The state’s most powerful business organization is urging Missouri lawmakers to approve bipartisan child care tax credit legislation, saying the state has a child care crisis.
Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Kara Corches tells 939 the Eagle the child care crisis is costing the state more than $1.35 billion each year. She says it impacts residents across the state:
“Because we need to provide some relief for working families when child care is so costly and hard to find. And then that hurts our businesses’ ability to recruit and retain workforce,” Ms. Corches says.
The Chamber supports bipartisan tax credit legislation from State Rep. Brenda Shields (R-St. Joseph) that’s aimed at increasing the capacity of child care providers. Chamber president Corches tells 939 the Eagle child care polls well with Democratic and Republican voters:
“Because we need to provide some relief for working families when child care is so costly and hard to find. And then that hurts our businesses’ ability to recruit and retain workforce,” she says.
Ms. Corches says child care is not just a working parents’ issue, adding it’s an economic issue as well. She says tax credit legislation from Representative Shields would bolster Missouri’s child care infrastructure. That bill is House Bill 2409.