Sens. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville; Parley Hellewell, R-Orem; and Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, have responded to complaints received in "anonymous phone calls and e-mails" by warning the Departments of Health and Workforce Services that the Legislature might revoke licensing standards.

But relieving day-care operators of strict standards is a dangerous solution. The regulations are in place to protect children so that their parents can confidently expect that a "state-licensed" day-care center is clean, safe and well-supervised. Without strict regulations, a state license has little meaning as a guide for parents, who have no way of ensuring their children are well cared for while they are away.

The operators say it's unfair that inspectors arrive unannounced and question parents and children, but what better way to see first-hand how the center is run?

The senators should learn more about licensing requirements before automatically siding with operators. In demanding a performance audit of the child-care licensing division, Waddoups' cited "going through diaper pails and counting diapers" as an unreasonable, even odd, practice.

However, licensing bureau director Debra Wynkoop explained that diapers are sometimes marked to determine how often they are changed and an inspector might go through discarded diapers to count them. Babies and toddlers obviously can't tell their parents how often they get changed, but such things are basic to a well-run care center.

Wynkoop said regulators only revoke licenses for major repeated violations or when centers consistently refuse to fix problems. She said that operators who complain about regulators are a small but vocal group.

If the legislators are alarmed by an increase in complaints from day-care-center operators, they are right to get some answers. The licensing division also has an obligation to investigate complaints against centers. It received 388 from parents in 2003.

A better approach than threatening regulators might be to set up an open process - instead of anonymous calls and e-mails - by which an operator can appeal a sanction. Reviews of especially irksome regulations, such as pulling funding from a center that has been placed on "conditional licensing" after numerous violations, might also be in order.

But legislators should resist any knee-jerk reactions that might put children at risk.