Quality Rating System/Child Care Subsidies

Sen. Charlie Shields’ QRS bill (SB 726) came close. Unfortunately the bill did not come to the floor in the House before the session adjourned.

We did have one other opportunity to increase subsidy, by adding an amendment to SB 885 when it was debated on the House floor. This bill, sponsored by Sen. Chuck
Graham (Boone County), made a small technical change to language related to the Children’s Services Commission, but the title and sections opened were appropriate
for amending our subsidy language that would have raised eligibility to 160% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Rep. Jeff Grisamore (Lee’s Summit) left the floor and
failed to return in time to offer the subsidy amendment.

While we did not ultimately prevail, I can not stress enough how far we came this session, both on QRS and on increasing subsidy. We have developed some great leadership on both sides of the aisle and will have two more years to capitalize on those relationships. After that, we will have 90 new members in the house and will have to begin the re-education process.