Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald blamed Democrats for extending the 2025 federal government shutdown, and indicated that proposals on extending certain ACA tax credits is a major issue to sort out in Congress. Democratic state Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin said a bill she authored to regulate data centers in the state offers transparency as more of these facilities are built around the state. Diana Maas, an assistant deputy secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Administration said despite federal funding delays, people in need should be applying for winter heating bill assistance.
 

U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald
R-5th Congressional District

• The end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history came after eight Democratic U.S. senators voted with Republicans to reopen by passing a continuing funding resolution. Prior to the crossover, Democrats were holding out for an extension of enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, pointing to escalating premium costs for 2026. Fitzgerald said the politics of this stance was curious.
• Fitzgerald: “The thing that was confusing to me is that the Democrats picked one of the most difficult and comprehensive issues to kind of hang their hat on, and that is health care. So, we all know, everyone in D.C. knows, that the health care markets, that the programs and that individual policies are a complete mess right now, and this is going to take a long, long time to straighten out.”

State Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin
D-Whitefish Bay

• A proposed bill being circulated among state lawmakers to regulate data centers in Wisconsin built by tech giants like Microsoft and Meta aims to protect utility customers, track water usage, incentivize green energy use and require certain wage rates for construction workers building these facilities. Habush Sinykin authored the bill and said citizens across the state want more information about the impacts of the more than 45 data centers already in Wisconsin.
• Habush Sinykin: “Wisconsin currently has no laws on the books that provide any regulatory oversight with regard to transparency, accountability for water usage, for energy rates, for those community impacts that people are very concerned about. So this legislation is intended to provide that overarching framework to fill that current vacuum.”

Diana Maas
Assistant Deputy Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Administration

• In 2024, nearly 190,000 Wisconsin households received $137,000 in funds providing assistance in paying their utility bills, making for an average of $315 dollars per household. In 2025, the federal government shutdown resulted in a delay of federal funding for the Wisconsin Energy Assistance Program. That federal funding isn’t expected to be released until as late as January 2026. Maas said people who believe they are in need of financial assistance should still apply at energybenefit.wi.gov.
• Maas: “They absolutely should apply now, they should continue applying. Applications are open, and our providers are taking those applications and available to assist in that way. So they can find out if they’re eligible or ineligible, and that helps us so that once we receive the dollars, we’re able to administer those benefits. But the good news is folks should continue to apply throughout the season, because if they are ineligible today, but a circumstance changes, we will continue to recalculate that eligibility throughout the season.”

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