Summers amendment to maintain safety standards for child care providers defeated by Republicans

INDIANAPOLIS – Today (Jan. 29), State Rep. Vanessa Summers (D-Indianapolis) offered an amendment to House Bill 1102. Her amendment would have restored current requirements for class II child care providers to obtain a class I child care license.

Summers' amendment was voted down 30-65 by the House Republican supermajority.

Summers released the following response upon the defeat of her amendment:

“As a state, we have a responsibility to parents and guardians to protect their children. When children are sent to child care facilities, there is an expectation that they will be kept safe and well taken care of. As it stands, this bill actively works against that promise.

“Permitting young, untrained and unlicensed individuals to watch over vulnerable children is just an accident waiting to happen. Under House Bill 1102, just about anyone could legally work as a child care provider. In theory, this could even mean someone as inexperienced as a 12-year-old. If the bill is adopted, literal children could be held responsible for the lives of other children.

“This is not just horribly irresponsible; it also opens a door for other nasty consequences. Homeschooled children can be more easily exploited for free, full-time child care. Similarly, without needing to meet an age requirement or obtain a license, this bill could incentivize students to drop out of school and enter the workforce at an early age.

“From every angle, HB 1102 only serves to remove the guardrails that keep our children safe. My amendment attempted to undo this potential harm by restoring current requirements for class II child care providers to obtain a class I child care license, but the House Republican supermajority said no. We cannot afford to operate with a self-imposed scarcity mindset when it comes to the health and safety of our precious children.

“If our goal is to fix the child care crisis in our state, we need take a step back and look at the root of the problem. House Democrats' Economic Freedom Agenda introduced measures to do exactly that. Instead of pushing for a quick-fix solution, we should instead establish a child and dependent care income tax credit and increase funding for before and after school care. The answer is not to lower our standards and expose our kids to danger. We already have a list of solutions to fix our failing child care infrastructure, so why are Republicans refusing to use them? 

“I have served on the Family, Children and Human Affairs Committee during the entirety of my career in the House. My Democratic colleagues and I have worked tirelessly to defend the rights of children and their families, but now, our efforts are being thrown by the wayside in favor of policies that put children in harm's way.  I refuse to accept a measure which so blatantly compromises the regulations that keep Hoosier children safe.”