Legislation aimed at addressing the problem of inadequate, expensive child care passed the Minnesota Senate on Monday. The bills, which passed with bipartisan support, encourage existing child care providers to stay in business and lower the barriers of entry for new providers by eliminating unnecessary government overreach and directing state agencies to further identify areas of policy ripe for improvement.

“Affordable, accessible child care is becoming increasingly difficult to find, particularly in our Greater Minnesota communities,” said Senator Karin Housley (R-St. Marys Point). “Child care providers are facing a nightmare of overregulation, with the result being an exodus of providers from the market altogether. Without action, families will be left without options for safe, reliable child care.”

The legislation passed Tuesday includes:

• Senate File 3310 – Makes staffing requirements more flexible, reduces unnecessary paperwork for child care providers, makes it easier to hire caretakers, provides more transparency for providers and the public, and requires the Department of Human Services to identify onerous regulatory burdens and take steps to reduce them.
• Senate File 2683 – Exempts most minor children of in-home child care providers from providing fingerprints and photographs for background study purposes. Child care providers found this new requirement intrusive and degrading to their children.
• Senate File 2685 – Exempts child care providers from a burdensome and unnecessary training mandate meant for caretakers of people with disabilities.

A new subcommittee on child care availability will be established to study the regulatory and administrative barriers that exist for child care providers and develop recommendations to reduce the burden.

“If we do not act now, it is our communities that will feel the strain even more than they already feel,” Senator Housley continued. “I was glad to vote in favor of these bills. Minnesota’s child care crisis is an example of what can happen when governments overreach, and I’m glad we were able to pull that overregulation back.”

Senator Karin Housley, of St. Marys Point, is in her second term representing District 39, which includes Stillwater, Forest Lake, Lake Elmo, and other communities in Chisago and Washington counties. She serves as chairwoman of the Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee.