"It is clearly in the interest of the business community to provide adequate child care because it adds to the stability of the work force," Fresh said. "Absenteeism will decrease and workers will be more confident and content," she said.

While many members of the business community said there is a serious crisis in child care, they opposed the linkage program.

"Linkage is a solution that will not solve the problem," said Jeffrey Ciuffreda, vice-president for government affairs at the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. "Any further encumberances on development could cause plans not to happen at all."

Ciuffreda said many small businesses cannot afford major child care programs and could be frightened by the imposed restrictions. Such fears could force small developers out of the industry, he said.

Instead, Ciuffreda suggested the government offer incentives for businesses to explore child care options, including tax incentives, subsidized daycare and salary reduction programs that would help employees pay for child care programs.

Assistant Vice-President of Signature Development Corp., in Springfield, James Moynihan, also oppsses linkage. "I am concerned about the constitutionality of requiring developers to follow such guidelines. What is to prevent [lawmakers] from spreading to all matters related to public works," he said.

Moynihan also criticised a clause in the bill which called for the creation of a new state board that has the power of review over all development. "It is a potentially horrendous situation." He raised concerns about how the committee would interact with developers and said he feared the outside group could hamper new development.

Monyihan said the business community must address the crisis, and said his company currently offers eligible employees a 30 percent subsidy on child care, and they are in the process of creating more programs.