After taking office amid uncertain budgetary times both locally and with the federal government, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe made enhancing public safety the centerpiece of his first State of the State address.
The GOP leader’s speech comes alongside a budget that is relatively flat, thanks to a less robust revenue situation compared to previous years.
During his speech on Tuesday afternoon at the Capitol in Jefferson City, Kehoe highlighted a number of new budget items that seek to reduce the state’s crime rate. They include a new $12.8 million crime lab in Cape Girardeau, support for legislation making it easier for law enforcement officials to come to Missouri from another state and an additional $10 million to help departments with equipment and training needs.
“Any efforts we make to improve the lives of Missourians — whether it’s expanding education opportunities, cutting taxes, or expanding child care — none of it matters if Missourians aren’t safe,” Kehoe said. “Securing Missouri’s future begins with public safety.”
Kehoe reiterated his support for a gubernatorial board overseeing the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Because of a 2012 ballot initiative, the St. Louis mayor’s office effectively runs the department.
While St. Louis’ police unions support that proposal, numerous elected officials, including Mayor Tishaura Jones, strongly oppose it. They contend it is another example of the GOP-dominated state government micromanaging the city’s operations.
Kehoe, though, said, “the current status quo in St. Louis is unacceptable.”
“As the economic powerhouse of our state, we cannot continue to let crime kill growth in the region and drive businesses and families to move outside of our state’s borders,” Kehoe said.
Additionally, Kehoe said he supports legislation that would charge someone who supplies fentanyl to a person who dies of an overdose with first-degree murder. He’s also backing a $4 million investment to increase fentanyl testing at schools.
That money comes months after a startling report showing that Missouri children died of fentanyl poisoning even after Children’s Division investigators found evidence that their parents were using the drug.
“A shocking statistic that isn’t talked about enough is that fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45,” Kehoe said. “It has destroyed far too many lives and families. We will tackle the fentanyl crisis in Missouri.”
Eliminating the income tax
In the past, Kehoe expressed support for phasing out the state’s income tax — something he alluded to during his speech.
He said he’s directed officials at 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.”
“Missourians can spend their money a whole lot better than government, and I hope you will work with me to help Missouri families secure a better future for themselves … a future with no income taxes,” Kehoe said.
Kehoe also is asking the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to do a “complete rewrite” of child care regulations. The state has faced trouble reimbursing providers over the past few months.
“Providers will receive payments from the state at the beginning of the month, and we will pay on enrollment – just like private pay,” Kehoe 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. Together, we will secure a better environment for providers to thrive, and Missouri’s children to be set up for success.”
Kehoe’s budget does not fully fund the K-12 education foundation formula, and he said, “this budget does not include the additional $300 million liability that was imposed by an administrative body.”
“The Foundation Formula in its current form has gotten out of control,” Kehoe said. “With funding requirements this body has implemented as well as changing educational needs across the state, we no longer feel the formula, as currently written, appropriately allocates funding for public education. We must find a solution that does a better job of incentivizing performance and managing unrealistic annual adjustments.”
Although he doesn’t plan to embark on it this session, Kehoe mentioned that he will gather stakeholders to redo the state’s K-12 education formula.
The governor said he plans to create a School Funding Modernization Task Force to recommend changes to better serve students and families.
“We know that rewriting the formula is a monumental task. It’s about looking decades ahead and not just the current needs of school districts,” Kehoe said. “I urge those involved to keep that in mind so we can solve this problem for future generations of children. We must modernize the way we fund education, while recognizing high-performing schools and ensuring lower-performing schools have a plan to do better.”
Kehoe said he’ll offer a plan to help retain state workers. That would include a 1% increase for every two years of service, with someone who’s been an employee 20 years receiving a 10% boost.
Budget officials conceded, though, that someone who was hired in the last year wouldn’t receive a pay increase — though they pointed out that starting salaries have gone up in recent years.
He also said he would “take action” on state diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the coming weeks.
“This administration will be built on merit, and we will not support DEI programs in state government,” Kehoe said.
Abortion vote
Kehoe spent the tail end of his speech mentioning the November vote on Amendment 3, which enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.
“This is why we are all here — to be a voice for families, children and those who can’t speak for themselves,” Kehoe said. “That includes the unborn. In our state, we value a culture of life. We treasure our families.”
While abortion providers have yet to resume procedures since a Jackson County judge didn’t strike down clinic licensing requirements, she did block a number of other restrictions — including a near-total ban on abortion.
Some Republicans have said they want to do something, presumably putting a measure on the 2026 ballot, that would repeal or replace Amendment 3. Kehoe didn’t mention any specifics on that point, though he did call for $4 million aimed at organizations that dissuade women from having abortions.
“Regardless of how you voted on Amendment 3, Missouri has so much more to offer women,” Kehoe said. “In Missouri, there are better, safer choices than abortion, and we are committed to helping pregnant women know these exist.”
Speaking after Kehoe’s address, House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said there would be broad pushback to Kehoe’s intent to give money to those organizations.
“The reason is that crisis pregnancy centers prey on vulnerable women. They use religion to do so, and it does not solve the problem. It's a very disappointing proposal, in my opinion,” Aune said.
Mixed reaction
Aune said there were some areas where her fellow Democrats agreed with Kehoe — particularly his desire to expand child care. But she said she was skeptical about his push to phase out the income tax.
“If this state is going to endeavor on cutting taxes for the wealthiest Missourians while not providing any relief to lower-income and middle-class Missourians, I think that's a huge miss,” she said.
Some Republican lawmakers praised Kehoe’s speech, with Rep. Ben Baker of Neosho calling it “probably the most conservative governor agenda that I've heard in my time in the legislature for Missouri.”
Baker also said he liked Kehoe’s approach to state government pay, adding that it could help retention efforts.
“It's not an easy thing to do,” Baker said. “Trying to find a way that we can incentivize people to stay, I think, is a worthy idea.”
But Rep. Betsy Fogle, D-Springfield, said that the plan could backfire, especially if it doesn’t apply to workers in particular jobs. Missouri’s Children’s Division officials were able to get new hires to fill the beleaguered St. Louis office, but getting them to stay may be difficult if their salaries can’t compete with other states or private sector jobs.
“I know our caucus will be leading the conversation about how we keep children safe in this state,” Fogle said. “And we need to do that by investing in the people who are tasked to do so.”
Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia, also expressed concern about changing the foundation formula.
“I think it's very concerning that when that foundation formula remained flat year after year after year, as inflation was just climbing through the roof, we didn't have a problem with the formula,” said Steinhoff, a former teacher. “But now that the formula is starting to work and the student adequacy target is starting to increase in order to get more money into our schools — now we're looking at it because we're worried we can't afford it.”
Additionally, Kehoe called for $50 million to the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account Program.
The account allows families to get funding to send their children to the school of their choice, including private schools.
The account is funded by private donors, who then receive tax credits from the state.
Aune said she isn’t sure that allocation is something Kehoe can do.
“My understanding is that the reason that we have made these tax credits essentially is because it is unconstitutional to directly give money to private school institutions,” Aune said.
Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-Affton, said the shortfall in education funding was a “gut punch.”
“Especially when my constituents send quite a lot of money to Jefferson City for some of these priorities. And then the money's now going to be used, not only not from the schools, it's going to go to rich folks to send their kids with vouchers,” Beck said.
Rep. Marlon Anderson, D-St. Louis, said that many people in his caucus oppose efforts to turn oversight of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to a gubernatorial board.
“Missouri voted on this issue in 2012, the voters have spoken, yet this body refuses to listen to the voters,” Anderson said.
While Kehoe’s speech mentioned illegal immigration, he did not offer specific policy solutions he would want to see in Missouri.
Kehoe’s speech comes one day after a contentious Senate hearing over two bills on immigration. Both bills create new penalties for staying in Missouri if a person does not have legal status in the United States.
One of the bills has a penalty of life imprisonment.
“I think that legislation is laughable, and frankly, it does an enormous disservice to communities of color who are currently suffering from enormous amounts of discrimination,” Aune said. “And the idea that we would empower citizens to turn folks in for a profit? Wow, that's not a Missouri I would be proud to live in.”
Reporter Evy Lewis contributed to this article.
This story has been updated.
