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House passes substitute bill to move child-care licensing to Department of Health, narrows rulemaking scope
Summary
The House approved a substitute to HB113 that moves child-care licensing oversight from Human Services to the Department of Health, clarifies rulemaking authority to emphasize health-and-safety standards rather than curricula, and adds amendments to protect parental choice and require targeted administrative rules.
Sponsor introduced substitute House Bill 113 as a corrective response to what legislators characterized as overly prescriptive rulemaking under the prior licensing regime. The bill transfers licensing authority for child-care programs to the Department of Health, clarifies that departmental rules should focus on health and safety, and limits the department’s regulatory reach over curricular or academic methods.
Lawmakers questioned how the department will define ‘‘age-appropriate activities,’’ how staffing will transfer, and whether the new framework risks micromanaging providers. The sponsor said program elements would be defined by the provider and the department’s rules would ensure providers follow their stated plans, not prescribe a uniform curriculum. “The whole point there… is the parents need to know what you're planning to do, and you need to be held as an operator to doing what you said you were going to do,” the sponsor said on the floor.
Floor amendments clarified incidental authorities and set rule‑making guardrails; supporters described the package as a compromise between protecting child safety and preserving parental choice. The chair said she would return with new legislation if the Department of Health failed to implement the promised approach.
On the floor the clerk announced the bill had passed the House and would be forwarded to the Senate; the transcript shows an unclear readback of the vote (a correction appears in the clerk’s readout). The final, official journal should be consulted for the certified tally.
