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FARGO They sure miss the 1950s in the North Dakota Legislature, that's for sure. That halcyon decade sticks in the minds of some as the idyllic days to which they'd like to return, if discussion about a child-care bill in the House of Representatives this week was any indicator.

Mom staying at home to take care of the kids and cook for Dad. Dad coming home from work and Mom mixing him a drink. Dad watching the evening news and reading the paper while Mom cleaned up supper, washed the dishes and took care of the kids. Dad going upstairs to bed while Mom did laundry and put the kids to bed.

Yeah, those are the days North Dakota legislators want to return.

The fact the 1950s were never as idyllic or halcyon as "Leave It To Beaver" and "I Love Lucy" would have us believe is beside the point. It's the fantasy that counts.

Anyway, that decade was referenced several times during debate over House Bill 1540, which dealt with funding to help ease North Dakota's child-care crisis. Child care, or lack of it, was the No. 1 issue many legislators heard about from constituents before going to Bismarck.

North Dakota, like almost every state, lacks affordable and available child care. It is, as smart legislators on both sides of the aisle point out, a workforce issue. If the state is looking to fill its 30,000 job openings, working parents need affordable child-care options. Period.

Fargo Democrat Karla Rose-Hanson put it best, saying child care needs to be viewed as part of the state's infrastructure. It's that critical.

HB 1540 passed on Friday morning, moving onto the Senate. Republicans, as they are wont to do in North Dakota, killed a similar bill Democrats had introduced earlier in the session and re-worked it to claim it as their own. That's the power of a super-majority.

But it's good news Democrats were able to push forward a bill that would infuse $66 million into child care. It obviously got plenty of Republican votes to pass.

The bad news? Watching the pre-vote comments by conservative Republicans like Dan Ruby, Scott Louser, Jeff Hoverson, Mike Schatz and Donna Henderson as they urged fellow representatives to vote against the bill.

How the sausage gets made in a legislative body is never pretty. Pull away the facade that those making laws are all thoughtful, intelligent people with the best interests of the citizens in mind and, well, the fat and gristle being stuffed into the casing gets nasty.

Take these particular righties.

Please.

Here's a nugget from Ruby, of Minot: "If it's taking your whole check for daycare, then you either need to get a job that pays more or it's better for you to not be giving it all to ... why are you working?"

Is that what they call compassionate conservatism?

From Schatz, from New England: "Many mothers want to raise their children themselves rather than have the government raise them."

Does he know the bill doesn't establish government daycare centers, but instead provides money so families can afford to pay for private daycare?

Also Schatz: "I believe this bill is in the same blueprint as President Biden's agenda and originated with Sen. (Elizabeth) Warren."

What?

From Hoverson, also of Minot: "This idea of the government becoming involved in child care is a well-meaning idea, but that it's also a very leftist, socialist idea. That's how socialism works."

So farming is also a very leftist, socialist idea?

See, the snag with being so dedicated to the "socialism" bit is that you end up being against everything. Because "socialism."

Child care assistance? Socialism.

School lunch assistance? Socialism.

Giving away money to private schools? Sociali-

Oh, wait. Scratch that. Being opposed to socialism is a flexible ideology.

And that's the problem with governing by ideology instead of practicality. North Dakota has a child-care crisis. Democratic legislators recognized that and tried to find ways to help remedy it. Obstinate others would rather insult working women, cry socialism, or both.

If only a Republican could introduce a bill hurtling North Dakota back to the 1950s. They'd find that to be a better solution.

Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He's been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.

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McFeely: In ND legislature, the sausage is particularly gross - INFORUM