JEFFERSON CITY — The newly minted nominees for governor are pledging to renew efforts to give Missouri parents and businesses a break for child care services following the demise of a proposed incentive on last week’s primary election ballot.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, told the Post-Dispatch that the initiative defeated by voters Aug. 6 was not the answer to resolving a “crisis†in getting more parents into the workforce by expanding child care opportunities.
“It was an extremely flawed attempt to improve child care access in our state, and I’m glad that voters recognized that and rejected the amendment,†Quade said.
Quade is set to face Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe in the November general election.
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Kehoe said he plans to help business and industry boost child care offerings if elected.
“As governor, Kehoe will support businesses’ efforts to find solutions to help with the current shortage and cut unnecessary red tape to make it easier for parents to access quality child care,†campaign spokeswoman Gabby Picard said Monday.
Kehoe also has the endorsement of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, which has pushed for an expansion of child care to help get more people into the workforce.
The rejected ballot question would have exempted child care facilities from paying property taxes to help providers stay open and offer more slots for children.
The exemption was “intended to make child care more available, which would support the well-being of children, families, the workforce and society as a whole.â€
Quade said the proposal would have offered property tax breaks to providers that would have reduced the amount of tax revenue available for public schools.
Plus, she added, “That money would have then been given to child care providers with no requirement or incentive for those providers to pass their savings on to families.â€
If elected governor, Quade said she will back a proposal to provide tax credits directly to families struggling to afford services.
“As a mom, I know how much families are struggling; as governor, I’ll solve the crisis by making it easier on your pocketbook, not a corporation’s bottom line,†she said. “This is one of the most urgent workforce development issues facing our state. Solving this crisis isn’t just about making it more affordable, but incentivizing public-private partnerships to expand in every corner of the state.â€
Picard said the lieutenant governor has worked with partners across the state to find solutions to increase child care availability so that parents, especially women, can enter or reenter the workforce.
“Lt. Governor Kehoe believes that affordable, high-quality child care is critical to the success of the state’s economy and workforce,†Picard said.
Kehoe, in comments before the election, also signaled he would pursue public-private partnerships to help parents.
“We’re going to figure out ways to let small businesses get into the child care business with partnerships with existing child care providers,†Kehoe told reporters at a campaign stop before last week’s election. “We think we can open up that capacity and put more Missourians to work.â€
Along with the support of the chamber of commerce, Kehoe has the backing of Gov. Mike Parson, who pushed a package of tax credits that stalled in the Senate this spring amid pushback by the chamber’s hard-right conservative faction.
In his final State of the State address in January, the term-limited Parson called for the tax credits and asked budget writers to boost subsidies to the industry by nearly $52 million.
Despite Parson putting the issue of child care shortages front and center in his final year in office, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has to day cares across the state.
A federal subsidy program administered by DESE has been plagued with payment delays, leaving providers struggling to make ends meet.
The department had said the delays would be resolved by the end of July but said last week that it could be two more months before the issue is resolved.
Quade called the delays “unacceptable.â€
“Right now, child care facilities are closing because of missed payments owed by the government,†Quade said. “When more families have access to care, more parents will go back to work, and our entire economy as a state will improve.â€