This story was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, a consortium of six news outlets covering northeastern Wisconsin.
Wisconsin voters will soon decide whether to give the Legislature more power to choose how federal funding is spent. Some warn the decision could have consequences for the child care industry.
Currently, state statute allows the governor to accept and allocate federal funds that the state receives in certain circumstances, while other cases require legislative approval of some sort. The Aug. 13 primary ballot will carry two referendum questions that ask whether Wisconsin’s state Constitution should be amended to shift such power away from the governor.
The questions stem from Gov. Tony Evers having sole discretion over how to spend more than $3.7 billion of the $5.7 billion the state received in federal pandemic relief funding. The proposed amendments are the latest in a series of Republican lawmakers’ attempts to change the way future federal funds are allocated. The amendments, they say, will ensure no one person will have too much power over how federal funds are spent.
However, some are raising concerns that the proposed amendments would instead concentrate too much control over federal funds in the Legislature. Brown County Democratic Party Chair Christy Welch, who is running for Wisconsin’s 88th Assembly District, called the amendments a “GOP power grab” at a press conference that urged people to vote “no” on the referendum questions.
But amendment authors note that that the same rules would be in place no matter what party controls the Legislature.
“I often hear from residents that ‘you need to work together in Madison.’ Well, that is exactly the goal of the referendum questions,” said Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Racine, who co-authored the amendments. “This is not a partisan issue, but a matter of good governance. It’s working together, not exclusively with one individual (deciding).”
Why would the amendments affect child care?
There are unanswered questions about the amendments — namely, the processes by which the Legislature would allocate the federal funds in question — that make it difficult to pinpoint the effects the amendments would have.
What’s not in question is that the amendments would affect how the governor could use federal funding for child care, said Jason Stein, president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, which published an analysis of the ballot questions.
Within the past few years, much of the support that Wisconsin has directed to child care has been via federal funding — specifically using pandemic relief funds.
How have federal funds been allocated to child care recently, and how would this have been different under the proposed changes?
Federal pandemic relief funds used for child care were funneled to Wisconsin via two main pathways.
The first was through existing federal block grants, which have more flexible requirements and can be used for broader purposes than most other federal grants. The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance must approve the allocation and spending of these funds.
The second method was through discretionary funding that the governor could direct without legislative approval, a power Evers — or any governor — would no longer have should the proposed amendments go through.
Child Care Counts, which directs stabilization payments to child care providers, is one of the most well-known child care supports born out of the pandemic. Since its inception, it has relied on both pathways, explained Britt Cudaback, communications director for Evers’ office.
The program was set to run out of money by January 2024 as federal pandemic relief waned and Republicans declined to devote state dollars to the cause. That is, until Evers used his statutory power in fall 2023 to allocate $170 million in federal pandemic-related emergency funding to extend its life through June 30, 2025.
Why are some concerned the proposed amendments would blow back on child care?
Opponents of the amendments argue that requiring the governor to gain legislative approval before allocating federal funds could slow getting help to those who need it.
This could be particularly critical in the case of crises — such as the pandemic, natural disasters and economic recessions. It could also affect the spending of federal funds in general, not just those related to emergencies.
Some opponents of the amendments say that, if Evers did not have the authority to funnel $170 million into extending Child Care Counts and the funding were to cease completely, an estimated 2,000 child care programs could have closed.
Corrine Hendrickson, a New Glarus child care provider and co-founder of the advocacy organization Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed, said the $170 million did not fix all of the industry’s problems and that more investment is needed, but it did keep many programs from closing. It also allowed them to maintain the pay raises they gave with previous rounds of Child Care Counts, she said.
Christina Thor, a Green Bay mom who advocates for what she sees as a family-friendly policy, questions whether the child care industry would see any meaningful help should the referendums pass.
“It’s giving more power to the Republicans who may not see (child care) as an investment in the workforce,” Thor said. “Historically speaking, and also from recent experience in leading and supporting care bills, especially child care and paid leave, they were not on board.”
Thor cited the Republican-controlled Legislature’s refusal to put Child Care Counts in the state budget and its quick adjournment of a special session called by Evers that was to be largely about child care issues.
The state’s 2023-25 biennial budget set aside $15 million to help child care providers; Cudaback said the fact that the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee did not release those funds per Evers’ request shows it is “not interested” in funding child care and that it cannot act quickly.
Republicans favored a different approach to addressing problems in the child care industry, arguing that grants will not solve the underlying issues within the industry. They introduced several different proposals they hoped would be more sustainable, including changing regulations, opening more child care slots and creating a loan program. Few of their proposals made it to the governor’s desk, and even fewer were signed.
Republicans did, however, bring about some changes to help families pay for care. During the state budget process, the Legislature allocated millions in federal funding to expand Wisconsin Shares, the state’s child care subsidy program. Republican lawmakers also put forth a bipartisan plan to expand a state tax credit for care expenses, which Evers later signed into law.
How are amendments’ authors responding to these concerns?
common argument against the amendments is that requiring the Legislature’s involvement could delay getting federal funds out the door. But, Wittke said, improvements in transportation and communication mean the Legislature can now gather more quickly than it could back in the 1930s, when the law giving the governor discretion to distribute federal money was enacted.
Involving the Legislature will better serve constituents, Wittke argued.
“The Legislature is the closest to the people, and it is their responsibility, under the Constitution, to hold the ‘power of the purse,’” Wittke said. “The taxpayers of Wisconsin should have a say in how their tax dollars are spent.”
Wittke also said that in non-crisis situations in which an influx of relief funding flows into the state, most of the federal funding Wisconsin receives for child care is via federal block grants that require legislative signoff. Wittke said this process of dispersal would remain even if the amendments are approved.
Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, who co-authored the amendments with Wittke, did not respond to a request for comment.
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 [email protected] 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 story is part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab’s fifth series, covering issues important to voters in the region. The lab is a local news collaboration in northeastern Wisconsin made up of six news organizations: the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Appleton Post-Crescent, FoxValley365, The Press Times, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Journalism Department is an educational partner. Microsoft is providing financial support to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region to fund the initiative. The mission of the lab is to “collaborate to identify and fill information gaps to help residents explore ways to improve their communities and lives — and strengthen democracy.”
