U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is calling out President Donald Trump’s inaction on lowering the cost of living for working families and hopes she can get Congress to take the action needed to help families in Wisconsin and beyond through a trio of bills.
“I was on the same ballot as Donald Trump last year, and I heard the same concerns from Wisconsinites that he did,” Baldwin said during a virtual press conference she held from her office in Washington D.C. “Families needed some breathing room. Folks feel like they’re doing everything right — they’re working hard, they’re playing by the rules — but the deck is just stacked against them, and families are living paycheck to paycheck.”
Saving to buy a home is out of reach for many, according to Baldwin, and saving up for the family to go on vacation is near impossible for those people. Trump “capitalized on those concerns,” Baldwin said, and vowed to tackle the increased cost of almost everything on the first day in office.
“Fast forward to today. Anyone who reads the news knows that not only did Trump not end inflation, but costs are on the rise for folks everywhere,” Baldwin said. “Donald Trump has launched a trade war, causing chaos for farmers, manufacturers and small businesses. He increased inflation and prices for hard-working families across Wisconsin.”
The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act would lower the cost of purchasing a home for first-time buyers by establishing a refundable tax credit worth up to a maximum of $15,000 for first-time homebuyers or up to 10% of the home’s price, whichever is less, according to Baldwin.
The median sales price of homes in Wisconsin has increased by 53.3% in just five years, compared to the state’s median household income, which has increased by only 19.7%. The National Association of Home Builders has estimated that the material costs to build a new home might increase by as much as $10,000 due to Trump’s tariffs.
“Homeownership is how you build wealth, how you grow your roots in a community you want to raise a family in, and a key part of the American dream,” Baldwin said. “Right now in Wisconsin, home prices are increasing at a rate household incomes cannot keep up with.”
The senator added that the median home price in Wisconsin is over $300,000 as of January, and with Trump’s tariffs threatening to increase the cost of construction materials, she feels the reach of homeownership will get further away.
“Building houses will only get more expensive these days, so I’ve introduced legislation that would help first-time homebuyers get their foot in the door and give first-time homebuyers a tax cut worth up to 10% of a home’s purchase price,” Baldwin said. “Look, I’ll be the first to say that we have more to do to build more homes, lower rent prices and make sure everyone has the opportunity to live in the communities they work in, but this bill is a really great start.”
The childcare for Working Families Act would ensure families can afford the childcare they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the childcare sector, and helping ensure childcare workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. On average, Wisconsin childcare for an infant costs $12,567 annually, or $1,047 per month.
A typical family in America would pay no more than $15 daily for childcare, while others would pay nothing, and eligible families would not have to devote more than 7% of income on childcare.
“When parents cannot find affordable care, they cannot join the workforce or go back to school to get the skills they need to land a good-paying job,” Baldwin said. “Even when parents can find affordable childcare, it’s often not convenient, for half of Wisconsin is in what we call a childcare desert, and that’s even worse in our rural areas, with 70% in childcare deserts.”
Baldwin noted that she’s heard of families that have to drive an hour to drop off their children at a childcare facility because there are none closer to home and then driving an hour back just to go to work.
“The childcare sector is a broken equation right now,” she said.
Baldwin’s childcare legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-kindergarten, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers.
“We know that kids who get that high-quality educational and socio-emotional learning are really set up for success,” Baldwin said.
The bill would also address childcare deserts by providing grants to help open new childcare providers in underserved communities and to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers. childcare workers could be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience, an issue that came up in the Shawano area when the Shawano School District called off plans to open its own childcare center when other facilities pointed out school employees get more pay and would force other facilities to close.
The final bill in Baldwin’s arsenal is the Price Gouging Prevention Act of 2025, which would prohibit corporate price gouging by authorizing the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to enforce a federal ban against grossly excessive price increases, regardless of a seller’s position in a supply chain. The bill would help enforcers establish when price gouging is occurring during a significant shift in the market and outline a standard of what a violation is.
“We see big corporations that are trying to exploit hard-working families,” Baldwin said. “They’re going to use market shocks like the trade war to jack up their prices. We’ve seen this before — we saw it during the pandemic — with big corproations jumping at the opportunity to increase their prices under the cover of, say, supply chain problems or some other cause. What we saw instead was record profits and executives getting lavish bonuses during these times.”
Such actions should be illegal, in Baldwin’s view, which is why she’s presenting her price gouging act.
Baldwin did not directly answer a question from NEW Media about whether she could get bipartisan support on her bills, considering Republicans have slight majorities in both Congress and the Senate. However, she urged them to make up for giving tax breaks to the wealthy a few weeks ago.
“I would hope they can get on board with an agenda that focuses on working families,” Baldwin said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Baldwin looks to cut costs with trio of bills
