Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 9, 1993 TAG: 9302090344
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
DAY-CARE SCRUTINY VOTE SET
Overriding Republican attempts to gut it, the House of Delegates advanced a bill Monday that would allow state inspectors to enter church-run day-care centers for the first time since 1979.With final votes in both houses today, the stage should be set for a dramatic legislative showdown pitting child welfare against religious freedom.
The Senate is expected to vote against increased regulation of church day-care centers, probably forcing the issue into a conference committee for compromise in the final days of the legislative session later this month.
Whether the state should be allowed to inspect church-run centers is the major sticking point in efforts this year to reform Virginia's child day-care laws, considered by experts to be among the weakest in the nation. Bills in both houses would increase state oversight of day care not only in churches but in private homes and public schools.
The House voted 49-43 to preserve provisions for an annual inspection of church-run day-care centers and requirements that those centers have on hand at least one person trained in first aid. Church center employees also would have to pass a criminal records check and meet health requirements, including washing their hands after diaper changes.
Republicans voted 29-6, with six abstentions, to strip those regulations from the bill. They argued that the requirements infringe upon the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.
Leading the GOP charge was Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, who said the regulations were "onerous" and would "impose a substantial burden on churches." McDonnell also unsuccessfully tried to shield churches from investigations that would result from calls to a proposed statewide hot line for day-care complaints.
But the patron of the bill, Del. Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg, argued that church-run centers should not get special treatment. "They are commercial businesses, just like any other day-care center," she said. "The fact that a place calls itself a church does not mean it's filled with charity and good will."
More than 80 percent of Virginia's 600,000 day-care children are in facilities not regulated by the state or required to meet basic health and safety standards. One reason is that Virginia is one of only 10 states that exempts churches from regulation.
Since 1979, the state has given church-run centers the option of exempting themselves from regulation by stating in writing that they have a required ratio of staff to children and that all employees have had health checkups. They also must pass local fire and kitchen inspections. About 270 churches - two-thirds of all that have day-care centers in the state - opt for the exemption.
The bill would modify the exemption to allow inspectors to enter churches once each year to verify information they provide and determine whether minimum health and safety requirements were being met.
Even with the new provisions, churches would be required to meet only a fraction of the rules that for-profit centers must meet. For example, churches would not be required to remove asbestos from playrooms, ban spanking or have a certain number of bathrooms.
Democrats were gleeful over the Republican attempt to water down the bill, predicting it will give them a potent issue this fall when all 100 delegates must face re-election. They forced recorded votes on all of the GOP amendments.
"No question, this is a great election-year issue," said Kevin Mack, executive director of the Democratic Caucus. "The Republicans have been running around saying they're pro-family. They had an opportunity today to stand up for family values and children and they balked."
The GOP seemed to sense its political disadvantage. After failing to water down the bill, not a single Republican could be heard voting no in a voice vote that advanced the overall day-care bill to final consideration today.
\ YEA OR NAY ON EXEMPTING CHURCH DAY-CARE CENTERS FROM REGULATION
IN FAVOR: Dels. Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville; Tommy Baker, R-Dublin; Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton; Willard Finney, D-Rocky Mount; Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon; Lacey Putney, I-Bedford; Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville; Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke; Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke.
OPPOSED: Dels. Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs; Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville; G.C. Jennings, D-Marion; Joan Munford, R-Blacksburg.
NOT VOTING: Del. Steven Agee, R-Salem.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.