WED AM News: Handelsman calls federal cuts to science funding ‘appalling’ and damaging to economy; Talking Trade with Sarah Helton, Michael Best Strategies

April 23, 2025

— A life sciences coalition chaired by Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Director Jo Handelsman is rallying against “unprecedented disruptions” caused by cuts to federal science funding.

Handelsman spoke yesterday during a Wisconsin Technology Council meeting in Madison, where she said the Trump administration’s moves to withhold and cancel funding for health research and other areas are already doing damage.

“The uncertainty is devastating,” she said. “The effect on morale is horrible. I think I spend more of my time just trying to keep people’s spirits up, the young people in particular, than just about anything else because people are just so demoralized.”

She noted cuts to National Institutes of Health funding aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI have been indiscriminate, in some cases targeting unrelated research that happens to have the word “diversity” in the topic. In other cases, funding has been cut for efforts to understand health differences between various populations, which Handelsman called a “critical” area of research.

Handelsman, a former White House science advisor in the Obama administration, says the cuts have been “appalling.” She argued the abrupt end to federal support for ongoing projects leads to waste as funding has already been invested and work is underway.

“It’s massively destructive to student training, because all of a sudden the student or postdoc is left without support,” she said. “And then it’s also particularly problematic for clinical trials because patients are left without the care that comes along with many clinical trials … that can be very dangerous and even fatal.”

The Coalition for the Life Sciences, which Handelsman began chairing just this month, recently sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health expressing these and other concerns.

The group argues ending NIH grants for biomedical research is creating “tremendous” government waste while jeopardizing the U.S. scientific workforce and making the country less competitive with China and other nations that are prioritizing investments in science and technology.

Along with disrupting the U.S. research apparatus, Handelsman says the administration’s costcutting efforts will hurt Wisconsin’s economy, particularly the state’s biotech industry anchored in Madison. She explained UW-Madison and other universities across the country are urging their scientists to stop ordering supplies needed for biotech research.

“We get reimbursed from NIH after we spend the money, which is a real problem if they cut the money off instantaneously, then the invoices that were going to go to NIH never get paid,” she said, adding “what is that doing to Promega and many other of our suppliers of biotechnology in town?”

She’s calling on the business community to speak up about the impact of these research funding cuts, noting the new restrictions will slow down new ideas and discoveries that feed industry.

“Even if everything is reversed right now, we’ve had a four-month hiatus on many, many projects, not to mention all the time that everyone’s spending trying to figure out what’s going to happen next,” she said. “And I don’t think it’s going to be reversed tomorrow.”

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Michael Best Strategies’ Sarah Helton offers an update on the latest tariff developments.

Helton, the practice group chair for government and trade for the firm, said the recent 90-day reprieve from more substantial tariffs on most countries is giving businesses some wiggle room to adjust supply chains and other factors.

“What a sigh of relief for a lot of companies that are impacted in a negative way by these tariffs,” she said.

Helton noted the Trump administration has signaled that negotiations are advancing with other countries, adding foreign leaders are coming to the table as a result of the current U.S. trade approach.

The conversation also touches on the “all out trade war” between China and the United States, as Helton notes retaliatory moves show that China isn’t backing down.

“With all of this ramping up, and the retaliatory tariffs on our side ramped up further, you’re looking at the overall landscape and by our calculations, depending on what you add in it … you’re facing a near 170% in retaliatory tariffs,” she said. “That is incredibly impactful.”

Still, she said observers are “starting to see some language” from U.S. officials about wanting to make a deal with China.

“Understanding what does that mean for China to come to the table, what does that mean for the U.S. to come to the table,” she said. “From my perspective, I do think that you’re going to start to see that at some point. The timeline of it is unclear right now.”

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. President and Managing Director Sandi Siegel.

Watch the show here and find more episodes here.

— Backers argued allowing new mothers to stay on Medicaid for the first 12 months after their baby is born rather than the current 60-day limit would be good for the state’s finances as well as being the ethical and moral thing to do.

The state Senate today again overwhelmingly approved legislation to allow that, with an identical 32-1 roll call as last session when it cleared the chamber.

But like last session, it continues to face opposition from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. The Rochester Republican said yesterday that while he hasn’t discussed the bill with his caucus yet, his position has been “fairly clear from the beginning.”

“I’ve never supported an expansion of welfare,” Vos said. “I can’t imagine that I would ever support one, but we have to talk about it as a caucus.”

Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, said the state currently faces a $1.6 billion price tag to continue providing Medicaid coverage that’s already on the books. She said the expansion actually saves the state money in the long run by providing new mothers care that prevents issues they experience from spiraling into something more serious.

“If we can do small things like this with a high return on investment to start to slow that down, it makes sense for this state,” she said. “It makes sense for our taxpayers, and that’s not even considering the moral and ethical reason we’re doing this.”

Felzkowski ahead of the vote vowed, “We’ll get there in the Assembly, I promise,” saying sometimes it takes more than one session to pass a bill.

Under SB 23, the Department of Health Services would be directed to seek a waiver from the federal government to allow the longer period of service. This session’s bill has 21 co-sponsors in the Senate and 66 in the Assembly.

Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin, D-Whitefish Bay, noted Wisconsin and Arkansas are the only two states that haven’t expanded coverage.

“Why is Wisconsin fighting for last place when we have the opportunity to make the health care system work better for moms, babies and families here in Wisconsin?” she said.

Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, was the only member to vote against the legislation. He didn’t speak on the bill during the floor debate.

See more legislative coverage at WisPolitics.

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