HB 3142: TJ and Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act
Sponsor: Cameron Parker
OPPOSE
Oppose as written.
HB 3142 creates a broad new state licensure and inspection regime for overnight and residential camps serving minors. While the bill has a legitimate child-safety purpose, it delegates major policy decisions to agency rulemaking, adds millions in ongoing state costs, and risks burdening churches, volunteer camps, Scouts, and local community programs.
What Does This Bill Do?
- New Statewide Licensure: Requires overnight and residential camps to obtain written licensure from the Department of Social Services (DSS) to operate or advertise.
- Safety Mandates: Requires criminal background checks for adult staff and volunteers, at least one CPR-trained staff member on-site, and the submission of detailed emergency plans.
- Rulemaking Authority: Grants DSS extensive power to determine counselor ratios, supervision standards, and necessary record-keeping through the agency rulemaking process.
Constitutional or Critical Context
The bill’s largest structural problem is the broad delegation of power. The legislature leaves substantive policy details—such as supervision levels, capacity limits, and counselor ratios—to agency rulemaking rather than defining them in statute. Furthermore, the bill creates unequal treatment by exempting higher education institutions while continuing to regulate churches, Scouts, and small nonprofits under a one-size-fits-all licensing model.
Red Flags & Recommended Amendments
New Statewide Licensure Regime
No camp may operate without a DSS license; this gives the state authority over inspections, records, and the power to shut down private ministries.
Major Fiscal Growth
Oversight estimates annual costs exceeding $5 million and the addition of 38 new full-time state employees.
Act for Missouri Recommendation:
Replace full licensure with a narrow safety compliance certification. Move emergency-plan review toward local emergency management, put standards like counselor ratios directly into statute, and create a limited compliance path that protects the religious and associational freedom of churches and volunteer groups.