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The state Department of Children and Families plans to offer child care centers a $51 million boost in federal funds after a Republican-controlled legislative budget committee approved the spending on Friday. It’s less than half the $125 million Gov. Tony Evers proposed spending in March, and advocates say the money falls short of what is needed to rescue businesses asked to stay open under Evers’ now-scuttled Safer at Home order with little state or federal support, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
Until the legislative action, “Wisconsin had been among only a handful of states to fail to provide financial assistance to the industry,” Chris Rickert reports for the newspaper.
Top Stories
Child care centers in line for $51 million bailout, or far less than what’s needed, advocates say — Wisconsin State Journal
Evers announces $1 billion in aid for testing, tracing at local health departments as Wisconsin’s COVID-19 cases near 13,000 — Appleton Post-Crescent
You don’t need invasive tech for successful contact tracing. Here’s how it works. — ProPublica
Madison and Dane County launching plan to reopen economy in phases — Wisconsin State Journal
Rock County announces reopening guide — Beloit Daily News
City of Racine limits mass gatherings through July 31 — Journal Times
Thousands of absentee ballots in Wisconsin weren’t counted because of mailing problems and tech glitches — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Minority-owned businesses can get $2K grants from state — WPR
What are we missing? And how are you coping? Help us provide critical information and accountability by filling out this form or emailing us at tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
Government updates
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention
Live updates
Live coverage from USA Today-Wisconsin reporters
Live coverage from Wisconsin State Journal reporters
Quotable
“Obviously we’re doing all the constant cleaning, we do our best to get people to physically distance, but there were times when they just didn’t seem to care themselves, so it’s nerve racking for me that way … Of, course, I care if I get sick, I care if anyone else gets sick, but I can’t control any of that stuff. Not really.”
Deb Glembocki, owner of Kenosha’s Brat Stop, as quoted by WPR in a story about Illinois residents flooding Wisconsin businesses during the pandemic.
Data to note
Wisconsin officials reported 198 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with 5.9% of tests coming back positive, according to the state Department of Health Services. Here is the latest look at trends from our partners at WisContext.
!function(e,i,n,s){var t=”InfogramEmbeds”,d=e.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement(“script”);o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src=”https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”,d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,”infogram-async”); !function(e,i,n,s){var t=”InfogramEmbeds”,d=e.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement(“script”);o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src=”https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”,d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,”infogram-async”);The Evers administration is no longer using criteria under his Badger Bounce Back plan to decide when to reopen the economy in stages (That’s after the Wisconsin Supreme Court stuck down the Safer at Home order.) But if those criteria were still in play, Wisconsin would meet four of six measures.
Resilient Wisconsin
People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
Community Heroes: She’s making life a little sweeter for essential workers — Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Their part-time jobs as grocery store workers have turned into an essential business — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
