Friday, September 4: Wisconsin workers’ wage gains, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin decries Trump policy effects on small businesses, back to school season on a zero budget
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The type of policies that this president has engaged in are extremely harmful to the consumer and to our small businesses and to our farmers who are producing these products”
– U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, speaking at a Madison-area Italian grocer about the effects of President Trump’s policies on small businesses
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin speaks with Fraboni's deli co-owner Bennett Fraboni on Sept. 3, 2026. (Photo by Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner)
Ahead of Labor Day weekend, a UW-Madison center’s report on the state of Wisconsin’s workforce found that the lowest paid workers have continued to see consistent wage gains since 2018. But President Donald Trump’s economic policies have caused job growth to flatline and increased the risk that the unemployment rate could rise. Deputy Editor Erik Gunn reports.
At a Madison-area Italian grocery on Thursday morning, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said that her favorite non-Wisconsin made style of cheese is burrata and discussed the pressures facing small businesses. Henry Redman reports on the latest stop on Baldwin’s tour of Wisconsin small businesses affected by tariffs and the war in Iran.
In a commentary, Editor-in-chief Ruth Conniff examines Gov. Tony Evers’ sunny back-to-school declarations against the budget realities facing schools and a lawsuit charging the state with failing to meet its constitutional obligation to kids.
More from Washington:
ICYMI
Ahead of Labor Day, unions back Crowley | Henry Redman
A construction worker on a road project. (Photo courtesy High Road Strategy Center, from the State of Working Wisconsin Report)
Thanks for reading Quick Study. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.