Bill
HB 5850
HB 5850 tightens child-care eligibility by expanding disqualifications for licenses, staff, or adult household members based on criminal history and new “commercial sexual activity
Status and procedural notes
- Introduced: June 25, 2024 (Rep. Gina Johnsen; co-sponsors listed in bill text).
- House action: Passed the House on December 11, 2024 (immediate effect recommended by the House). Reported out of Judiciary Committee Nov. 13, 2024.
- Subsequent referrals: Referred to Committee on Government Operations (12/18/2024) and to Joint Committee on Education (1/22/2025).
- Effective date: The amendatory act would take effect 90 days after enactment — but its effect is expressly conditioned on enactment of Senate Bill ____ or House Bill 5841 (see enacting section 2).
Purpose / intent
- HB 5850 updates the Child Care Organizations Act (1973 PA 116) by amending section 5r (MCL 722.115r) to revise and clarify criminal-history–based disqualifications for persons seeking to: (a) receive a child care license; (b) be an adult household member in a group or family child care home; or (c) be a child care staff member. The amendment aligns the child-care licensing disqualification list with changes made elsewhere in legislation that redefine prostitution-related offenses as “commercial sexual activity.”
Key provisions and changes
- Establishes ineligibility for license, household adult status, or child care staff if an applicant:
- Refuses the required criminal-history or central registry checks, or knowingly makes materially false statements in those checks.
- Is on a state or national sex-offender registry.
- Has convictions for enumerated felonies (murder, child abuse/neglect, crimes against minors including child pornography, rape/sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, assault/battery, human trafficking/involuntary servitude, etc.).
- Has convictions for violent misdemeanors against a child (e.g., child abuse, child endangerment, sexual assault) or misdemeanors involving child pornography.
- Time-limited disqualifications:
- Certain felonies (a long list of serious offenses) disqualify unless 10 years have elapsed since conviction.
- Felony drug offenses disqualify unless 7 years have elapsed.
- Specified misdemeanors disqualify unless 5 years have elapsed.
- Specific inclusion: the list of disqualifying felonies in subsection (4)(h) explicitly includes offenses such as aggravated stalking, indecent exposure variants, pandering, transporting an individual for prostitution or “commercial sexual activity,” and operating a “house of ill fame.” This language reflects coordinated changes in related criminal statutes renaming and expanding prostitution offenses as “commercial sexual activity.”
Who is affected
- Applicants for child care licenses (centers, group child care homes, family child care homes).
- Adult household members of group or family child care homes.
- Prospective and existing child care staff.
- Licensing agencies and child-care providers who must apply these disqualification standards during hiring and licensure reviews.
Potential impact and implementation notes
- Aligns child-care eligibility criteria with updated criminal code terminology and expanded definitions of prostitution-related offenses (i.e., commercial sexual activity).
- May increase the scope of disqualifying convictions due to broadened offense definitions in companion criminal-law bills; agencies will need to update background-check and adjudication procedures accordingly.
- Implementation is contingent on enactment of companion legislation (SB ____ or HB 5841) that revises criminal definitions; absent enactment of those bills, the conditional enactment clause prevents this amendatory act from taking effect.
Relevant citation
- Amends: 1973 PA 116, sec. 5r (MCL 722.115r). Enacting section delays effect 90 days after enactment and conditions effectiveness on companion criminal-law legislation.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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