As Wisconsin legislators consider proposals to aid the struggling child care landscape, local lawmakers and providers are considering the potential local impacts of each option. Republican majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature quickly gaveled in and out of that session without moving on the proposal. But both the Assembly and the Senate have their own ideas on how to help the child care sector deal with nationwide issues of high prices, workforce shortages and too few spaces for children. Wisconsin Rep. Travis Tranel of Cuba City says these proposals came from listening to constituents and workers in the child care sector. Tranel said he believes Republicans’ approach is a better fit for Wisconsin taxpayers than the state picking up the federal government’s previous tab for child care funding. He says they passed a whole host of bills two weeks or so ago, ultimately recognizing that there is a need for child care, not only in the region and state but in the country.
