A 2021 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report estimated that Missouri loses more than $1.3 billion annually as a result of childcare shortages. State Representative Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, said Missouri has a childcare crisis. That’s why she is proposing tax credits to expand access to childcare centers across the state.
A Missouri House committee is reviewing her bill that would provide tax credits for childcare providers, donors to daycare centers, and businesses who help to cover the childcare costs of their employees.
“I believe it’s a really innovative approach because it has business, government, and parents will all participate in the cost of care, which will make it affordable for families, stable for childcare providers, and will create a reliable workforce,” said Shields.
Businesses who help to cover the childcare costs of their employees would get a tax credit totaling up to 75% of the contribution.
“We really hope that this will increase the amount of slots,” said Shields. “We’re really looking on how can we grow the amount of slots that we have in childcare. In return, a business can say to a childcare facility, ‘You know, if I give you this amount of tax credit, I’d like to really kind of have a certain guaranteed amount of slots in your facility.’”
Her bill would also let providers claim a tax credit up to 30% of their expenses and they could keep the withholding tax of their employees.
“We hope that they will reinvest that withholding tax back into their employees salaries because we know that not only do we have a workforce issue in our state for all of our employers, but we have a really workforce issue within our side of our childcare because our salaries are so low in our childcare,” she said.
Under her bill, the state could provide up to $20 million annually for each of the three types of proposed tax credits. If the maximum amount of tax credits allowed annually is authorized, the maximum amount would be increased by 15%, provided that the increases of tax credits are reserved for contributions made to child care sites located in a child care desert.
To review House Bill 870, click here.
Copyright © 2023 · Missourinet