SB 973 - This act modifies the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood by changing its name to the "Missouri Early Childhood Cabinet" and moving it from the Department of Social Services to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by a Type III transfer. The Cabinet shall be designated as the state advisory council on early childhood education and care for children from birth to school entry under the federal Head Start program. The Cabinet membership and terms shall be as described in the act. The Cabinet shall hire an executive director who shall be responsible for the administrative operations of the Cabinet. The Cabinet's duties, in addition to those assigned to the existing Coordinating Board for Early Childhood, shall be focused on coordination and alignment of early childhood care and education programs among public and private entities, assisting other agencies in obtaining available federal funding for such programs, creating reporting requirements to collect data to assess the effect and quality of such programs, and comparing and analyzing such information collected with data collected from other state departments. The Cabinet shall also formulate a cross-departmental consolidated program budget summary for all state-level early childhood care and education programs for each fiscal year and provide such summary to the House of Representative budget committee and the Senate appropriations committee by October 1. The Cabinet shall also prepare and send an annual written report by December 31 to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the Joint Committee on Education, as well as post the report on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website, that includes any recommendations for legislative action and a summary of the Cabinet's annual actions. Finally, the existing Coordinating Board for Early Childhood Education Fund shall be renamed the Early Childhood Cabinet Fund. SARAH HASKINS