Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
Utah, we are told, is a family-friendly place. The state even has a special box in the organizational chart of the governor’s office known as the Office of Families, a creation tasked with “prioritizing marriage, protecting children and supporting parents.” Someone should tell Amiee Winder Newton, director of the Office of Families, that the Salt Lake County Council has just voted to close four county-funded day care centers, leaving the families of some 300 children scrambling for alternative arrangements before the end of next month. Not much protecting children or supporting parents there. Oh, wait. Winder Newton already knows all about it. She is one of the five members of the County Council, Republicans all, who voted to pull the $2 million line item out of the $2 billion county budget for 2026. It is as if Winder Newton were a character in the weird television series “Severance.” The show centers on a corporation where employees have no memory of their jobs while at home and no memory of their home lives while on the job. Republicans on the council argue the county day care centers aren’t an efficient use of public money, and not a fair one because so few taxpayers use the service. But few government services provide direct benefits to all who pay to support them. Households without children pay taxes to support schools. People who never go to a public library or a recreation center pay to support those institutions, because the community as a whole is better off with than without them. It is worthwhile to routinely have a look at every government-funded service, to wonder if it is really a good use of public funds or something that would be better provided by the private sector. But shutting down these centers with so little notice, forcing families to scramble for replacement services during the holiday season, is not wise or efficient government. It is just heartless. Getting the county out of the day care business, or any function it provides, deserves more care and specific plans for what comes after. Finding affordable child care is one of the greatest challenges to modern American family life. Lacking it does not build families, support children, help parents (mostly mothers) build careers or accumulate wealth. On top of problems with housing affordability and other costs, all a lack of day care creates is families where one parent has to leave the workforce, and circumstances where many good people are pushed to conclude that parenthood is not for them. Council members did float some alternatives to a Jan. 1 closing at their most recent meeting. Winder Newton and three other Republicans voted to raise tuition by 20%, as recommended by Mayor Jenny Wilson, and delay the closing until May. Democrats wanted to hike fees by the same amount but keep the centers open indefinitely. Both failed on 4-4 votes because Republican Council Member Sheldon Stewart, who was attending remotely, took the coward’s way out and didn’t vote. On Monday, and we have to imagine in response to community feedback, the panel of policymakers will rightly consider a motion to fund the facilities through May 31. Council members have shown a willingness to change their mind about axing this tiny bit of the 2026 county budget — let’s hope they bring a serious plan to Monday’s meeting.
