October 23, 2024

Earlier this month, an investigative report raised serious questions around $230,000 in campaign contributions cut to Kehoe and Missouri Republicans made by the founder of a state contractor, World Wide Technologies, which was awarded a $14 million contract to administer a disastrous IT system for the Missouri Department of Education. The IT system’s failure delayed payments to childcare providers, causing several to close and worsening an ongoing childcare crisis across the state. 

Now, officials are reporting an additional delay of several weeks before the payments are fully executed, despite a pledge to complete this by the end of October. 

 The Missouri Democratic Party issued the following statement:

“If a single mom doesn’t pay her bills on time she gets punished, but it pays to be friendly with Lt. Governor Kehoe. Kehoe has been campaigning in a tour bus owned by the only Missouri lobbyist employed by the Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods after previously casting the deciding vote to overturn a veto on selling our farmland to foreign entities. No one should expect Kehoe to hold a campaign donor accountable for worsening this childcare crisis,” said Communications Director Chelsea Rodriguez. “For Mike Kehoe and Missouri Republicans, this behavior is business as usual and Missouri childcare providers and parents are just the latest to be sold out for their political gain.” 

Background:

Missouri Independent: Missouri Won’t Meet Deadline For Clearing Months-Long Backlog Of Child Care Subsidies

KSDK: Critics Question Political Donations From World Wide Technology's Founder Amid Ongoing It Issues Plaguing Missouri's Child Care Centers

Kehoe Cast Deciding Votes To Lift The Ban On Selling Missouri Farmland To Foreign Entities At Least Four Times, Including To Override Governor Nixon’s Veto On September 11, 2013. [Missouri State Senate Journal, 2013 Veto Override, Passed 23-10, 9/11/2013; Missouri Times, 9/11/2013; Missouri State Senate Journal, Conference Committee Adoption, Passed 33-0, 5/16/2013; Missouri State Senate Journal, Third Read & Passage, Passed 32-1, 5/16/2013;  Missouri State Senate Journal, Third Read & Passage, Passed 23-7, 2/18/2013]

• American Dream PAC: “China is the Enemy” (VIDEO)
• Missouri Independent: Kehoe Campaign For Missouri Governor Riding On Bus Owned By Lobbyist For Chinese Pork Producer 
• Kansas City Star: Mo Governor’s Race Erupts Over Foreign-Owned Farmland After New Restrictions Fail To Pass
• KY3: Fact Finders: Did Eric Schmitt Vote Twice To Sell Missouri Farmland To Foreigners?

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Media Contact: 

Chelsea Rodriguez, Communications Director

press@missouridems.org