Neubauer hosted the event at The Branch at 1501, 1501 Washington Ave., to gather information about childcare and general workforce support.

The goal of the discussion was to help lawmakers make decisions related to Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023-25 budget proposal.

This comes as the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee reshapes the nearly $104 billion two-year budget Evers submitted in February.

Tuesday’s discussion ranged from challenges the business owners are facing to concerns they have about the future of their operations.

Those in attendance included Lorna Revere, owner of Lornacopia, 310 6th St., Dan Taivalkoski, owner of Beacon Tavern and Grill, 3113 Douglas Ave.; and Delmarie and Jamie Brands, owners of Almost Home Academy, 1401 N Main St.

Taivalkoski said one of his concerns is staffing.

“We’ll put an ad out on Indeed and get 50 responses,” Taivalkoski said. “Out of those, we get two that show up.”

Taivalkoski wondered if people are just applying so they can continue collecting unemployment.

Revere expressed concerns about a lack of tourism in Downtown Racine, as well as safety in the area.

“Where I’ve always thought Racine has this opportunity and has never taken advantage of it is branding,” she said. “This city has no branding. You can say this city is great on the lake, has the best beach. I go to other places and never see a commercial about Racine. I never see anything about Racine being a destination city. Money has never been spent on getting people here. That just blows my mind.”

Once the Legislature’s finance committee is done revising the budget proposal, it will be sent to the full Senate and Assembly for approval. Then the budget goes back to Evers, who can rewrite it with his partial veto powers.