On Monday, May 7, Senator Torrey Westrom and the Minnesota State Senate passed a series of bipartisan bills aimed at addressing the problem of inadequate, expensive childcare by encouraging existing providers to stay in business and lower the barriers of entry for new providers.
“The shortage of childcare providers in our state is reaching a crisis level for working families, especially in Greater Minnesota,” said Senator Westrom. “Unfortunately, it appears to be caused not by providers leaving the profession willingly, but excessive government regulation forcing them out of business. These bills are a good first step in lessening the unnecessary and onerous regulations, maintaining and expanding current providers, and increasing choices for parents who need or wish to work.”
Specifically, the Senate passed S.F. 3310, S.F. 2683, and S.F. 2685. The proposals make staffing requirements more flexible, reduce unnecessary paperwork, provide more transparency for providers and the public, require the Department of Human Services (DHS) to identify onerous regulatory burdens and take steps to reduce them, exempt most minor children of in-home childcare providers from providing fingerprints and photographs for background study purposes – a demeaning practice that treated the children like criminals, and exempt most providers from unnecessary training.
On Tuesday, May 8, Senator Westrom participated in a special hearing of the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Committee that tackled Minnesota’s childcare shortage.
“We listened to endless heart wrenching stories from childcare providers across the state that were severely burdened by unnecessary and oppressive regulations from DHS bureaucrats” said Senator Westrom. “Government needs to use some common sense and be in the practice of protecting our children and encouraging business, not needlessly punishing our valuable childcare providers.”
Childcare providers testified that rules and regulations imposed on the industry by DHS are increasingly punitive and do not pass the common-sense test. For instance, childcare providers must sometimes turn away siblings when their ages are not perfectly spaced to allow for a certain ratio of caretakers-to-children, even when the overlap is only a month or two. Something as simple as a misplaced bobby pin could cost a provider hundreds of dollars in fines, regulations are repetitive, and continuous education requirements are unreasonable. These issues are pushing providers out of the business, creating a crisis-level childcare shortage, and limiting parents’ career options. A new subcommittee on childcare availability will be established to study the regulatory and administrative barriers that exist for child care providers and develop recommendations to reduce the burden.
“The childcare shortage impacts every Minnesotan,” added Senator Westrom. “When parents are forced to leave the workforce due to inadequate childcare options, we all pay the economic cost. We will continue to work on this issue, dramatically reduce the red tape current providers face, and encourage new options for childcare providers to enter the industry.