Wisconsin

Wisconsin, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.

State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.

2024 State Early Childhood Policy Environment and Progress

Early Childhood Landscape:

Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.

Young Children in Low-Income Households: Declining

Approximately 34% (192,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (2022). This number represents a decrease from 37% (222,000) in 2017.¹

Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High

Black, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.²

(NOTE: Selecting for age 0-8, state, and race can yield small cell sizes that can make percentages less accurate. Bars marked with S indicate data with extremely small cell sizes, which is not displayed. Bars marked with C should be interpreted with caution. Though the cell sizes are larger, they still fall below a threshold of reliability.)

Advocacy Landscape:

State General Fund Appropriations: Declining

In 2023 Wisconsin’s governor signed the state’s two year budget for fiscal 2024-2025 after issuing a series of line item vetoes. The budget calls for $49.7 billion in total spending in fiscal 2024, and $48.9 billion in total spending in fiscal 2025. The two-year budget is 11.7 percent higher than the adjusted base for the prior two-year budget. In addition, the budget calls for $23.0 billion in general fund appropriations for fiscal 2024, and $21.4 billion in general fund appropriations for fiscal 2025. General fund spending in the two-year budget is 9.9 percent higher than the adjusted base for the prior two-year budget. The enacted budget assumes general fund taxes of $21.3 billion in fiscal 2024 and $22.0 billion in fiscal 2025. The net general fund balance at the end of the biennium is estimated at $4.0 billion, or 7.5 percent.³

Largest Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):⁴

- - Property Taxes: $1,783 per capita
  - Individual Income Taxes: $1,537 per capita

State Budget Rules:⁴

Wisconsin uses a biennial budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget, but it can carry a deficit over into the following year. Wisconsin further limits both spending and revenue growth. These are binding rules and require a legislative supermajority or vote of the people to override them. Wisconsin also requires a supermajority vote for any legislation that increases the state’s general sales, individual income, or corporate income tax. Wisconsin limits both total authorized debt and debt service incurred by the state.

Political Alignment: Divided

During the 2024 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s governor was a Democrat.⁵

Types of Common Ballot Measures Available:⁶Two

- Legislature-Initiated Constitutional Amendments – A constitutional amendment that appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters. (In Wisconsin, the state Constitution requires that amendments to the constitution must be approved by two consecutive legislatures, and then put to vote by the citizens.)
- Legislature-Initiated Referenda – The referenda on Wisconsin ballots are either a legislature-initiated state statutes or advisory questions. (An advisory question is a type of ballot measure that is non-binding, meaning the outcome of the ballot measure has no legal effect on a state’s laws.)

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:⁷

2024 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:⁸

Advocates were excited to have passed Wisconsin Act 101, which raises the state income tax credit for a family’s child and dependent care expenses to 100% of the federal tax credit from the current 50%. It also raises the maximum amount of expenses that can be counted to calculate the credit. This was the only “tax cut” bill that Republicans passed that the Democratic governor signed into law. The governor spent the 2023-24 legislative session pushing for additional funding to stabilize child care but was unable to get the legislature to approve his proposed investment. During the bill signing, he reiterated his call for the allocation of part of the state’s surplus to the Child Care Counts program, aimed at stabilizing child care providers.

Ongoing Grantee Areas of Advocacy:

The Alliance for Early Success has two key allies in Wisconsin: Kids Forward and the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA). Kids Forward provides research, public education, and advocacy for the development and implementation of equitable and inclusive public policy that improves child and family well-being in health, economic security, safety, and education. Wisconsin Early Childhood Association is the state affiliate of NAEYC, and engages in state level early childhood policy and budget work through their Center for ECE Policy & Research, including running advocacy campaigns and fully engaging their membership. WECA supports Raising Wisconsin, a multi-sector coalition that includes leaders from child care, child health, local government, economic development, and various social impact organizations across the state. The initiative focuses on advocating for significant state investment in early care and education to ensure all children, families, early educators, and communities can thrive. Kids Forward is also a part of Raising Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) and Kids Forward are working to advance early childhood policies in several areas that align with the Alliance’s birth-through-eight policy framework:

Early Care and Education

Child Care

Child Care Workforce

Child and
Maternal Health

Infant & Child Health

Child Mental Health

Early Intervention (Age 0-3)

Maternal Health

Family
Supports

Family Economic Security

Home Visiting

Early Childhood Infratructure

Infrastructure

Click here and here for more information on advocates’ policy agenda.

NOTES:

¹Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.

²National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.

³National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2025.

⁴Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, June 2024.

⁵National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, April 29, 2024.

⁶Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, retrieved July, 2024.

⁷Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.

⁸Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2024; and 2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights, Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, July, 2024.