Gov. Evers tours Oregon childcare facility, continues to push for funding

OREGON, Wis. (WMTV) - Governor Tony Evers toured an Oregon daycare facility Thursday as he continues to urge Republican lawmakers to address the state’s workforce challenges.

Governor Evers stopped at Trasnos Child Care Center LLC., a bilingual daycare that has received around $224,746 at its Oregon location since March 2021.

Thursday’s visit comes one month after he called the Wisconsin State Legislature into a special session to discuss his comprehensive plan to address the state’s workforce challenges. The plan includes initiatives to stabilize the state’s child care industry, expand paid family leave, invest in higher education, and support high-demand workforce sectors, according to the governor’s office.

Director of Trasnos Child Care Center Gletsy Oliveros says she was running an at-home day care, providing for less than ten families when she noticed a need.

“In the home daycare we saw it’s a big need for the community,” Oliveros said. “And then we were to think about maybe next steps with my husband and the next step was here. From eight kids to 50 kids. We are very happy to receive the governor here. He’s gonna see how we work, the love that we give our kids.”

During September’s special session, the governor hoped to pass a $1 billion package that would keep a pandemic-era child care program running, send more money to the University of Wisconsin, and create a paid family leave program. Republicans in the Senate and Assembly convened the session as required by law, but adjourned less than a minute later after taking no action.

“This group here they have a waiting list that is a mile long and you can see how important it is,” Governor Evers said. “I think if legislators saw the work being done here, they’d understand that it’s not babysitting, it’s actually learning, and the more learning that can happen early, the better we are in the K-12. I think the Republicans would feel differently about that.”

Governor Evers stood alongside Representative Jenna Jacobson and said they will ‘continue working hard to ensure there is funding for early childhood.’ He added failing in these efforts would mean we are failing our kids.

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