PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Legislation to allow about 660 licensed home-based child-care providers to unionize cleared the General Assembly Wednesday night, with a final vote in the Senate.
The Senate voted 23 to 8 to approve the Senate bill and 23 to 9 to approve an identical House bill after a brief statement from its lead sponsor, Sen. Maryellen Goodwin, who said, emphatically, that "this act does not make childcare providers state employees."
The House passed the measure earlier in the week by a vote of 58 to 11. The measure now goes to Governor Chafee for consideration.
The legislation, backed by District 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, extends collective-bargaining rights to home-based child-care providers who receive state subsidies to care for children from low-income families.
The subsidies range from $49 to $188 per week, depending on the age of the child, according to a 2011 Senate Fiscal Office issue brief.
The amended Senate bill stipulates that besides not being eligible for state pensions, these home-based child-care providers also would not be eligible for state employee health benefits.
The bill also names the director of the state Department of Administration or his designee as the lead negotiator of their agreements.
In 2005, the General Assembly approved legislation backed by the SEIU that would have required the state to negotiate with home daycare providers, but then-Gov. Donald L. Carcieri vetoed it, calling it the "Trojan horse of the effort by organized labor to swell its ranks in the public sector."