Chair West moves amended childcare camera bill to judiciary after tense testimony from affected families

Chair West presented House File 1915, an amended bill that would require video monitoring and extended footage retention at licensed child‑care centers. After adoption of a DE4 amendment that narrowed some requirements and clarified retention rules, Chair West moved to re‑refer the bill to the Committee on Judiciary Finance and Civil Law. The motion passed on a voice vote and the bill was re‑referred.

Chair West framed the bill in personal terms: his family’s child was the subject of alleged abuse at a child‑care center and, he said, retained video was central to bringing charges. "House file 19 15 is critical to the safety of our children and to really ensure that abusers see justice done," Chair West said. He described revisions in the DE4 amendment that lowered retention from 90 to 60 days, specified camera placement, refined when parents may view but not obtain copies of footage, extended retention to six months when an incident triggers reporting under Minnesota rule, and created limited protections for providers so footage alone would not automatically create licensing violations for non‑health‑and‑safety issues.

Multiple family members whose children were allegedly harmed at two centers testified. Megan West described bruises and said prosecutors told the family that without video evidence some charges were unlikely to hold because one center kept footage for only seven days. "Without these changes, it won't be just Sybil who suffers," she told the committee, urging support for longer retention and broader camera placement. Other relatives and parents described infants and toddlers with injuries and said multiple families will not have footage to document alleged harm because the centers deleted recordings after seven days.

Supporters and affected parents called for cameras in infant and toddler rooms and fenced outdoor play areas, parental access to footage in certain circumstances and at least 60 days of retention (with up to six months if an incident requires mandated reporting). Several speakers emphasized security and privacy concerns; committee members raised questions about cybersecurity, data storage, the choice between closed‑circuit and Wi‑Fi/cloud cameras, and how parental access and multiple children appearing in footage would be handled.

Chair West said the DE4 amendment responds to provider concerns by lowering retention to 60 days, clarifying camera placement and allowing training use with written consent, and by including grant money to help centers with installation costs. Members including Rep. Hansen and others asked for assurances about child‑safety risks such as CSAM (child sexual abuse material) and requested stronger technical security guidance; Chair West said additional technical and privacy details would be worked through in Judiciary where the bill was re‑referred.

Because the measure was re‑referred to Judiciary and not finally acted on in the finance committee, committee members deferred final policy details and technical requirements to that committee. The transcript records a voice vote re‑referral; no roll‑call tally was provided.