SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – State Reps. Betsy Fogle and Stephanie Hein, both from Springfield, are calling on the Kehoe Administration to reverse its decision to delay a new child care payment program, breaking a promise the Governor made in his 2025 State of the State Address.
“Missouri has a child care shortage and the Governor’s decision to break his promise will make this problem worse,” Fogle said. “We encourage the Governor to stop delaying and start delivering on his promises to our children, families, providers and economy.”
“Over the last two years, the State of Missouri has failed families by delaying child care payments, forcing many child care providers, who are small business owners, to close or leave the subsidy program,” Hein said. “When providers are not reimbursed fairly, families pay the price; working parents have fewer options, foster children face disruptions, and private-pay families are left to cover the cost of an underfunded system.”
In his 2025 State of the State Address, Gov. Mike Kehoe promised Missouri child care providers:
“…starting in Fiscal Year 2026, providers will receive payments from the state at the beginning of the month and we will pay on enrollment – just like private pay.”
Fiscal Year 2026 began on July 1, 2025, a full six months ago.
In a Dec. 19th email to child care providers, the Kehoe Administration announced it was breaking the governor’s promise by postponing the Pay in Advance and Authorization Based Payment programs.
A report from the nonpartisan organization, Childcare Aware, shows Missouri must find more than 19,000 additional child care spots to meet the needs of its families.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce has also described the situation as a ‘crisis’ and citing research which found “… a lack of available child care is costing Missouri’s economy $1.35 billion annually, including $280 million in lost tax revenue.”
Additionally, 80% of business leaders who responded to the Missouri Chamber’s 2023 CEO Survey, said “the expense and difficulty in finding child care keeps a significant number of Missourians out of the workforce.”
Missouri’s 2026 Legislative Session begins on Jan. 7.