Illinois business leaders press lawmakers as child care costs face
scrutiny
[April 01, 2026]
By Sean Reed | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois business leaders pressured Illinois
lawmakers Tuesday to approve billions of dollars in taxpayer‑funded
child care investments, arguing that without more public spending,
families and small businesses will continue to shoulder the burden of a
system they say is already stretched thin.
Ready Nation Illinois, a nonpartisan network of roughly 300 businesses
across the state, released a report Tuesday that found a lack of access
to and unaffordable costs of child care for working families.
According to a survey of 403 working parents in Illinois, commissioned
for the report, parents without sufficient child care lose an average of
$6,640 per year, primarily in lost wages. The survey approximated that
this average totals $4.83 billion when applied across the state.
Speakers at the conference called on the state’s legislature to pass
public funding initiatives included in the proposed state budget for the
coming fiscal year.
When asked if there is more businesses can do to support employees with
young children, Sean Noble with the organization said there is more that
could be done on the private side, but public funding is necessary to
address root causes of the issue.
“The economies of scale are such that we're going to need much greater
investments than any one particular business, for example, can put into
things.,” Noble said. “We also applaud those businesses that are able
to, that have the wherewithal and commitment to want to, for example,
either open in-house child care or contract with a third-party child
care.”
The group called for a $55 million increase in child care assistance for
low-income families in the coming year’s budget, something the
governor’s proposed 2027 budget would do, with funding coming from the
state’s general revenue fund.
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Other leaders echoed calls for expanding public investment. Amanda
Wike, executive director of the Dixon chamber of commerce, said
small businesses especially need the support for their employees.
“Ninety-nine percent of our businesses are small businesses and –
especially in our rural communities – sometimes they’re 10 employees
or less, and those businesses are just not able [to invest more into
their employees]. We need the public support to help sustain those
small businesses as well,” Wike said.
Among other initiatives the group wants funded is a new state agency
created by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2024, the Department of Early
Childhood. The department’s $4.4 billion budget request – which is
for its first operating year – faced scrutiny from Republican state
legislators last week.
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, questioned why the
department has requested expanded funds for existing programs the
department is taking over from other state agencies.
“I mean should we expect to see a minus 4.4 billion from these
organizations collectively that you're taking this workload off of,”
Wilhour asked.
The department’s leader testified, saying there would not be a
one-to-one shift in the funding requested, but an increase due to
new costs associated with making services more effective.
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