photo by: Courtesy of Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly's Office

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly visits a child care center.

Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly says she will sign a bill aimed at improving access to child care and other early childhood services. But some health experts are concerned about a provision codifying religious exemptions for vaccines required at day cares.

This comes as the state is dealing with a Measles outbreak in southwest and central Kansas, which is largely affecting people who are not fully vaccinated against the illness.

Child advocates are also worried the bill would roll back licensing regulations too far and decrease the quality of child care at some facilities.

The bill would consolidate existing early childhood programs from four state agencies into the new Office of Early Childhood. That’s a department Kelly has been lobbying the Kansas Legislature to create since last year.

In an emailed statement to the Kansas News Service, Kelly said the office will streamline access to early childhood services.

“This bipartisan legislation is a win for businesses, child care providers, and most importantly, Kansas children and families,” Kelly said in the statement. “Now, our early childhood system will no longer be bogged down by inefficiencies and bureaucratic red tape.”

The bill would ease some fees, licensing and training requirements for child care providers. They would only need 10 hours of annual training instead of 16 and would not need as much space per child in their facilities. It would also clarify some existing practices, like not requiring a provider to live in their child care facility.

Vaccine advocates in Topeka criticize a portion of the bill that would explicitly spell out religious vaccine exemptions for children in day care.

The Immunize Kansas Coalition is a nonprofit that advocates for vaccines as a tool to stop preventable diseases. Dr. Brandan Kennedy, who is the board chair for the coalition, told the Kansas News Service that the state has been at-risk of a Measles outbreak in recent years because its herd immunity to the disease has dropped from 95% to 90%.

“That’s the key to this,” he said. “You’re protecting the people in your community that can’t get vaccinated, such as immunosuppressed folks, … or for children who haven’t reached age-appropriate levels to be vaccinated.”

As a pediatrician, Kennedy said he’s worried the exemption could mean more kids getting seriously ill.

“I’ve seen cases of some of these vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said. “Nobody wants to see what I’ve seen in these cases.”

Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials said the bill would codify the agency’s existing practices.

“Certain exemptions for vaccination currently exist in statute and are administered by KDHE,” department officials said in written testimony.

State health officials also said the bill would not take away a child care provider’s discretion when considering whether to accept a child into a program.

Concerns over new licensing threshold

Emily Barnes, education policy advisor for the nonprofit Kansas Action for Children, told the Kansas News Service that the group has concerns about a licensing provision added to the bill late in the session.

It would raise the threshold child care providers have to meet before needing a license, allowing them to oversee more children than before.

Under current law, an unlicensed provider can provide a combined total of 20 hours of care per week for up to two kids. By 2026, the bill would increase that threshold to four kids, including two infants, and 35 hours of care per week for each child.

“When we put this new threshold in place, we don’t have a way of ensuring that kids are accessing those safe environments consistently,” Barnes said. “The dynamics of the environment may not provide the child what they need.”

Barnes said the public had little opportunity to provide feedback on that measure, along with the vaccine exemption, after lawmakers added the provisions to the bill late in the lawmaking process.

“Transparency is the best part of democracy,” she said. “Unfortunately there are a lot of times that lawmakers will work on bills, and a change will come, and then they use the legislative process to be able to bypass public opinion.”