Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers visited Lancaster Aug. 10, 2023 as part of his criss-crossing the state trying to spotlight the need to support childcare in the state. In the new state budget, there is one-quarter the funding that the state had in the past years for childcare, and Evers wanted to tout the need to fund childcare to help with making sure there are enough workers out there for all Wisconsin businesses. 

Evers visited Giggles & Wiggles Daycare, which will close at the end of the month. Among the reasons the 26-year-old facility is closing is that is having difficulty finding adequate workers to cover the 34 children that are cared for at the facility, and the tight budget in daycare in general. The firm utilized the Childcare Counts program, which allowed it to boost wages while keeping the fees affordable, but with that program going away, as the new state budget only included $90 million in for childcare, less than the $435 million the state has had through ARPA funds, and far below the $1 billion Evers asked for to expand it, as well as other programs like Dream Up and Partner Up, which give businesses and communities the ability to expand childcare options.

Evers has called for a special session of the State Legislature next month to tackle the issue.