Florida Republican Pushes Child Labor Bill: ‘Have Them Start Working Full Time’
The Florida Channel
Republicans in the Florida House of Representatives are trying to pass a bill that would gut child labor protection laws and allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work full-time hours instead of going to school. One Florida representative even thought that the current laws prohibiting such long work hours “were weakening society.”
The bill, H.B. 49, was introduced in September 2023 by Republican Florida Rep. Linda Chaney and was backed by a right-leaning thinktank, The Foundation for Government Accountability. It proposes that rather than restricting 16- and 17-year-olds to part-time hours and expecting them to attend (and finish) school, let them drop out of school and go to work full-time instead. It also rolls back restrictions on the kinds of work and work sites where minors are allowed, including roofing jobs.
BREAKING: A Florida House committee has approved a GOP bill to let bosses schedule 16-and-17-year-olds for over 8 hours on a school night and over 30 hours a week.
One Republican said “we’ve been weakening our society” and the remedy is to have kids “start working full-time.” pic.twitter.com/Q515nB3BJK
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) January 23, 2024
This, according to Republican Florida Rep. Kevin Steele, is what needs to change:
We’ve been weakening our society since before my time. You know, I started working at, like, 13 years old, a full-time job. I wrestled. I played every sport you can imagine. So the idea that they can’t afford to have these kids do this is an anomaly for me in my mind. If there’s an issue with inflation, we should address that with with the federal government, not not the state of Florida. So I appreciate you running this bill. You guys continue doing the great work and help change your youth, the youth, out there to have them start working full-time.
But the kids don’t have to drop out of school — if the bill becomes law, they will be “allowed” to work eight-hour shifts after a full school day, even on school nights.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported that the “GOP push to get more children into the workforce comes as incidents of child labor violations are soaring across the country.”
