MADISON— Yesterday, Senator Howard Marklein, Rep. Mark Born, and Joint Finance Committee Republicans struck child care funding from the state budget, putting thousands of child care centers at risk of closure. Wisconsin risks losing 87,000 child care slots for working families from Hayward to Hartford.
This $480m budget allocation would stabilize the industry. Without it, tens of thousands of families across Wisconsin will be forced to leave the workforce, exacerbating an already tight labor market. This will put upward pressure on wages, contributing to inflation for families across WI, just as the impact of the Trump tariffs is being felt. As Senator Johnson said, “Our children deserve quality services. Our families deserve affordable rates.”
If Wisconsin loses these child care businesses, they will not come back. Structural challenges with compensation and market conditions will mean new companies won’t start, and potential early childhood educators will choose to enter a different field. Funding Child Care Counts is the bare minimum of what must be done. That JFC GOP leadership can’t even do that tells Main Street that they aren’t serious about supporting Wisconsin families.
According to a recent report by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, ¼ of child care businesses are at risk of closure without an extension of this funding.
If distributed across districts evenly, this would mean:
- Sen. Howard Marklein’s constituents would lose 1,163 spots for their children;
- Sen. Eric Wimberger’s constituents would lose 1,064 spots for their children
- Sen. Patrick Testin’s constituents would lose 890 spots for their children;
- Rep. Mark Born’s constituents would lose 185 spots for their children;
- Rep. Tony Kurtz’s constituents would lose 140 spots for their children;
- Sen. Rob Stafsholt’s constituents would lose 1,127 spots for their children;
- Sen. Julian Bradley’s constituents would lose 1,223 spots for their children;
- Sen. Romaine Quinn’s constituents would lose 870 spots for their children;
- Rep. Shannon Zimmerman’s constituents would lose 410 spots for their children;
- Rep. Jessie Rodriguez’s constituents would lose 440 spots for their children;
- Rep. Alex Dallman’s constituents would lose 185 spots for their children;
- Rep. Karen Hurd’s constituents would lose 215 spots for their children.
7,912: That’s the number of children and families who would lose care in the Republican Joint Finance Committee’s districts without this action. According to the DCF report, the impact in rural districts may be even higher, at 35%, so this is a conservative estimate.
This is unacceptable. Main Street Alliance demands that these funds be added back into the state budget. Otherwise, these elected officials will be responsible for gutting the industry, hurting Wisconsin’s families and small businesses.
