MADISON, WI— Last week, 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. If this isn’t fixed, Wisconsin families will lose 87,000 child care slots 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 Wisconsin, 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.”
That’s why Main Street Alliance is proud to support the efforts of educators, parents, and small business owners as a part of the “State Without Childcare”. Please join them for a press conference at 10 AM at the State Street entrance to the State Capitol.
Corrine Hendrickson from Corrine’s Little Explorers in New Glarus, WI, and Main Street Alliance member said, “While politicians negotiate over our funding and our lives, Wisconsin working families are once again left without. We’ve done everything we were told to do. We called. We showed up. We shared our stories. And still, lawmakers voted to cut child care from the budget. No plan. No replacement. No respect. We’ve had enough, and we are drawing the line.”
Legislation introduced yesterday by Senator Marklein and Representative Hurd, LRB 2366 & LRB 3169 relating to: making certain child care expenditures eligible for the business development tax credit, is deeply unserious. Providing a 15% refundable business tax credit for businesses providing child care benefits will not appreciably increase access to child care for Wisconsin workers. It will simply be another tax break for large corporations. A similar credit exists at the federal level, the 45F credit, which is widely regarded as not achieving the goal of increasing affordability and accessibility to childcare for employees.
This proposal is a superficial fix that fails to address the real challenges facing parents, educators, and small business owners. Wisconsin deserves more than political theater. Senator Howard Marklein’s approach underestimates the public’s intelligence and ignores the urgent need for meaningful investment in our communities. It’s a disservice to the educators working tirelessly across the state to provide stability and opportunity for the next generation.
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 Joint Finance Committee 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.
