Jack,
Wisconsin is at the bottom of the class when it comes to childcare.
A recent report from the People’s Policy Project identified Wisconsin as one of only six states that put in the absolute minimum required to unlock federal childcare dollars. That's a choice the people running Madison made, and working families pay for it:
And it's bigger than Wisconsin. That same report ranks the United States 40th out of 41 wealthy countries on childcare — near dead last. Not because we're broke. We have about as much money per child as the countries at the very top. We just decided childcare is every family's private problem to solve alone, while places like Denmark, Finland, and Norway decided it's something a society does together — and built childcare parents can actually afford. It's a choice. We've been making the wrong one.
Our universal childcare policy would provide totally free childcare to most Wisconsin families and would aggressively cap costs for wealthier ones. It also provides a pay boost and additional support for childcare centers and childcare workers, like tuition reimbursements, making it easier and more sustainable to create the supply of childcare that Wisconsin families need.
You don't have to look across an ocean to see it work, either. In New York, the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, made universal childcare the center of his campaign, and within months of taking office, the city started rolling out free childcare for two-year-olds, with 2,000 free seats opening this fall. A major American city is doing right now what we keep being told Wisconsin can't. The question was never whether we can afford to. It's whether we're willing to.
So here's how we pay for it: the same way we pay for Social Security and unemployment — everyone pitches in a little through payroll, workers and employers together, and everyone gets to use it. For a worker, that's about $6 to $8 a week, with employers covering the larger share. $24 per month versus $1,000 per month? Sounds like an easy choice to me.
I'm running for governor to make that choice. Other places already proved it works. Wisconsin can be next.
Let's make better possible.
In solidarity,
Fran
