By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph state Rep. Brenda Shields once again
will try to pass a tax incentive package through the Missouri legislature to
address the child care shortage in the state.
Shields, a Republican, has succeeded in passing
the legislation through the Missouri House the past two years, but has run into
a roadblock in the Senate.
Shields has pre-filed the bill for the upcoming
session; the same bill she filed the past legislative session.
“It could look slightly different by the time we
hear it in committee or hear it on the floor,” Shields tells KFEQ/St. Joseph
Post, noting that Sen. Lincoln Hough of Springfield has filed a companion bill
in the Senate. “We truly believe this is the way that we can increase capacity
and have quality, safe, affordable, reliable care for our families.”
The package contains the Child Care Contribution
Tax Credit, which would provide a 75% tax credit to those investing in child
care. The Employer Provided Child Care Assistance Tax Credit Act would allow a
business to claim a 30% tax credit to offset the cost of child care for
employees. The Child Care Providers Tax Credit Act would allow a provider to
claim a 30% for capital expenditures or employee pay raises.
Each tax credit is capped at $20 million for a
total of $60 million.
Shields carries the legislation once again with
the belief that if passed, it would ease the child care shortage in the state.
“The business community has told us that over 50%
of the time they have trouble recruiting and retaining employees,” Shields
says. “And so, what it tells us, if they invest in the crisis that we have
around child care first, the state will invest. The state can’t afford to fix
the child care crisis on its own. It needs businesses to participate and the
tax credits do that, because businesses have to participate and put the money
up front first before the state pays.”
The legislation breezed to passage in the
Missouri House the past two years but stalled in the Senate. Still, Shields
sees an opportunity for success in the Senate in the upcoming legislative
session that begins next month.
“And I remain optimistic that on the campaign
trail this year that individual candidates heard that child care is a top issue
for Missouri families.”
Shields acknowledges her frustration that
disputes among Republicans in the Senate have prevented passage the past two
years.
“If we’d passed it two years ago when it was the
priority to get done, how much farther would we be down the road now?” Shields
asks. “Would we be attracting businesses to our state, because we would have
the solution for their employees and the child care for their employees?”
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
