WED AM News: Forward Janesville rolls out new child care directory; Senate committee split on portable benefits legislation

June 4, 2025

— Economic development group Forward Janesville has launched a new directory of local child care services as part of an effort to address concerns around access and availability.

The organization this week rolled out the new online resource, which aims to help Rock County residents find nearby child care providers more easily. It has a search function to parse options by location, ages served, hours and more.

Claire Gray is director of policy and strategic initiatives for Forward Janesville, which acts as the city’s chamber of commerce with nearly 600 members. In a recent interview, she said the group’s government relations council developed the directory after community engagement efforts last year identified child care as a “major issue” for employers and other residents.

After assessing the region’s total number of providers and child care slots, as well as how many more are needed, the council tapped some of the area’s largest employers to understand the perspective of their workers on this topic. Of the 26 businesses included, eight were among the area’s largest, Gray noted.

“We heard from 234 employees from our local employer base, who all said that finding child care in the Janesville, Milton area is challenging, there aren’t enough affordable, quality providers,” she said. “The largest perceived need is in infant/early toddler care … and when looking for providers, quality and reputation are the most important characteristics. Second is cost.”

In hopes of addressing the challenge around finding options for child care — both for workers and employers looking to fill jobs — Forward Janesville decided on a “simple solve” approach, Gray said. By gathering together information on the options that are available in the area, the chamber aims to help connect the dots for those seeking health care.

“We have employees and workers here that can’t even straight up find child care, even if they’re Googling, because you can go and you can Google, but it doesn’t give you a comprehensive search,” she said.

Gray also said the platform acts as a “capacity building mechanism” for the child care providers in Rock County, noting many of these businesses don’t have much of a budget for advertising.

“Because they’re so strapped for resources, and they rarely have the ability to market themselves, this is a mechanism for them to do that,” she said. “So it is complementing what they can do, but really elevating their marketing ability.”

Meanwhile, larger child care providers in the area that offer other services, such as the YMCA, are taking new approaches to addressing child care concerns, Gray noted. The local YMCA now offers infant care at its Milton facility, and is partnering with higher education institutions to recruit students on the early education track for staffing summer camps and after-care programs.

“So they’re really looking at creative ways to collaborate with other community organizations to fill their labor pipeline and deliver a quality experience,” she said. “So we do have a lot of providers who are doing creative things, and by having this child care directory, this enables them to market their services to a wider audience.”

Gray also referenced her own experience seeking child care options in Janesville, where she moved in 2015. After previously working in nonprofit management and for-profit supply chain management, Gray left the workforce for seven years to raise her children.

“It was hard to find those resources … I basically had to build my own list of providers,” she said. “And that was done by searching online and driving around town. It’s becoming better. I do think the AI searches are better. But it’s not to where it needs to be.”

The state Department of Children and Families has a child care locator, but Gray says it’s not very user friendly. Forward Janesville’s new directory organizes relevant information in a way that’s easier to compare side-by-side, she said, saving users time.

The Child Care Directory was created with a grant from the Forward Foundation’s Vision Forward Fund. The foundation is a nonprofit arm of the chamber that’s funded through private donations from the community, not the chamber’s membership. Its Vision Forward Fund is a $500,000 fund that’s “geared toward catalyzing change in our community,” Gray noted.

She added the directory isn’t exhaustive, and the chamber continues to add providers over time. It’s free to be included for any licensed child care provider.

“Everybody who’s there has been coming to our provider network meetings for close to a year now, and they all signed up and believed in this tool,” she said. “So it’s great that we developed this in conversation with our providers … This is a tool that’s not only for them, but it’s by them. They helped create it, we’re just the facilitator.”

— A Senate committee split along party lines over legislation that would create portable benefit accounts for contract employees of companies such as DoorDash and Uber.

Under SB 256, those workers could access benefits such as retirement accounts and insurance through a portable benefit account. It would allow the companies to contribute up to 4% of a driver’s quarterly earnings, while the contract employee could also put money into the account.

The bill would also state those contract workers aren’t employees of the delivery network companies for the purposes of worker’s compensation insurance, minimum wage laws and unemployment insurance.

State Sen. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, said the bill was too weak on unemployment and protections for workers.

“We also don’t need to have a bill that states that companies can provide benefits to workers if they want or that they can provide insurance if they want,” she said. “They can do that without us putting that into law.”

Committee Chair Julian Bradley, R-Franklin and a co-author of the bill, countered that thousands have chosen to be contract employees and want access to these benefits. He said drivers for those industries played an important role during the pandemic, delivering meals from restaurants and grocery stores when people were told to stay home.

“We need these drivers. We depend on them,” Bradley said. “Now we’re trying to help people who helped us during a very difficult time.”

The committee yesterday also voted 5-0 to back legislation that would create a new film tax credit as well as a State Film Office. Under SB 231, the office would be able to award up to $10 million in credits a year, with a cap of $1 million on any one project.

The committee approved a substitute amendment that includes changes suggested by the Department of Revenue such as language to prevent duplication of claims based on the same expenses and clarifying the refundability, carry-forward and sale of credits.

An Assembly committee approved the same revisions to the bill last week before approving it 10-0.

— A group of GOP lawmakers say tweaking state regulations for utility terrain vehicles, or UTVs, would ensure the state “remains a competitive and attractive destination” for trail riders.

Sens. Mary Felzkowski of Tomahawk and Romaine Quinn of Birchwood as well as Reps. Scott Krug of Rome and Duke Tucker of Grantsburg are currently circulating a cosponsorship memo for the bill.

UTVs are defined in state law as a commercially designed and manufactured motor driven vehicle that’s meant to be used off of a highway, other than a golf cart, low-speed vehicle, dune buggy, mini-truck or tracked vehicle. Under current law, UTVs are limited to 3,000 pounds and under without fluids such as gasoline. The bill would raise that weight limit to 3,500 pounds.

Bill authors note trail riding is one of the state’s top outdoor recreational activities, with hundreds of miles of well-maintained trails across Wisconsin. UTVs provide “greater access to our natural resources for everyone,” authors say, including the elderly and disabled.

“On top of this, the interest in UTV trail riding has only increased over the last two years as snowmobile trails have barely opened due to the lack of snow, leading to large-scale UTV rides in the dead of winter to support local businesses,” they wrote.

They argue the proposed weight limit increase reflects technical and safety innovations in the UTV industry, as these vehicles can be equipped with electric drivetrains and other improvements that make them heavier.

Under the current limit, state law has “inadvertently constrained recreational opportunities” and restricted dealerships, driving related economic activity away from the state to places like Michigan that don’t limit UTV weight in statute, authors say.

“This legislative update is aimed at fostering a more inclusive environment for outdoor recreation, thereby supporting small businesses and sustaining the economic growth of our local communities,” they wrote.

See the bill text.

— Republican lawmakers recently circulated legislation to provide a $1 million grant for the purchase and renovation of an addiction treatment center in Chippewa Falls.

Sen. Jesse James of Thorp and Rep. Clint Moses of Menomonie last week circulated a cosponsorship memo for the bill, under which the state Department of Administration would award the funds to Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, Inc. for the project.

The organizations plan to use the proposed funding to buy and renovate the Libertas Treatment Center, a 50-bed facility providing recovery care to men with addiction.

Bill authors note the region last year faced “unprecedented healthcare closures” after Hospital Sisters Health System shut down hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

“Simultaneously, without notice or public explanation, the Libertas Treatment Center closed its doors after providing substance use treatment services in Chippewa Falls since 1977,” they wrote.

Since then, Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan has acquired the facility and plans to provide care for adult men referred by the state Department of Health Services County unit or a correctional facility, as well as those who check themselves into the center. An existing “well-established” center provides similar care for women in Eau Claire, the memo shows.

Authors note the center plans to prioritize residents of the Chippewa Valley but will take referrals from across the state.

“LSS plans to upgrade the former Libertas Center facility, ensuring that clients experience spaces that are welcoming and safe to assist the healing and recovery process for these patients,” they wrote.

See the memo.

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— We Energies has brought online the state’s first large-scale utility battery storage project in Kenosha County.

The utility company yesterday announced the battery portion of the Paris Solar-Battery Park is now online, after the solar field went into service in December. It includes batteries that have capacity to power more than 130,000 homes for four hours, according to the release.

While We Energies is the project’s majority owner, Wisconsin Public Service and Madison Gas and Electric also co-own it.

“Bringing Wisconsin’s first large-scale battery storage project online is historic and continues our commitment to provide customers reliable and affordable energy,” We Energies President Mike Hooper said in a statement.

See the release.

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