Main Street Alliance, 9to5 Wisconsin, Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed, and Motherhood For Good will gather in Madison on Tuesday, March 18th to rally at the Capitol and meet with lawmakers to fight for the needs of Main Street and working families.
This coalition of business owners and workers will be focused on advocating for the issues that impact us most, such as:
- $500 million in childcare investments
- Paid family and medical leave
- Expanding access to postpartum Medicaid coverage for new parents
- Measures to make starting and operating a small business easier
“Small business owners across Wisconsin are concerned about the impact of tariffs, federal funding freezes, and layoffs. Now more than ever the State of Wisconsin needs to have the back of Main Street by investing in child care, paid leave, and health care, ensuring that the hundreds of thousands of new small businesses formed since 2020 in WI have a state budget that prioritizes them, not just the biggest corporations in Wisconsin,” said Shawn Phetteplace, National Campaigns Director, Main Street Alliance
“It is shameful that Wisconsin refuses to invest any state dollars into child care, instead choosing to rely solely on federal dollars to fund the entire system. Child care is completely unaffordable to almost every family that can find it, and the educators caring for our most precious and vulnerable young children-are making less than high school students. It is a completely broken system that has relied on women’s willingness to subsidize parent’s struggling to make ends meet and the government’s refusal to invest on their backs; hurting their own physical and families’ financial health. That is why we have empty classrooms, but full waitlists, it is past time for our state to invest in childcare,” said Corrine Hendrickson, MSA leader and co-founder of WECAN
“For far too long, women of color have carried the weight of inadequate investment in policies like paid leave and childcare, which only deepen racial disparities. As Wisconsin prepares its budget for the next biennium, it’s time to prioritize care policies that uplift these women and their families,” said Christina Thor, 9to5 Wisconsin Executive State Director. “Our state has a history of overlooking the workers who form the very backbone of our economy—our care workers. It’s time to put working families front and center and set them up for success.”
- WHERE: Garver Feed Mill (3241 Garver Green, Madison, WI), Wisconsin State Capitol (2 E Main St, Madison, WI) at 12 pm-5pm
- WHEN: March 18th, 2025, 10 am-12pm (Garver Feed Mill), 12 pm-5pm (WI State Capitol)
- WHO: Nearly 100 Wisconsin families, workers, and small business owners will come together with Main Street Alliance, 9to5 Wisconsin, Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed, and Motherhood For Good to advocate for the needs of small businesses and working families.
We invite all members of the to join us and cover this important event. For more information, interviews, or media assets, please get in touch with Shawn Phetteplace at 608-385-6488 or shawn@mainstreetalliance.org. Please RSVP at shawn@mainstreetalliance.org if you plan on covering this event.
