Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoes Republican child care bill
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a Republican bill that would have created a revolving loan program for child care providers for renovations.
In his veto message, Evers said the bill fails “to address the looming child care industry fiscal cliff.”
“The state must make the meaningful, sustainable investments necessary to stabilize the crucial child care industry and prevent its collapse,” he wrote.
Evers and other Democrats have long advocated that the state invest in making the Child Care Counts program permanent. The program makes monthly stabilization payments to child care providers. Originally set up using federal pandemic relief funds, the program was set to end in 2024. But in October 2023, Evers announced plans to use emergency funding, most of which was unspent pandemic-relief funds originally allocated elsewhere, to continue the program through June 2025.
Republicans have presented different plans to address the state’s child care issues. The bill Evers vetoed Friday was part of a child care package Republicans introduced in September. Of the six bills in the package, it was the only one to make it to the governor’s desk.
The bill would have required the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to create a revolving loan program for renovations to regulated child care businesses, as well as those that planned to become regulated within a year of receiving the loan.
When child care providers repaid their loans, that money would then go back into the loan fund so it could be borrowed by other providers, hence the loan’s “revolving” nature.
The bill stipulated that WEDC should award 60% of loans to home-based child care providers and 40% to providers that are not home based, such as child care centers. It also specified maximum dollar amounts that each classification of child care program could receive, and requirements for programs to continue the loan agreement.
Some child care providers previously voiced reservations about taking on a loan, given the present financial hardships the industry faces — a point Evers cited as a reason for vetoing the bill.
Partisan disagreement over loans versus grants
When crafting the 2023-25 biennial budget, state lawmakers created the opportunity for $15 million of the state’s general purpose revenue to be used by the WEDC to create the revolving loan fund for child care providers. But to access the funds, WEDC would need permission from the state's Joint Committee on Finance.
The bill Evers vetoed Friday specified how this program would have operated.
When Evers partially vetoed the budget passed by the Assembly and Senate, he removed references to revolving loans, opening the possibility that WEDC could use the money for grants to child care providers.
While the recently vetoed Republican bill specified the money be used for loans, a group of Assembly Democrats offered an amendment that aimed to replace the child care renovations revolving loan program with grants. The amendment was tabled.
With Friday's veto, the door is still technically open for the appropriation to be used for grants. However, to access the funds, WEDC would need approval from the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance.
Madison Lammert covers child care and early education across Wisconsin as a Report for America corps member based at The Appleton Post-Crescent. To contact her, email mlammert@gannett.com or call 920-993-7108. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to Report for America by visiting postcrescent.com/RFA.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoes Republican child care bill
