Capitol Notebook: Lawmakers change bill allowing teens to care for infants unsupervised

DES MOINES — Iowa House lawmakers approved bipartisan changes to a bill that would have allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to care for younger children unsupervised at child care centers.

Lawmakers amended House File 2056 to clarify that teenage child care workers would be allowed to watch younger children by themselves only to cover a brief absences of an adult staff member for no more than five minutes.

State Rep. Devon Wood, R-New Market, gave the example of covering bathroom breaks and allowing adult staff to briefly leave the room to grab supplies or snacks for children.

Proponents said the bill will help short-staffed child care centers have more flexibility. The original would have required the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to amend its administrative rules to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to care for infants and toddler up to age 5 at child care centers, without additional supervision, provided that at least two adults employed by the center were present.

Lawmakers in 2022 passed and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation allowing child care centers the ability to hire 16- and 17-year-olds to work or substitute in their facilities without adult supervision, as long as they're caring for school-aged children. Previously, child care workers had to be 18 to work unsupervised.

Based on current state ratios, the bill would have allowed 16- and 17-year-old workers to care for up to four babies, seven 2-year-olds, 10 3-year-olds, or 12 4-year-olds by themselves in a classroom.

The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 20-1 to recommend passage of the bill as amended, making it eligible to debate and a vote by the full House. Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, who declined to sign off on the bill in subcommittee, called the amendment a “dramatic” improvement from the original bill.

Lawmakers advance bill allowing cameras in nursing homes

The Iowa House Health and Human services committee advanced House File 537 that would allow families of nursing home residents to monitor their rooms using cameras that provide a live video feed. Advocates say the measure gives family members greater ability to monitor the safety of their relatives in nursing homes.

Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola, one of the bill’s sponsors, said concerns about privacy and confidentiality have made it difficult to pass the legislation in the past.

For residents who reside in a shared room, the roommate would have to agree to the use of the camera, and a notice posted to the door would alert visitors and staff.

“And I am thankful that the lobby was willing to work with the Legislature in coming up with a compromise that works, I think, for all parties to make sure that the best health care for some of our most vulnerable is being provided.”

Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, D-Waterloo, said the state still needs to better with the inspection and staffing of long-term care facilities in Iowa.

“And I don’t see those two issues improving in the near future,” she said. “So, therefore, I don’t think the folks living in long-term care deserve to sacrifice for those system downfalls. So, at this juncture, I think this bill does a good job of protecting (seniors).”

The bill is now eligible for debate by the full House.

House and Senate Judiciary advance several bills

The Iowa House and Senate Judiciary Committee approved a number of bills, most of which had bipartisan support and all of which are now eligible for debate by the full House or Senate.

The only bill that had divided political support was a requirement for businesses to use the E-Verify program to determine all employees are legal U.S. residents. That bill, Senate File 108, passed on the strength of Republican support. The rest of the bills passed by the committee were approved without objections:

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau