Gov. Ned Lamont claims his Connecticut is the most family-friendly state in the union and pledges to keep working to make life easier for parents.

He could start by getting rid of the state’s Helicopter Parent Mandate.

Connecticut’s “ Guidelines for Leaving Your Child Alone ” are absurdly limiting: “Experts believe a child should be at least 12 before he is left alone, and at least 15 before he can care for a younger brother or sister. These are the minimum ages. Not every child is ready then."

The state cites zero “experts” for this preposterous claim.

Almost all 10-year-olds can be left alone safely for a few hours. Most 8-year-olds can, too. Maryland, one of the least free states in America, says that 8-year-olds can be left alone and 13-year-olds can babysit . Most of the civilized world is far more liberal than that. Connecticut’s guidelines are stricter than anything I have ever seen.

While nonbinding, these guidelines likely terrify some parents, considering Connecticut’s poorly written neglect laws. Two state lawmakers, one Democrat and one Republican, noted the bad neglect law in an op-ed in the Connecticut Mirror: "It considers kids neglected if they are ‘without proper care,’ or subjected to conditions or ‘associations’ that are ‘injurious.’ It doesn’t require the authorities to prove the child was in any actual danger.”

That’s why the state representatives, Travis Simms and Tom O’Dea, are pushing a Reasonable Childhood Independence bill.

The bill would make it clear that a parent, in most circumstances, can be charged with neglect only if the child engages “in conduct that carries a substantial risk of physical harm.”

As the lawmakers put it, “When kids get the chance to roam the neighborhood, play outside, run errands — the kind of things both of us did — that’s not neglect. That’s how kids start growing up.”

O’Dea and Simms recount nightmare stories of “Connecticut parents being investigated for things like letting their kids, 7 and 9, walk a mile to the Dunkin Donuts on Super Bowl Sunday, or walk home during the day . One mom was arrested for allowing her 11-year-old to wait in the car while she ran an errand!”

I know plenty of parents who helicopter their children not because they are afraid of kidnappers, muggers, or accidents but because they are afraid of Child Protective Services.

The urge to helicopter and the feeling that one must helicopter are dragging down our birthrate. The public has fewer and fewer children every year. One reason is irrational fear of harm to our children. Another reason is that parenting becomes impossibly time-consuming if we can never set the children free.

Legislation like this Connecticut bill is liberating for both parents and children, and it could help reverse the baby bust.