(The Center Square) – It took only seconds for Wisconsin Republicans to gavel-in and gavel-out of Gov. Tony Evers’ latest special session.
The governor called lawmakers back to the Capitol on Wednesday to vote on workforce development and child care issues, including $356 million dollars the governor wants to spend to replace federal coronavirus money that used to be going to child care providers in the state.
State Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, said don’t lay blame on lawmakers. He said people who are frustrated with a lack of action should blame the governor.
“Instead of working with the legislature on a solution, this governor is once again playing politics by calling a special session,” August said. “The people of Wisconsin want common sense solutions, not a billion dollars more in government spending and unneeded new programs.”
The governor said Republicans were never going to act on his call.
He said on social media he surveyed the legislature asking all 132 legislators to take a public position and offer feedback on his plan to address the state’s workforce challenges and prevent a looming child care crisis.
“Not one Republican responded. Not one.”
The $356 million would come from the state’s budget surplus, which is about $4 billion. It would replace around $350 dollars child care providers in Wisconsin lost when the federal coronavirus emergency expired earlier this summer.
Republican lawmakers have offered their own child care plan, focusing on deregulation and allowing child care centers across the state to accept more children.
“The assembly is focused on improving child care access across the state while also making child care more affordable,” August said. “This is on top of the action the legislature took earlier in this session to bolster workforce development to address the labor shortage.”
The Wisconsin Senate spent 20 seconds gaveling-in and gaveling-out of the special session. The State Assembly spent about the same amount of time doing the same thing.
State Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, asked on social media who Republicans think they are saving from impending child care cuts?
“Actions speak louder than words. In and done in seconds,” Larson said after the quick exit from the Senate special session.
