Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday signed into law stronger regulations to help keep kids safe at day cares.

Brown's official blessing, which had been expected, comes one month after HB 4065 unanimously passed the Legislature. Brown also touted the roughly $2 million she secured from lawmakers to increase childcare oversight, among other things.

"HB 4065 and the additional staffing funding will help provide the state with the tools and resources needed to protect our youngest Oregonians," Brown said in a statement. "We know there is more work to do, and will continue to focus on improving Oregon's system of early education and care."

The push for stronger sanctions and greater staffing followed extensive coverage by The Oregonian/OregonLive last year exposing gaps across the childcare oversight system. Oregon's Office of Child Care regulates about 4,200 licensed facilities that provide care to more than 100,000 kids.

The new law dramatically increases penalties that rule-breaking day cares could face. Fines for large centers could hit up to $2,500 per violation, up from a maximum of $1,000 per quarter no matter the number of problems.

Regulators also closed a loophole to ensure they can sanction a provider even after a childcare license expires.

Brown didn't specify how many new employees the Office of Child Care will hire with increased funding. But agency officials previously said they hoped to secure money for 14 positions, a modest increase that, according to one lawmaker, would still leaving oversight ratios "substandard."

State officials also launched a new web portal this spring after acknowledging their old system was inadequate. The portal, which went live two weeks ago, is intended to help parents secure better information about day cares.

Meanwhile, state auditors are planning to review Oregon's childcare oversight system.

Brown's office in October asked for a "small audit" to evaluate how the Office of Child Care works with the Department of Human Services and law enforcement when a child safety issue is identified, according to documents obtained through a public records request.

But Brown's office in January requested a 90-day delay, records show, to allow state officials time to launch a new pilot program. It's not clear when the audit will be completed.

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidt