Written by: Jim Hansen
Friday, March 07, 2008

When legislators refuse to connect a fair and adequate tax system with critical public investments, our families and communities suffer. The tragic consequences of this disconnect were obvious again in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee this week when senators killed a bill to protect Idaho kids in day care centers. Senate Bill 1376 would have set minimal standards for centers caring for four or more unrelated children. It died in committee without a vote. Legislators raised questions about the cost of conducting inspections but washed their hands of any responsibility for finding the resources to cover those costs if, indeed, those concerns were legitimate.

Senate Health Welfare Committee Chairwoman Patti Anne Lodge, R-Nampa, claimed “my only promise to my constituents was that I would be mindful of their tax dollars.” Yet she has eagerly supported tax exemptions that further damage Idaho’s capacity to protect kids and shift more of the tax burden on ordinary workers. Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls also washed his hands like Pontius Pilate saying he was a single parent with two preschoolers but that if the state doesn’t have the staff to enforce standards then why bother to set standards.

In a few cities, public officials get that it is their responsibility not only to protect kids with standards but to find the resources to invest in enforcing those standards. Unless day care centers are located in those cities, Idaho parents will continue to run the risk that the centers have hired people who do not pass criminal background checks, or have no one on the premises trained in CPR, or put other children in charge of small children, or allow smoking and drinking on the premises during operating hours.

Betsy Russell's article in the Spokesman Review on Monday gives a good summary of what legislators said in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee when they killed SB 1376 without a vote.

Trackback Print

Location: Blogs Jim Hansen