Policy Agenda & Progress
Impact of Public InvestmentsWisconsin needs a significant state investment into child care to help programs remain open, families working, and communities and the economy growing. Since 2020, more than $800 million in federal stimulus relief funding was allocated to child care by Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin State Legislature as longstanding child care challenges were worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. These investments have helped address some of the most immediate needs in Wisconsin’s child care infrastructure. It also reinforces why a significant state investment into child care is essential moving forward – the federal relief was a short-term measure that must continue.
THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA)
included $357 million for the Child Care Counts Stabilization Payment Program, which launched in November 2021 and provides regulated child care providers with monthly payments to sustain child care business operations, allowing them to remain open and retain staff. As 2022 closed and 2023 began, child care providers were preparing for the January 2024 end of the program.
After record-setting engagement,
the Wisconsin State Legislature did not invest the $300 million for which Raising Wisconsin advocated to sustain the program. Yet, advocacy continued long past the formal end of the state budget process. In fall 2023, Gov. Tony Evers allocated $170 million in unspent federal pandemic relief funds to support Child Care Counts into 2025, but providers, families, and advocates know advocacy must remain ongoing for a significant state investment to prevent the effects of the “fiscal cliff.”
Without continued financial support,
programs will be forced to close or reduce availability at even higher rates, which will result in a ripple effect across the state of workforce and economic implications.