Smith, Emerson implore need for state aid to child care centers

Leader-Telegram - 5/8/2023

May 8—EAU CLAIRE — Beautiful Minds Child Care, located on Fairfax Street, is licensed for up to 111 children, and they are averaging about 80 children each day, said director Tonya Bandoli.

However, one classroom is closed because they just don't have the staffing. A full staff for them is 35 employes; they presently have 29, she said.

"People need us in this industry," said Ashley Matysik, assistant director at the center. " We don not have the means to be at full capacity because we don't have the staffing."

State Sen. Jeff Smith, D-town of Brunswick, and State Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire, stopped at the child care center on Monday as part of "A Day Without Care," which was organized to promote the awareness of the lack of workers in child care.

"It's a great way to draw awareness to a crisis," Smith said of the event. "We found that 25% of child care centers (in Wisconsin) throughout the pandemic closed."

The state created the "Child Care Counts Program" with federal COVID relief dollars, but that funding expires at the end of the year. Smith and Emerson touted the benefits of the program, and they implored their colleagues in the Legislature to support $340 million in the two-year state budget to keep the Child Care Counts Program in place. The money would not only help attract and retain workers, it defrays the costs for parents.

Bandoli said that if the funding goes away, their center might have to raise rates by $100 per child per week to make up for the loss in state aid.

"We need everyone on board to keep funding in place," Bandoli said.

Emerson said that over the course of multiple listening sessions around the state, she heard from working families who need help with child care costs.

"If child care centers weren't open, businesses would shut down," Emerson said. "It's time we recognize the important role that child care centers have in our economy. When child care centers can't find enough staff, it means kids are turned away. We've had a lot of parents reach out to us. We need some place for these kiddos to go, so parents can go to work."

Emerson added: "If this doesn't go through, there will be a lot of poeple leaving the workforce, which we don't want."

Smith noted that multiple funding items were removed from Gov. Tony Evers' proposed biennial budget last week, but the Child Care Counts Program funding was left in place.

"I'm feeling confident that my colleagues on the other side of the aisel are aware of the importance," Smith said.

Emerson seeks hearings on gunsIn the wake of a shooting that left eight dead at a shopping mall near Dallas, Texas, and the shooting death of an officer in St. Croix County on Saturday, Emerson renewed her call for the Legislature to begin hearings on gun safety measures.

Emerson has advocated the Legislature look at measures such as 'red flag' laws, which takes guns out of hands of people who are suffering mental health issues.

"I think we are getting to the point where it is irresponsible not to have a discussion about legislation," Emerson said, noting that the man accused of shooting and killing two officers near Cameron in early April had previously told family members he would shoot officers if they were called to apprehend him. "That's why we need these protection orders."

Both the Assembly and state Senate are controlled by Republicans and gun control measures rarely get a hearing, she noted.

"It's to the point where some of my colleagues are putting their NRA affiliation above the lives of police officers," she said.

___

Visit the Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.) at www.leadertelegram.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.