Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted this week to send a letter to Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, asking him to exempt the county from a new state law mandating English speakers at every daycare center.
Proponents say the law was put in place to ensure smooth communication between daycare employees and first responders in the event of an emergency. But Fairfax Supervisor Jeff McKay said that isn’t an issue there, and instead, the law would put many daycare providers out of business while increasing the cost for everyone else.
“A very conservative principle is local government, the people at the most local level, know what’s best for their community. This is a classic case of it,” McKay told WMAL. “We have model regulations in place, and the state came along and thought they could do a better job.”
The Board of Supervisors is warning of dire consequences to the law in Fairfax County. Many providers would be forced to either go underground or close, McKay said, leading to an increase in cost for those that can stay open.
“We already have safeguards in place for the very thing the state was trying to address,” he said. “What’s absurd about (the law) is our first responders are communicating every day with people who don’t speak English. It’s called 2017 in the United States.”
He said there are likely more ulterior motives to the law, discriminating against non-English speakers as unable to provide child care. Either way, he said the county is looking to Richmond for help.
“A letter to the Governor is our last hope to try to prevent this requirement from becoming law,” he said.
Governor McAuliffe, speaking with reporters Wednesday morning, said he had not yet seen the letter.
“I will read what Fairfax has sent down to me,” he said. “But let me be very clear. I am always going to come down on the side of safety when it comes to our daycare centers. We’ve had some horrible tragedies in our past. And safety will be my number one concern.”
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