Public safety, education garner attention at State of the State

In his first State of the State address Jan. 28, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe placed public safety, economic development and investments in education among high priorities for his administration. Kehoe spoke about some of his legislative and budget goals for fiscal 2026 before the 103rd General Assembly in Jefferson City.

Kehoe’s speech covered several proposed investments as part of his roughly $53.7 billion recommended operating budget, which was released yesterday. His administration noted that the budget leaves the state with the same $1.5 billion surplus left last year by his predecessor, former Gov. Mike Parson. Fiscal 2025 saw a 0.6% decrease in revenue collections compared with the previous year while fiscal 2026 is expected to see a 1.6% increase in collections.

“Any efforts we may make to improve the lives of Missourians – whether it be education opportunities, cutting taxes or expanding child care – none of it matters if Missourians aren’t safe,” he said to the legislators in attendance. “Securing Missouri’s future begins with public safety.”

To support law enforcement recruitment and retention efforts, Kehoe’s budget recommends funding to bolster the existing Missouri Blue Scholarship Program for law enforcement basic training and $10 million in new funding to assist communities that prioritize public safety with equipment and training needs through the newly created Blue Shield Program.

Additionally, the budget includes $2.5 million to support the sheriff’s retirement system for another year, and $12.8 million to fund a new 20,000-square-foot crime lab in Cape Girardeau, serving the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E region.

“While public safety is priority No. 1 for Missourians to prosper, we must also have a robust economy and aggressive economic development efforts,” he said.

Stating that infrastructure and economic development go hand in hand, Kehoe said his budget includes a reappropriation of last year’s $100 million for rural road improvements to ensure all those funds are invested in rural infrastructure.

During the speech, Kehoe also restated his campaign pledge to eliminate Missouri’s income tax. However, how the action would be achieved wasn’t made clear during the address.

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “It will take time, but I have directed the Missouri Department of Revenue to work with my staff on a sustainable and comprehensive plan to eliminate the individual income tax once and for all.”

Child care attention
The state’s child care crisis also received some attention, as Kehoe issued an executive order charging the office of childhood within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to conduct a complete rewrite of the state’s child care regulations to make them easier to understand and navigate.

“I expect a plan for this to be completed in months, not years,” he said.

Kehoe said the budget also includes $10 million to offer grant funding opportunities to support partnerships between employers, community partners and the child care industry to make more child care slots available for Missouri families.

For child care providers who partner with Missouri to provide care, Kehoe said his administration is committed to timely payments, acknowledging past reimbursement delays from the state have made it difficult for some child care centers to keep their doors open.

“So, 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,” he said. “We will not allow late payments or technology issues to put these small businesses at risk of not being able to provide for families in need of child care.”

Education spending
Just over $4 billion would be used to support K-12 public school districts, which includes $200 million in new funding for the foundation formula. Kehoe said it represents the largest increase in the current formula, which was written 20 years ago. However, the governor said he would be working to develop a new funding formula that better fits the state’s current needs. 

“We know that rewriting the formula is a monumental task,” he said. “It’s about looking decades ahead, and not just the current needs of school districts.”

Additionally, the governor’s proposed budget includes a 1.5% funding increase, equating to $16.8 million, for all the state’s higher education institutions.

Kehoe’s budget also includes $15 million in new funding to address equipment, space and operational needs of career and technical centers across the state, as well as a $5 million annual increase to support higher operational costs.

“In Missouri, we get a lot right when it comes to career and technical education, but gaps remain, and we can do more to increase technical education to skill up our current and future workforce,” he said.

A full transcript of the State of the State address is available here.