The Salt Lake Tribune

Commercial day care center owners won a small victory with passage of legislation that discourages heavy-handed inspections and arbitrary enforcement of health and safety regulations, which they say are driving the industry underground.

A bill that would bar state regulators from investigating anonymous complaints passed the House on Tuesday with a nine-vote margin and now heads to the governor for his signature.

Proponents of Senate Bill 212 say it protects day care centers from frivolous complaints filed by disgruntled employees and deadbeat parents.

"Employees we fire or parents we refuse to serve because they don't pay their bills often issue complaints out of revenge. This is a waste of the state's time and costs us money," said Charlene Catania, owner of Adventure Center day care in Salt Lake City.

But critics fear the bill will discourage whistle-blowers from coming forward.

"If someone has a very legitimate complaint but is fearful of retaliation, there is absolutely no protection for them," said Salt Lake City Democrat Rep. David Litvack.

Under the bill, follow-up on anonymous complaints would be limited to discussing the allegations with day care staff during routine, annual check ups.

Information from whistle-blowers who wish to remain confidential could be used to launch an investigation. But the bill would require licensors to discourage confidentiality and remind complainants that providing false information is punishable as a Class B misdemeanor.

In addition, the bill mandates there be no public record of complaints found to be without merit.

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Mike Morley, said the measure merely gives existing Health Department regulations the force of law.

"If [an anonymous complaint] is egregious, it would be referred to DCFS or law enforcement. It doesn't say it won't be handled," said the Spanish Fork Republican.

Utah's regulatory environment is hands-off compared to most states.

But Catania says she isn't opposed to stricter rules. She supports SB212, which applies to all of Utah's 3,000 day care providers, as a first step toward leveling the regulatory playing field.

Commercial centers comprise less than 10 percent of the industry, but are saddled with more constraints than "residential centers" - neighborhood centers that care for five children or fewer and that qualify for federal food subsidies - that operate virtually regulation-free.

Another bill that would have subjected these so-called "mom and pop" operations to taxation never made it out of committee.

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Tribune reporter Rebecca Walsh contributed to this report.