Eau Claire YMCA Hosts Governor Evers Visit on Child Care

EAU CLAIRE, Wis (WCFW) – The Eau Claire YMCA facility hosted a visit from Governor Tony Evers on Monday just days after he signed a new biennial state budget.

In a press release following the signing of the budget, Governor Evers highlighted significant investments in child care and education. The new state budget includes over $360 million to support the state’s child care industry. That funding aims to lower the cost of child care for working families. About $120 million will go towards direct payments for providers.

Continuing support for the child care industry was a major goal for Governor Evers during budget negotiations. During another visit to Eau Claire in June, he said most child care providers he had spoken to throughout the budget process expressed concerns about being forced to close without continued state funding through the Child Care Counts program. Facilities throughout Eau Claire County have received a total of over $24 million through the program since 2020.

Governor Evers also said he would not have signed a new state budget that did not fund the Child Care Counts program. In a number of child care facility visits over the past few months, he has repeatedly warned of the negative effects losing child care centers would have on the overall workforce.

With the new budget officially signed, Governor Evers is now expressing optimism that those child care facilities will remain open for the next two years. “I think we’re in a good place,” he said. “It’s going to give people hope that still are struggling, that in the next biennial budget, it will be part and parcel of the conversation and also increasing it.”