Under the current child care system, churches don't have to meet all the health and safety requirements that home day cares, licensed centers and other facilities do. A proposal before the General Assembly would change that, and some people are upset with what they regard as a violation of the separation of church and state:
Eric Miller with Advance America said Wednesday the legislation could affect day camps, Christian schools, vacation bible schools and Sunday schools.
"For decades, churches in Indiana have been free to start and provide a child care ministry for the families in their community without government control," said Miller via e-mail. "There is no justification for the General Assembly to pass a law to control church child care ministries or any other ministry offered by a church for children!"
But there is also this:
Hoosier child care facilities accept roughly $165 million in federal funds each year, more than $27 million to ministries, $75 million to centers and $57 million to home facilities.
How does "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" get stretched into "Churches don't have to follow the same rules"? If they don't want the government's rules, they shouldn't take the government's money -- it's a package deal.
Did you catch that, though -- $165 million a year in federal funds for "approved" child care facilites in this one state alone? Since this is the season to talk about Washington's unconstitutional reaches, there's the real solution. End federal spending on child care.
