A New Chapter: State leadership changes have officials optimistic about legislative session

Kara Corches: Child care is a state issue that needs legislative action.

Matt Morrow questions if future I-44 work will have sufficient workforce available.

Stephanie Hein: State needs to continue transportation infrastructure attention.

Alex Riley is the new majority floor leader for the state House of Representatives.

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Despite coming off a legislative assembly last year that resulted in a record-low 28 bills passed by Missouri lawmakers, local and state officials feel optimistic heading into the 2025 session that began Jan. 8.

Much of that optimism is tied to state leadership changes, including a new administration led by Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe, who is set to be inaugurated Jan. 13. Improvements to child care, infrastructure and public safety are among high priorities for both the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

State chamber officials have noted child care remains one of the business community’s top concerns. Lawmakers failed to pass legislation last year – similar to the 2023 session – that sought to increase access to child care. The legislation involved a tax credit package to increase the capacity of child care providers and help businesses offer child care benefits to support employee retention and attraction.

Kara Corches, president and CEO of the state chamber, said her organization plans to again champion the child care issue. She said several tax credit bills on the topic have already been filed, including Senate Bill 455, from Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield.

“We know that child care is an economic and a workforce issue and something that a wide majority of businesses say is a barrier to getting to recruit or retain employees,” she said, noting parents and businesses will go where there is child care. “We need to address this shortage if we want to stay competitive because other states are indeed looking at this. We want to make sure that we are proactively addressing this so that we don’t get left in the dust.”

Child care also remains a high priority for the Springfield chamber, said President Matt Morrow, who said the issue has some urgency that needs to be tackled by both Democrats and Republicans.

“You have constituencies that are near and dear to each of them who are crying out for this,” Morrow said. “And I think that there are a lot of people in that [Capitol] building who are committed to trying to get something done.”

A 2022 survey of business leaders conducted by the state chamber revealed that 80% of respondents identified child care as a hurdle to keeping and recruiting workers workers, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Investment considerations
State Rep. Alex Riley, R-Springfield, said Missouri officials are working with child care providers to identify government red tape and offer help on the regulatory side. However, Riley, who is the state House of Representatives’ new majority floor leader, has some reservations that the budget this fiscal year can support a big spending program connected with child care.

“We’ll see how budget revenues come in over the next handful of months, so we’ll kind of know what revenue is available to work with,” he said.

The state recently released its consensus revenue estimate for fiscal 2026. The CRE, established by state budget experts, projects net general revenue collections at $13.56 billion. That’s a 1.6% increase from net general revenue growth projected in the revised CRE for fiscal 2025, which ends June 30.

Kehoe is expected later this month to outline his proposed fiscal 2026 budget during his first State of the State address. Gov. Mike Parson last June signed a $50.5 billion budget for fiscal 2025, including $14.9 billion in general revenue, according to past reporting.

The state budget and child care will be carefully watched by state Rep. Stephanie Hein, D-Springfield. Hein said she serves on the House budget committee and wants to find child care solutions that are affordable and accessible.

“We’ll see how far it gets through the process and if we can get it across the finish line this year,” she said of child care tax credit legislation.

Hein said she also wants to see continued infrastructure investments, particularly with Interstate 44. While work started last summer on the nearly $2.8 billion project to expand Interstate 70 to three lanes in both directions across the state, long-awaited construction to widen I-44 is expected to start later this year, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. The fiscal 2025 budget includes $577.5 million for I-44 work from St. Louis to Joplin.

With the I-70 project in full swing, Morrow said he questions how much manpower the construction industry will have to dedicate to I-44.

“We know that that money’s there. We know that it’s been committed,” Morrow said. “We know that it’s a priority and they’re working to try and get on that from a planning perspective. The sooner the better, and it’s better to be in the queue than not in the queue, but they’re stretched thin like everybody right now.”

Safety stance
Crime and public safety are economic development issues, Corches said, adding that when residents and businesses don’t feel safe, the state economy is impacted. She said several bills related to establishing criminal offenses for organized retail theft, such as House Bill 277, filed by state Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, will be among those considered this session.

“This is something we have to chip away at each legislative session, and this is something that the business community feels strongly about,” Corches said. “So, you’ll see us again advocating in the Capitol because we strongly believe that a safer Missouri is indeed a stronger Missouri.”

Organized retail crime is the large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the items for financial gain, according to the National Retail Federation. The organization reported in a 2023 survey that roughly 78% of retailers in America felt organized retail crime was a higher priority that year compared to about 71% in 2022. In addition, shoplifting statistics show that 88% of retailers said shoplifters in 2023 were at least somewhat more aggressive and violent compared to a year prior.

According to shoplifting statistics in a 2023 small business insurance survey from Forbes Advisor, 75% of monthly losses for businesses averaged between $500 and $2,500.

Shared optimism
As Riley begins his new leadership role in the House, he feels “extremely optimistic” that the new legislative session will result in many more bills getting passed than 2024.

“There’s a lot of folks who have been frustrated by the lack of more accomplishment over the past couple of years,” he said. “I think there’s a real energy building here in the Capitol of people who want to roll up their sleeves and get some of these big things accomplished. I think that’s a very real possibility.”

Morrow said he also is optimistic but acknowledges there’s a lot of work ahead for lawmakers. Still, he believes the incoming Kehoe administration, like the one led by Gov. Parson, will focus attention on core priorities such as infrastructure and workforce development to drive economic competitiveness.

“There are a lot more ways for things not to get across the finish line than for them to make it,” he said of legislation. “But the administration has shared an absolute commitment to doing those things that are necessary to help provide the necessary workforce and support the workforce for businesses to grow here and for us to compete, to attract and sustain businesses here in Missouri."