MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers delivered his weekly radio address highlighting the critical need for statewide investments in Wisconsin’s child care industry. This comes as the governor’s successful Child Care Counts Program will end on June 30, 2025, without additional state investment.
Gov. Evers has made investing in the state’s child care industry to help fill available child care slots, cut child care wait lists, and lower the cost of care for working families a top priority of his administration. In 2020, the governor launched the Child Care Counts Program using federal relief funding. To date, Child Care Counts has helped more than 5,600 child care providers keep their doors open, ensuring the employment of more than 72,000 child care professionals and allowing providers to continue care for more than 417,000 kids. Without additional state investment, the program will end on June 30, 2025.
According to a recent DCF survey conducted in partnership with UW-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty and announced by Gov. Evers in April, a quarter of providers across the state said they are likely to close their doors if the Wisconsin State Legislature fails to make critical investments to continue the successful Child Care Counts Program that is set to expire at the end of June. Additionally, if the program ends, costs for infant care are expected to go up, with three-quarters of providers expected to raise weekly tuition rates for care, increasing costs for working families that are already experiencing steep tuition and strained household budgets. Of the 78 percent of providers who reported they will raise tuition for infant care, 21 percent expect to raise weekly rates by at least $25, and 17 percent expect rates to rise by at least $50, adding a whopping $1,300 or $2,600 to families’ household budgets per year, respectively.
Similarly, Gov. Evers recently announced that a new WisconSays Survey found that 90 percent of Wisconsinites, including those without kids, say finding affordable, high-quality child care in Wisconsin is a problem, and over three-quarters of Wisconsinites support an increase in state funding to fix it. Meanwhile, for families currently using child care, the survey found approximately half reported missing work or school due to lack of child care, and a shocking over 12 percent reported leaving the workforce entirely.
The governor’s 2025-27 Executive Budget—the most pro-kid budget in state history—would have included more than $500 million to make child care more affordable and accessible for working families and support child care providers statewide, including providing over $480 million to continue the successful Child Care Counts Program. Instead, during the Year of the Kid, Republican lawmakers on the state’s budget committee voted against Gov. Evers’ plan. This included gutting:
- Over $480 million for the successful Child Care Counts Program, which has been a lifeline for local child care providers, ensuring they can pay their staff and keep their doors open and lights on without raising tuition rates; and
- Efforts to support employer-sponsored child care initiatives to assist employers in addressing their workforce’s child care challenges.
More information on the more than 600 proposals Republican lawmakers voted to strip from the governor’s budget is available here.
RADIO ADDRESS
Hey there, folks! Governor Tony Evers here.
More Wisconsinites are working than ever before, but paychecks today aren’t going nearly as far as they used to.
And today, it costs more to put two young kids in child care in Wisconsin than it does to pay the average rent or mortgage.
Child care is too darn expensive, and even if folks can find and afford care, families may be waitlisted for months.
Our workforce and economy can’t afford more parents leaving their jobs because they can’t find or afford quality child care.
Unfortunately, a new survey out of UW shows about half the households surveyed missed work in the past year due to a lack of care for their kids, and even worse, over 10 percent of folks left their jobs entirely due to child care challenges.
This is an issue that impacts everyone, and as leaders, we have an obligation to the overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites who want us to do something about it.
Wisconsinites rightly expect their elected officials to show up, act in good faith, and work together to get things done and lower the cost of child care for Wisconsin families.
Without additional state investments in our child care industry, a quarter of providers across the state reported they are likely to close their doors, and three-quarters of providers expect to have to raise weekly tuition rates for care.
This will only increase costs for working families that are already experiencing steep tuition and strained household budgets.
If we don’t invest in child care in the next budget, it’ll be our kids and families who pay the price.
Wisconsinites need the Legislature to get serious about lowering out-of-pocket costs for child care this session.
No more excuses, folks.
Thank you.
Last Update: Jun 27, 2025 1:14 pm CDT
