four-person family making about $86,000 a year.

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said his office and the Department of Revenue were reviewing the proposal.

“We appreciate the legislators for putting this proposal forward,” Evenson said