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New Report Vindicates Daycare Bill

BOISE, Idaho – Rep. George Salyer, D-Coeur d’Alene, said he’s not surprised at today’s front-page news showing Idaho ranks dead last when it comes to child daycare safety.

Salyer tried earlier this year to present House Bill 163, which would have tightened safety standards. The Legislature has considered some type of child care measure each year since 1987. But each year, Republican lawmakers killed the bill. This year, it happened Monday in the House Health and Welfare Committee, where it was killed by a single vote. 

But before the vote was taken, Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, wondered out loud, “What can we do to keep mom at home?” He also said that he “cannot imagine” ever taking a child to a daycare center, and that, “There is no substitute, there is absolutely no substitute for families taking care of children.”

The committee acted before the results of national report were published in newspapers on Wednesday, showing that Idaho ranks dead last in terms of child care safety.

The news led Sayler to make the following statement:

“The vote reflects the fact that the committee members are out of touch with reality, “ Sayler sad. “This is a worthwhile bill that has been around for the past 20 years, yet we refuse to enact meaningful safety standards for our own children.

“The fact that some lawmakers don’t think that mothers should go to work to help support their families should have no bearing on whether the state wil keep children safe,” Sayler said. “Putting children at risk because of lawmakers personal philosophies is wrong.