Last week, child care took political center stage at the Wisconsin legislature in a tumultuous flurry of events. In August, Democratic governor Tony Evers had called a special session to discuss his child care and workforce development proposals. On Wednesday, September 20th, the Republican Legislature gaveled in and gaveled out of the special session in less than sixty seconds, leaving Evers’ proposals apparently dead in the water. But by Thursday, with no fanfare, the Committee on Senate Organization, including 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats, had voted unanimously on a new bill, SB-1, which borrows heavily from the governor’s draft. The bill now moves to the Committee on Economic Development and Technical Colleges.
The political theater surrounding the bill, however, is based on a real and pressing issue: the skyrocketing cost and dwindling supply of child care services in Wisconsin. Kevin Dospoy is the Deputy Director of Forward Analytics, the research arm of the Wisconsin Counties Association, and the primary author of the new report “Priced Out: The Steep Cost of Childcare in Wisconsin.” Kevin Dospoy joins us now by phone.
Image by Aline Ponce from Pixabay
