(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Partnership issued a statement urging legislators to continue funding for the Child Care Counts program in the 2025-27 Wisconsin state budget, citing concerns by child care providers and Wisconsin residents.
The coalition of local education partnerships from Brown, Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties that make up Wisconsin Partnership emphasized that the temporary Child Counts program is set to end by the end of June if legislators choose to discontinue funding.
The statement comes in light of Democrats’ $480 million legislation to continue Child Care Counts, following the removal of funding for the program from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed budget by Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee.
“The impending conclusion of Child Care Counts presents significant challenges,” The Wisconsin Partnership said. “Without continued investment into this sector, providers will face difficult decisions.”
The Wisconsin Partnership cited a March 2025 report by the University of Wisconson’s Institute for Research on Poverty surveying child care providers. It found 25% of providers said they would be likely to close their businesses when Child Care Counts funding stops and the other 75% of providers would need to reduce their services, cut wages, and/or raise rates on working families.
Further uncertainty around child care among Wisconsin residents was found in a recent June report by the university seeking to expand on the March report by surveying additional input from to “represent the full population.”
That survey found 90% of Wisconsin respondents think access to affordable, high-quality care in Wisconsin is at least “somewhat of a problem,” with 38.2% of respondents selecting “quite a problem” and 22.1% responding “an extremely big problem.”
Additionally, 50.3% of respondents to that survey said it is difficult to cover child care expenses in addition to other bills. Overall, 88.6% of respondents would support an increase in state funding for child care programs.
“This issue impacts kids’ futures, families’ pocketbooks and employers’ bottom lines in every electoral district of the state, regardless of party or allegiance,” Wisconsin Partnership said. “Now is the time for state leaders to come together and invest in a sustainable childcare solution that works for the entire state.”
While the statement urged legislators and members of the Joint Finance Committee to consider continuous funding for Child Care Counts under the 2025-27 budget, education or child care funding does not appear to be on the agenda for the Joint Finance meeting set for 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
