Vice President Vance Highlights Manufacturing Revival and Tax Relief in Wisconsin Speech
La Crosse, Wisconsin — August 28, 2025
Vice President JD Vance delivered a forceful address in La Crosse, Wisconsin, underscoring renewed efforts to strengthen American manufacturing and expand tax relief policies that directly affect working families. Speaking at a local gathering that drew area workers, civic leaders, and the senior class from Luther High School, Vance outlined the administration’s vision for an economy rooted in industrial revival and wage security.
The event, held in a manufacturing-rich region of western Wisconsin, marked one of Vance’s most substantive public remarks on the administration’s economic agenda. His speech tied together personal history, regional identity, and policy priorities, reflecting on how past industrial decline hollowed out midwestern communities and how current initiatives aim to restore opportunity.
Personal Roots and Regional Resonance
Vance, who hails from Middletown, Ohio, invoked his family’s history in steelmaking to connect with Wisconsin’s workforce. His grandfather, a welder at Armco Steel, epitomized the mid-20th-century prosperity that manufacturing once brought to towns across the Midwest. As he recounted, those same towns later faced disintegration as factories downsized or shuttered in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Communities in Wisconsin shared a parallel trajectory. Cities like Kenosha, Janesville, and Racine experienced steep losses in automobile and machinery manufacturing over the last four decades. In La Crosse itself, once a hub for brewing and equipment production, industrial employment shrank significantly, replaced by service-sector jobs that rarely matched the wages and benefits of factory work.
By recalling the collapse of Middletown alongside the struggles faced in Wisconsin towns, Vance highlighted a common regional narrative: one of decline, displacement, and the longing for resurgence.
Focus on American Manufacturing Renewal
Vance credited what he called a major policy shift under President Donald Trump, pointing out that federal incentives now reward companies for building and expanding plants on American soil rather than offshoring them.
“How nice is it to have a president who instead of rewarding companies for shipping your jobs overseas, rewards companies for building factories right here in the United States of America,” Vance said, drawing prolonged applause from the crowd.
Recent data on manufacturing supports the vice president’s claim of resurgence. According to industry reports, domestic factory construction has accelerated since 2022, driven in part by policies designed to reshore semiconductors, advanced machinery, and battery manufacturing. Wisconsin, with its long-established industrial workforce, has seen a measurable uptick. State economic development officials cite new investment in paper processing facilities, machine tooling, and food production as indicators of growth.
Economists caution, however, that regaining the scale of mid-20th-century manufacturing will be difficult. Automation, global supply chains, and international competition remain deep structural challenges. Yet for workers in states like Wisconsin, even modest gains in industrial capacity are considered pivotal wins.
Tax Cuts Aimed at Workers and Families
Shifting from manufacturing to tax policy, Vance spotlighted what he called “historic relief” for working Americans. He emphasized new provisions that reduce taxation on overtime pay and tipped income, a move that directly affects a sizable portion of Wisconsin’s labor force.
Roughly one in 20 workers in the state rely on tips in industries such as hospitality and food service. For those workers, eliminating taxes on gratuities means more earnings staying in their pockets at a time when inflation continues to challenge household budgets.
“We believe that if you spent an extra hour of work, the government ought to keep its hands the hell out of your pocket,” Vance remarked, a line that was met with cheers from both students and union members in attendance.
The overtime provision likewise carries weight in Wisconsin, where agricultural workers, manufacturing employees, and healthcare staff often rely on extended hours to make ends meet. Keeping more of that pay, Vance argued, reinforces the dignity of hard work while giving families additional financial stability.
Wisconsin’s Economic Landscape in Context
Wisconsin’s economy has long straddled two identities: a powerhouse of midwestern industry and a heartland of family farming. Over the last two decades, the state has undergone significant change.
- Agriculture and dairy continue to play a central role, but fluctuating milk prices and consolidation have put pressure on small farms.
- Manufacturing, which once accounted for over 20 percent of state employment, has stabilized in recent years but remains vulnerable to foreign competition.
- Healthcare and education have grown steadily, providing stability but not always wages comparable to factory work.
- Tourism and service industries, particularly in hospitality, have surged in urban centers like Madison and Milwaukee as well as rural destinations such as the Driftless region.
By tailoring policy to manufacturing and tipping income, Vance linked the administration’s agenda to both the industrial and service-based wings of Wisconsin’s workforce.
A Broader Midwestern Shift
The vice president’s Wisconsin visit is part of a series of appearances aimed at reinforcing the administration’s message across the industrial Midwest. States such as Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania share deep economic similarities with Wisconsin, having endured the same cycles of industrial boom, contraction, and attempted renewal.
In Michigan, for example, electric vehicle and battery plants have been major anchors of the manufacturing revival effort, reshaping auto-sector employment while sparking debate on long-term viability. In Ohio, semiconductor facilities have drawn billions in investment, reinforcing the state’s role at the forefront of next-generation industry.
Wisconsin’s trajectory has been less dominated by a single sector, instead hinging on diversified production across plastics, paper, machinery, and food processing. By spotlighting both manufacturing expansion and tax relief for service workers, Vance presented Wisconsin as emblematic of the administration’s dual-track economic recovery strategy.
Historical Lessons from Previous Tax Reforms
To frame the current tax cuts, it is useful to recall U.S. economic history. Since the 1960s, several major tax reforms have attempted to stimulate growth. The Reagan-era cuts in the 1980s aimed to free capital for investment, while the early 2000s reforms under President George W. Bush sought to boost disposable income in the face of recession.
Critics of past reforms have noted that broad-based tax reductions sometimes avoided reaching low-income workers. The current policy, with exemptions for overtime and tips, differentiates itself by targeting the very income streams most critical to hourly and service workers.
Analysts argue that if these policies succeed in easing household budget pressures, they may spur local consumer spending, particularly in towns that have struggled since factory closures. Detractors warn, however, that narrowing the tax base could limit future federal revenues, requiring trade-offs in public spending.
Voices from the Crowd
Beyond policy detail, the La Crosse event was shaped by the voices of attendees. Local workers expressed cautious optimism that industrial renewal may finally be more than a campaign promise.
One steelworker in attendance described the announcement as “a glimmer of the past returning,” while a service industry employee said eliminating taxes on tips would “finally make it feel like the effort of extra shifts is worth it.” Students from Luther High School, many of whom will soon enter the job market, listened intently as Vance urged them to consider careers in skilled trades and engineering.
Looking Ahead
As the Midwest braces for continued debates over trade, labor, and taxation, Vice President Vance’s speech in La Crosse underscores the administration’s desire to root its economic legacy in tangible benefits for working families. The blending of manufacturing incentives with tax relief for hourly employees marks an attempt to unify industrial and service economies under a common vision of national renewal.
For Wisconsin, a state whose economy has swung between growth and contraction for decades, the promises outlined offer both hope and lingering questions. Will new factories create sustainable, long-term employment? Can targeted tax cuts offset persistent inflationary pressures? And perhaps most importantly, will younger generations see the kind of stable, prosperous communities their grandparents once knew?
What is clear is that the conversation has returned to the heart of the Midwest, where the future of American industry and the fortunes of everyday workers remain deeply intertwined.