How do you navigate neighboring local government entities approving lucrative collective bargaining settlements that unexpectedly upset the historical wage rankings? What is the impact of a neighboring local government entity’s settlement that implements frontloaded across-the-board wage increases, as opposed to a neighboring local government entity’s settlement that focuses wage increases toward the top step and incrementally over the life of the contract? Is your local government entity getting whipsawed? Is your local government entity actually ready to engage in negotiations or is your entity winging it? Are you (and the union) using data to drive decisions? Are your entity’s elected officials considering the true ripple effect of the deals they agree to with the union, including the practical impact on non-union employees and the long-term financial impact? What if your bargaining team just wants to “get to the point” and “avoid the games?” How do you get the other side to sit and bargain at the bargaining table rather than negotiating electronically? What other factors are destabilizing and undermining the effectiveness of your bargaining strategies? What about the pending-Act 10 litigation, the upcoming Gubernatorial election, and a possible legislature shift?

The newly enacted Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Modernization Act (2025 Wisconsin Act 17) creates a new APRN licensure category and, for the first time, allows qualifying APRNs to practice independently without a collaborative agreement with a physician or dentist—raising a number of questions for hospitals, clinics, and other employers of advanced practice nurses.