TUE AM News: GOP bill would fund rural ‘creative economy’ development efforts; Baldwin raising concerns about Alzheimer’s disease research funding

March 4, 2025

— Republican lawmakers are circulating a bill that would help fund rural economic development around tourism, the arts and more.

Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, recently sent a co-sponsorship memo to other lawmakers seeking support for the legislation. It would create a Rural Wisconsin Creative Economy Grant program under WEDC, offering matching grants up to $50,000 for rural communities across the state.

The bill authors say this “comprehensive approach” to creative economic development would involve plan development and implementation, marketing, branding and promotion. They argue both companies and workers “want to be in communities that have vibrant creative businesses” with options for exploring the arts and other cultural activities.

“Economic and community development leaders contending with the loss of industry and outmigration of young and skilled workers understand that civic, cultural, and artistic initiatives to revitalize downtowns, main streets, and communities will help their economies thrive,” they wrote.

Under the legislation, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. would be directed to award rural creative economy economic development grants to cities, villages, towns, counties, Native American tribes and bands, nonprofits and economic development groups in Wisconsin. Recipients would be required to match grant amounts with funding from nonstate sources.

These groups could use the grant dollars to develop or implement a plan to “increase tourism, enhance visitor experiences, or bolster community development” in rural parts of the state. That could include supporting or expanding public arts performances and exhibitions, renovating public spaces or vacant buildings and providing technical assistance to creative businesses.

Funding could also be used to “market, brand and promote” local creative businesses, public arts performances and shows and public spaces in rural communities.

The legislation is backed by Create Wisconsin, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Counties Association, the Wisconsin Restaurant Association and a number of local and county-level groups.

While the individual grants would be capped at $50,000, a staffer in Novak’s office says the legislation doesn’t specify how much would be allocated to the grant program.

Also under the bill, WEDC would be required to report on the effectiveness of the grants to the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee by May 1, 2027.

The co-sponsorship deadline is noon Friday.

See the memo here.

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is sounding the alarm on more than $65 million in Alzheimer’s disease research funding being halted under the Trump administration.

The Madison Dem says Trump has “single-handedly stopped Alzheimer’s disease research in its tracks” by preventing the NIH from holding the National Institute on Aging’s January Advisory Council meeting. The meeting would have reviewed applications for 14 of the country’s 35 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers, or ADRCs, according to Baldwin’s office.

Because funding renewal applications for these research centers weren’t taken up by the council, they began to run out of funding starting yesterday, and “all of them will run out of funding,” by April 30, Baldwin says.

“This is Alzheimer’s disease research — including at the University of Wisconsin — that is discovering ways to prevent these diseases, detect them earlier, develop new treatments, and ultimately find cures — but Donald Trump is throwing that by the wayside so he can give handouts to his wealthy friends,” Baldwin said in a statement.

Dr. Sanjay Asthana, a specialist in UW-Madison’s Department of Medicine, leads the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UW-Madison. He’s gotten funding from the NIH for more than 22 years, guiding many studies in the field of aging research, and has focused on the role of hormones in Alzheimer’s disease.

Funding for the ADRCs from the National Institute on Aging goes to 24 U.S. states, where researchers are exploring ways to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The centers also provide training for health researchers, and Baldwin’s office notes “much of the important progress” in Alzheimer’s research has resulted from the work done at these centers.

The NIH has now been stopped from announcing more than 185 study section and Advisory Council meetings on the Federal Register, the release shows.

See more in the release.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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— Glendale-based battery maker Clarios has announced a strategy for investing $6 billion over the next decade into expanding production capacity, recovering critical minerals, developing “next-generation” technology and more.

The company yesterday rolled out details of this plan, which it says will “advance American energy and critical mineral independence” by boosting the country’s supply of starter batteries for vehicles in the United States.

Clarios, which operates 16 U.S. manufacturing plants and employs more than 18,000 people, produces low-voltage battery technology for a wide array of vehicles. The company says its products are found in one-third of all cars on the road globally.

“Now more than ever, America must protect its critical minerals and invest in technology essential to energy independence,” CEO Mark Wallace said in a statement. “With our comprehensive strategy, Clarios is driving a major step forward for America’s economic security, national security, and personal security of the American people.”

Between now and 2035, the company’s strategy would put $2.5 billion into advanced battery production, expanding manufacturing efforts with a goal of reducing reliance on imports and creating U.S. jobs.

It would also put another $1.9 billion into processing and recovering critical minerals through a “circular battery economy,” recovering nearly all materials from used batteries and keeping key minerals within the United States.

The strategy also includes $1 billion for developing advanced energy storage technology for new AI data centers, and $600 million to update Clarios facilities with “some of the most advanced production capabilities in the world.”

See more in the release.

— A conservative law firm has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting an investigation into a Wisconsin program that ensures the state purchases at least 5% of all goods and services from minority-owned businesses.

The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty said in the complaint that the state Department of Administration Supplier Diversity program is “operating in violation of Title IX” by using race to determine who the state does business with.

The complaint argued that the program is unconstitutional and illegally discriminates against businesses based on race. WILL asked that the program be investigated and found in violation of Title IX.

“Corrective action should include, at a minimum, a requirement that the Supplier Diversity Program be open to all businesses regardless of race, or that the program should be terminated immediately so that all procurement and contracting decisions at DOA are race neutral,” the complaint requested.

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