After digging into detailed budget papers and talking to key players in developing budget
options for the Legislature, it looks like $5.84 million may be available for increasing child care payment rates under the Wisconsin Shares program. The final negotiations of the Joint Finance Committee as they completed their work on the budget included more funding than most child care advocates thought. The good news is that the rates are no longer frozen at 2006 levels, and there is movement toward a rate increase. That’s something to cheer about; $5.8 million is a lot of money, though there’s no guarantee that it will actually be used for this purpose.
Wisconsin Working Families Will Miss Out on $31 Million in Tax Refunds if Lawmakers Don’t Act
Working families with low incomes could get an economic boost from a tax cut included in the federal COVID-19 package — but in order for them to get the full benefit, state lawmakers need to take action to tweak Wisconsin’s tax code. By not acting, the legislature...