Governor Matt Blunt wants to offer state child-care subsidies to a greater number of Missouri families.
Missouri currently subsidizes child care for families earning up to 127 percent of the federal poverty level, a little over $26,000 annually for a family of four.
Some advocates for the poor say the policy discourages parents from accepting small pay raises, for fear they will lose their child-care subsidies.
Blunt is proposing to offer partial child-care subsidies to families earning up to one-and-a-half times the federal poverty level, about $31,000 for a family of four.
The governor projects that an additional 2,850 children could benefit.