MON AM News: Tiffany calls for U.S. withdrawal from WTO; Evers proposal aims to help boost affordable housing through zoning changes

April 14, 2025

— Northern Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has introduced a joint resolution calling for the United States to withdraw from the World Trade Organization, calling it a “deeply flawed globalist institution.”

Tiffany, who represents Wisconsin’s northern 7th Congressional District, on Friday announced the joint resolution.

In a statement on the measure, he argued the WTO “has repeatedly overlooked China’s unfair trade practices and human rights abuses, undermined American farmers and manufacturers, and eroded our national sovereignty.”

The intergovernmental group, based in Switzerland, has played a major role in overseeing international trade since being founded in 1995. With 166 participating countries since August 2024, the WTO’s membership represents the vast majority of all global trade.

Tiffany says China’s government has stolen intellectual property and “flooded global markets with heavily subsidized exports” since joining the WTO in 2001. He claims the organization “looked the other way” and allowed China to maintain trade barriers.

“American trade policies should be made by American officials who are elected by American voters and accountable to American workers, not dictated by unelected international bureaucrats in Geneva,” Tiffany said. “It’s time to pursue a better approach to trade — one that puts American industry, jobs, and economic independence first.”

The WTO has been a frequent target of President Donald Trump, who has said China’s entrance into the organization has led to domestic “job theft” and an exodus of U.S. manufacturing plants. Trump argues China has been taking advantage of the United States since joining the WTO.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration moved to suspend payments to the organization.

Tiffany’s release notes Congress is authorized to consider joint resolutions to withdraw the United States from the WTO during a 90-day window every five years. While lawmakers previously debated withdrawal in 2000 and 2005, no withdrawal resolutions were introduced in 2010 or 2015, the release shows. Resolutions were introduced in 2020 by both Dem and GOP lawmakers but weren’t considered, Tiffany’s office notes.

“It has been two decades since Congress last voted on whether to continue our membership in this deeply flawed organization,” Tiffany said. “The American people deserve to know if their elected officials stand with them, or with China’s allies in the WTO.”

See the joint resolution and release.

— UW-Madison Urban Planning Professor Kurt Paulsen said Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal to provide incentives to local governments for zoning changes would be an effective tool to bring more affordable housing to the state.

But the chair of the Assembly Local Government Committee, Todd Novak, argued zoning incentives would not make a difference in supporting affordable housing.

“I firmly believe zoning isn’t the issue,” the former Dodgeville mayor said.

However, another Republican working on housing, Assembly Committee on Housing and Real Estate Chair Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, said “everybody thinks we need to address’’ zoning but said he would like some changes to the governor’s current proposal.

The governor’s proposal would provide $20 million for a pilot program that would provide grants to local municipalities if they enact zoning changes to build more affordable housing.

The changes Evers recommended include reducing minimum lot sizes and setback requirements for existing lots and adopting a neighborhood development ordinance: a set of regulations for a city guiding development, land use and subdivision.

While Evers argued that the pilot program will help the housing crisis, Novak, R-Dodgeville, contended it isn’t what municipalities need. But both he and Brooks said lawmakers plan to have further discussions about housing investment this session.

See more at WisPolitics.

— A recent survey of Wisconsinites found grocery costs were the most common financial woe that respondents worry about.

The survey, from South Dakota financial media group MarketBeat, tapped 2,750 adults in Wisconsin, according to a release.

While nearly a quarter said grocery costs are a “financial stressor they think about more often than they’d like to admit,” 19% pointed to rent and mortgage payments, 19% said retirement savings were a top concern, 11% said job loss is their top worry and 10% pointed to AI replacing their job. Medical debt came in lower at 5%.

MarketBeat asked respondents what expense they would cut first if prices keep rising, and more than half said restaurant meals or takeout would be first to go. That was followed by subscription services such as Netflix or Spotify, and groceries, though most said they’d change brands or limit non-esssentials rather than skipping meals.

Matt Paulson, founder of MarketBeat, says the results suggest people are more engaged with economic issues than in the past.

“The rising cost of food, fears about job security, and the visibility of trade policy in the headlines have brought these conversations into everyday life,” Paulson said in a statement.

See the release.

— A researcher at UW-Madison has discovered a method for improving plant growth and yields through genetic manipulation.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation recently highlighted the method as a top licensing prospect in its food and agriculture research portfolio. It was created by Assistant Prof. Jake Brunkard in the university’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

He discovered that “overexpressing” a specific genetic factor in plants activates another system that affects growth and metabolism, according to the overview from WARF. He tested the approach in two distantly-related plant species: one related to mustards, broccoli and cabbage; and another related to tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant.

He found the plants that overexpressed the target protein “grew faster and larger” than the control group.

“The inventor expects that this method would be broadly applicable to any flowering plant and could be used in agricultural contexts to improve plant growth and yields,” authors wrote.

See more in WARF’s overview.

— ThedaCare will open its $35 million Fond du Lac medical center on Wednesday, marking the health system’s ninth hospital.

The 25,000-square-foot campus includes an emergency department with eight beds and another 10 inpatient beds, and will offer various specialty services like cardiovascular care. The announcement notes more services may be added over time “based on community need.”

Jenny Nikolai, vice president of ThedaCare Medical Centers-Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, says the new campus aims to meet local health care needs.

“We know that demand for access to care continues to grow in Fond du Lac, where city and county populations have steadily increased over the past decade,” Nikolai said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the health system continues to work on the ThedaCare Medical Center-Oshkosh project, which is slated to be finished later this year.

See the release.

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