One local daycare provider is applauding Gov. Mark Dayton’s decision to allow Minnesota’s in-home child care providers to vote on whether to unionize.

Michelle Morehouse, owner of Cozy Cove Childcare in Austin, said allowing daycare providers to unionize would boost the field as a profession and give providers a voice.

“I think it’s really important we have a voice in our industry,” Morehouse said. “We are self-employed, but so many decisions are made for us, and this way we’d have a seat at the table.”

Dayton announced the executive order Tuesday, and many Republicans said they don’t think Dayton has the authority to issue a vote on providers’ unionization.

“There is nothing in Minnesota law that provides the governor with the power to do the thing that he says he’s going to do,” said Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services committee.

Dayton, a Democrat, said he hasn’t received a definitive legal opinion but “my belief is that it is within my legal authority.”

Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea, said he disagrees with Dayton’s decision to allow the vote.

“These are small business owners. How do you tell a small business owner they need to become part of the union?” he said. “These small businesses set their own rates, they set their own working condition, they set their hours. What is a union going to do for them other than charge the monthly dues?”

Given that some providers want to authorize a union and some don’t, “the fairest way, and the American way, to resolve that dispute is through an election,” the governor said. He said he rejected requests to simply mandate union representation, as has been done in other states.

Out of 11,000 home-based providers in Minnesota, union officials said 4,300 licensed, registered, subsidized family child care providers will be eligible to vote. Dayton said providers that operate solely on private funds would not take part in the vote and would not be affected, no matter what its outcome. He also said that even if a union is authorized, membership would be voluntary.

Morehouse said union representation would give daycare providers more access to health care and affordable training. Since daycare providers are self-employed, many can only get health insurance through a spouse or the state if their income qualifies.

“I think it will help retain quality providers,” Morehouse said of unionizing. “We’d have access to more affordable training and … a health benefit package. For a lot of child care providers, that’s a problem.

“So often people view us as babysitters and don’t realize the importance of our work, but now having a voice we’re more of a profession. That’s really big for me; that voice is just huge,” Morehouse added.

Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, chair of the government innovation committee, called the election “just another Merry Christmas gift from our governor, which will create more government intrusion into the lives of our independent businesses.”

Hann said allowing unions to negotiate with state departments on child care issues would interfere with the Legislature’s prerogatives. He vowed to act “as quickly as we can” to stop it, and certainly before ballots are expected to be mailed out Dec. 6.

“We have no choice but as a Legislature to go to an appropriate court and say, ‘You need to stop the governor from proceeding,’” Hann said.

Republican legislative leaders also cautioned that unionization of child care workers would likely result in higher costs for many families.

“For many middle-class families, child care is their greatest expense,” said House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood. “Clearly, anything that might increase that cost, you’d wonder why are we doing that?”

Several child care providers backing the union drive said parents should not expect that unionization would drive up their day care costs.

“We’re individual small-business owners, and we choose what our rates are. That wouldn’t change,” said Melissa Smith, a provider in Prior Lake.

Dayton’s office said 15 other states have authorized providers to collectively bargain on matters including staffing, safety training and quality of care.

Sen. Dan Sparks and Rep. Jeanne Poppe, of Austin, were not available for comment.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.