WISCONSIN — 9 out of 10 childcare centers surveyed in Wisconsin say they’re weighing significant rate increases as a federally-funded program called Child Care Counts is set to end in January.
Governor Tony Evers is pushing to continue that program with state funding, but GOP lawmakers say taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill.
A new study from Forward Analytics found sending a baby to a childcare center for a year costs about $3,000 more than annual tuition at UW-Madison.
A state childcare advisory board tells TMJ4 that many centers across the state are considering raising parent fees by 10 to 30 percent as they prepare for less funding.
Understaffed, underpaid and unaffordable are three words Andrea Austin uses to describe the state of childcare in Wisconsin. They’re also three problems she thinks will inevitably get worse when a major funding source comes to an end.
"It's very, very frustrating because I know how much it helped us,” she said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Child Care Counts has provided about $600 million to thousands of childcare facilities across the state.
Austin says Burke Early Education Center in Milwaukee gets $18,000 a month.
“Without the hundreds of thousands of dollars this childcare center received throughout the pandemic, what would that have meant for even staying open?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
"I don't think we would have been able to stay open, honestly,” Austin replied. “We would not have been able to stay open."
Austin says not only did the funding keep their center afloat, it allowed them to offset childcare fees for parents and raise starting pay for teachers from $12 to $14 an hour.
But with inflation and Child Care Counts is set to expire, Austin says they recently raised rates by $200 a month and discussions are underway about possibly more.
"It is a very difficult conversation so what I'm seeing right now is if a family cannot afford it then they are lowering the hours that their children are here,” she said.
On Wednesday, Gov. Evers called the legislature into a special session to revisit his proposal to use $340 million in stater funds to continue Child Care Counts. Republican lawmakers refused to take up the issue.
"It was never meant to be a permanent program,” said Sen. Duey Stroebel.
The Republican senator from Cedarburg thinks it’s an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars.
"It's a minority of people that need to deal with this situation,” he said.
Sen. Stroebel says the problem also doesn’t affect those of low income due to investments in a program called Wisconsin Shares.
"I believe in means testing, and where we're at for a family of four up to $60,000 of income that virtually has no cost in terms of childcare,” he said.
Wisconsin Republicans have put forth legislation to address child care with a much smaller price tag. Several bills would remove regulations and offer renovation loans. Another would allow parents to contribute up to $10,000 to a tax-free reimbursable account.
Austin says those proposals do little to help childcares or parents struggling with finances.
"They don't get it,” she said. “If they don't have young children or if they are in a job that is sustainable that they can pay all of their bills with no problems and still have leftovers, it doesn't matter to them."
With Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin GOP at odds on how to invest in childcare, Austin says middle-class working families have the most to lose if a compromise doesn’t come soon.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
