Republican filibuster blocks Missouri bill expanding access to child care

A faction of Missouri Senate Republicans held up a bill that sought to incentivize investment in child care Tuesday evening, arguing the chamber should instead move on to GOP priorities.

The legislation, which would establish a tax-credit program at an estimated expense of nearly $70 million annually, was part of negotiations on a separate bill that would roll back regulations on guns.

State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Republican from Harrisonville and sponsor of the gun bill, said he was willing to accept a tax credit program in order to pass his legislation seeking to block enforcement of federal gun laws. 

But a handful of GOP senators didn’t agree. 

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, led a filibuster of the bill, saying she would rather see far-right legislation take precedence in the final days of the legislative session.

“It is absolutely insane to me that we have reached this point in session where we are laying over a bill (that would) protect the Second Amendment to create child care tax credits,” she said on the Senate floor. “Whose logic is that? This is absurd.”

Missouri child care deserts include nearly half of kids 5 and under, new data shows

Coleman offered an amendment to give a $10,000 tax credit per child to stay-at-home parents, saying she thought the underlying bill “literally devalued being a homemaker and being a mother.” The Senate rejected her proposal.

Speaking during Tuesday’s debate with Republican state Sen. Jill Carter of Granby, Coleman said she was a lawmaker and a lawyer but “first and foremost” a homemaker and mother.

Carter liked Coleman’s proposed amendment, adding she had been a stay-at-home mother while her husband worked two jobs. She thought child care tax credits could prompt some parents to send children to day care.

“I wondered what it is that we’re incentivizing,” she said. “Are we incentivizing parents leaving their kids more? Or do we want change, for parents to be able to be more engaged in their children’s lives?”

State Sen. Curtis Trent, a Republican from Springfield, questioned why child care was suffering under a free market.

“Given that there is a demand for child care that’s not being filled, why does the state need to be involved in giving a boost to capital investment to create more capacity?” he asked. “Why are private markets not investing in more childcare capacity to meet this demand?”

State Sen. Sandy Crawford, a Republican from Buffalo, said the pandemic hurt the supply of child care providers.

“During COVID, we lost a lot of childcare facilities, and they’ve never really come back,” she said. “This is just an incentive to give other opportunities to come back.”

Crawford said she stepped up earlier in the day as the Senate’s carrier of the legislation. State Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield, was the original Senate handler but had other duties as appropriations chairman.

He spoke briefly in defense of the legislation, saying it wouldn’t fix the state’s struggle to have enough childcare, but could help get more parents into the workforce.

“Maybe it is that thing that gets somebody to say, ‘This helps out just enough,’ and gets them back to a job,” Hough said. “Then (the bill) does what we all want to do, which is getting this state working to the greatest extent we can.”

As reported in The Independent’s “Disappearing Daycare” series, access to child care started to wane prior to the pandemic, with the number of child care programs dropping 24% between fall 2019 and fall 2020.

Areas with three or more children for every licensed child care spot are considered a child care desert, and nearly half of Missouri kids ages five and under live in one. In some ZIP codes, there are 20 children for each available slot in a day care facility.

Provisions in the bill seek to pinpoint child care deserts for an infusion of funding.

Filed in the House by Republican state Rep. Brenda Shields of St. Joseph, the legislation would create a three-pronged tax credit program to support child care.

One piece of the bill would allow taxpayers to donate to a child care provider and receive 75% back as a tax credit, up to $200,000. Businesses with at least two employees could receive a 30% credit for child care expenses.

Child care providers would also receive their employer withholding tax, or the amount required to be reserved from employees’ paychecks for tax purposes, back in a credit. They could also receive a 30% credit on capital expenditures.

The credits for each program are capped at $20 million annually. If this is reached, then the cap raises 15% with the increase dedicated to child care deserts.

All three programs would expire at the end of 2031, if not extended by future general assemblies.

The bill was set aside after three hours of debate.