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(KFF) Montana lawmakers are at odds with the state health department over sweeping changes to child care licensing rules, including a disputed provision allowing religious exemptions to routine immunizations for children and workers. There is.
Both Republican and Democratic members Children, Families, Health and Welfare Interim Committee On January 18, the commission renewed its informal opposition to the proposed child care licensing regulations, which the commission had blocked since November. The vote means the state Department of Public Health and Human Services cannot adopt the rule until at least March, but committee members announced they will discuss formal objections that could delay adoption of the rule until spring 2025. ing.
Committee members renewed their opposition, complaining that health department officials had not contacted the committee to discuss amendments to the proposal.
“It’s really, really frustrating to see some necessary rule changes that providers in our community really want, and other rule changes that are burdensome and unnecessary,” the Democratic lawmaker said. SJ Howell, the committee’s vice chair during the hearing. “I hope we can find a way forward.”
Spokesman John Ebert said in an email that Health Department leaders have not decided on a future course of action.
“We expect the interim committee to expand its informal challenges to the child care rules package and continue to consider its options,” Ebert said. “Ensuring that Montana’s hard-working families have access to affordable, quality child care remains of paramount importance to us.”
Childcare providers are frustrated by delays in much-needed changes to childcare licensing rules. The package makes changes such as simplifying the licensing process, reducing the amount of paperwork required for providers and parents, and creating a new type of license for providers who operate outside school hours. Director Rachel Vanderscheidt Montana Afterschool Alliancetold the committee that the rule has been under consideration for at least three years and that the committee should move forward with the rule.
“They are beneficial for both health care workers and families,” she said. “There are controversies in a few different areas, but overall I would say 95% is great.”
The most controversial clause in the 97 page rules package Large child care facilities would be needed to enroll children who are not vaccinated for religious reasons.montana Just like the other 44 states, religion already allows exemptions from vaccination requirements for school-age children. But the proposal would add religious exemptions to vaccination requirements for young children in the state.
Health care advocates worry that as more parents claim vaccine exemptions, community immunity levels against preventable infections such as measles and whooping cough will decline, leading to outbreaks.
The Department of Health’s proposal would also eliminate requirements for child care homes to send infected and unvaccinated children and staff home if someone in the facility contracts a vaccine-preventable disease. .
Health Department officials initially proposed vaccine rules in 2022, but the committee blocked the proposal then as well. In response, the ministry said it would not enforce the ban on religious exemptions.
KFF Health News for November be the first to report Ministry of Health officials reportedly shoved the exemption into page 45 of the draft licensing rules. Department officials said at the time that the rules package was needed to align with legislation passed by Congress in 2021 and 2023. Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, generally prohibits the state from infringing on an individual’s right to exercise religion.another laws prohibiting discrimination Based on vaccination status.
Mississippi began granting similar exemptions to schools and child care centers in July after a court ruled that the state’s lack of religious exemptions violates the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. But other states, including California, New York, Connecticut and Maine, have abolished religious exemption policies in the past decade.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is reportedly calling for the exemption for non-medical vaccines to be abolished, saying it is “inappropriate for personal, public health, and ethical reasons.” 2016 policy statement.
The Montana Department of Health has the option of adopting the rule pending opposition from a legislative committee. Informal complaints by the commission can be renewed for up to six months, after which the department can enforce the rules. In this case, that renewal option expires in his April.
But if the committee votes to formally object, the rule could be blocked until the end of the next legislative session in spring 2025, said Maddie Krezowski, an attorney for the Legislature. That would give lawmakers an opportunity to address the law on which the rules are based during the session.
The Commission may also submit a formal challenge to the Secretary of State for publication with the adoption of the rule, which could affect subsequent legal challenges. Krezowski said the burden of proof in court would shift from those who might sue the health department to the health department itself.
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