Committee on Children advances multiple concepts and reserves bills for public hearings; votes held open until session

The Committee on Children advanced a package of proposed bills, concepts and subject-matter reservations at its Jan. 28 meeting and set a public hearing for Feb. 6 at 1:00 PM.

Notable actions: the committee moved to draft HB 6180, an act that would require operators of licensed family childcare homes to notify parents if firearms are kept on the premises; Representative Dauphine and Senator Martin voiced privacy and redundancy concerns but the motion to draft was carried in a roll call. The committee also drafted HB 6185 to create a working group and signage requirement about medical risks of children consuming energy drinks; Representative Dauphine again recorded a no vote.

Chair announced the committee would reserve HB 5474 (an act concerning the use of social media platforms by individuals 16 and under) and HB 6186 (an act concerning prenatal medical records and mandated reports) for subject-matter public hearings, both carried by voice vote. Several placeholder concepts concerning children’s programs, safety and health were raised for future drafting.

Members were reminded votes would be held open until the start of the first session, and the committee recessed after announcing the public hearing date. Late in the meeting clerks recorded remote or phone-cast votes from members who had stepped out for personal reasons; the committee confirmed those votes per its remote vote procedure.