Aleckson campaign: Calls for state child care commission with a firm deadline after meeting with Green County providers

Contact: Jon Aleckson · 608-577-8909· AlecksonforAssembly@gmail.com

Assembly District 50 candidate joins Green County Child Care Network members to hear directly from the people caring for local kids

MONROE, Wis. — “Critically, we need to create a State Commission on Child Care in 2027”, said Jon Aleckson, Republican candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly, District 50.“  In the Technology Age, Phase 2 – Artificial Intelligence, jobs are going to change rapidly requiring targeted education and support for families with parents in the workplace.

Aleckson met with the Green County Child Care Network, a group of family and group child care providers from across the county, Wednesday night.   He called for the immediate creation of a state commission next year, with a firm deadline, to find public and private solutions to the region’s child care shortage. 

 “Finding solutions will be vital to families and the economy.  Having well trained people and reliable care for their families is critical if we are to have these new jobs in our area,” Jon said.

The Network invited candidates for the Assembly and State Senate to its October 14 meeting at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Monroe to present their proposals and take questions from providers.  The 50^th Assembly District includes Green County and Southwestern Dane County.

The numbers back up the urgency. Green County is roughly 700 child care slots short of what local families need, a gap estimated to cost the county’s economy about $21 million a year. Infant care at a Green County child care center now averages about $281 a week, more than $14,000 a year, according to the state Department of Children and Families’ 2025 market survey. That is close to 18 percent of the county’s median household income. Federal stabilization payments that helped keep many providers open ended June 30.

Aleckson said the problem reaches well beyond parents of young children.  “This is a workforce and a family issue,” Aleckson said. “When a parent can’t find or afford care, they can’t take jobs, keep the shift they’re working, or grow their business. Our employers feel it, and so do our communities.”

Aleckson presented five proposals at the meeting. He said members found common ground with him on two: the state commission and his ideas for retaining child care workers. The two sides parted ways on funding. Aleckson said that Network members favor a new tax on businesses to pay for child care, an approach he opposes.

“I cannot support a new tax on our businesses, especially our small and rural employers who are already stretched,” Aleckson said. “But regardless of how we get there, we need a public-private response to this daycare crisis, especially in our rural areas.  I am exploring ideas related to ways in which businesses can choose to help.”

Aleckson thanked the Network for its work and for opening its meeting to candidates.

“Groups like the Green County Child Care Network are incredibly important to advocate and help bring awareness to this crisis,” Aleckson said. “I was happy to participate despite some differences on the solutions.”

Aleckson, a educational technology entrepreneur is running for the open seat in Assembly District 50, which includes all of Green County and southwestern Dane County. The general election is Tuesday, November 3. In-person absentee voting begins October 20.