Topeka ? During state budget negotiations, new Secretary of Health and Environment Roderick Bremby told lawmakers to reject a proviso that would delay his agency’s enforcement of new rules on certain after-school and summer programs, saying such an action would pose a threat to children.

Six days later, Bremby — a former assistant city manager in Lawrence — changed directions, telling lawmakers to support the delay.

Bremby, who was appointed secretary Jan. 7 by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, explained Monday that he made a mistake after his first memo to lawmakers. “I attribute it to my own error,” he said. “It was a learning process for me.”

Some lawmakers were confused and peeved by Bremby’s about-face.

“He has previously said it (the proviso) would put Kansas children at risk. I want to hold him accountable to it,” said state Sen. David Adkins, R-Leawood, a member of the House-Senate committee that hammered out budget details.

But supporters of the proviso to delay enforcement said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment rules were written without input from some groups that run the programs and were so broad they could have caused many programs to shut down. The proviso provides a one-year exemption from the new regulations for the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Kansas Parks and Recreation Assn.

Last year, Lawrence officials complained that the new rules threatened to end the city’s summer playground program by driving up costs.

Bremby said the delay, which was approved by the Legislature as part of the $10.2 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, was the best strategy to take at this point. Sebelius is currently reviewing the budget bill.

Without the proviso, Bremby said, the agency would be trying to apply regulations governing day-care programs to new after-school programs and recreational programs. He said that probably didn’t make sense.

“It’s a complex issue, and we made it more difficult by making a mistake,” he said.

But in a March 25 memo to legislators, Bremby was adamant that the delay be rejected.

“The department has received reports of numerous incidents in which the health, safety and welfare of children in care has suffered because of inadequate supervision and inadequate facilities in these types of programs,” Bremby said in that memo.

On March 31 came the retraction.

“After considerable review, we have determined that it is in the best interest of all parties concerned for KDHE to support the proviso which exempts the enforcement of child care licensing and regulations for entities identified in the bill,” Bremby wrote to members of the House-Senate conference committee. “I regret any confusion our actions may have caused in your deliberation of this matter.”

Bremby said he approved the original memo without reading it closely.

He said there hadn’t been numerous incidents of children being at risk, although a KDHE bureau had reported thousands of complaints during a public meeting. Bremby said when he followed up to find out about those, “that information was not available.”

Bremby said the content of the original memo was his own fault.

“My expectations were not clearly communicated,” he said.

But Bremby said the delay would give the agency a year to get regulations in place that were more tailored to the groups involved.

Adkins said he would wait to see what the year’s delay produced.

“I won’t accept as an endgame a policy that will exempt them,” he said.