Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for child labor rollbacks behind the scenes, records show

Less than one year after approving a state law that loosened child labor restrictions for minors 16 and older, records show the Florida governor’s office pushed for additional rollbacks behind the scenes that could allow employers to schedule workers as young as 14 to work an unlimited number of hours per week, including overnight shifts.

Emails first obtained by Orlando Weekly through a public records request show that staffers within the Executive Office of the Governor emailed draft legislation to two Republican lawmakers this year who later filed the proposal (HB 1225/SB 918) for consideration during the state 2025 legislative session.

The draft language emailed to bill sponsors, Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa) and Rep. Monique Miller (R-Brevard), is nearly identical to legislation that’s currently advancing in the legislature, although not without pushback from some of their Republican colleagues.

The push to weaken child labor law, mirroring similar efforts in other GOP-controlled states, comes at the same time that lawmakers are also considering a proposal that would allow Florida employers to pay young, inexperienced workers less than minimum wage.

“As discussed, please see the Employment of Minors bill language attached and the section-by-section breakdown for easy reference,” wrote Mary Clare Futch, deputy director of legislative affairs for the governor’s office, in a Feb. 10 email to Sen. Collins.

“Thank you for your willingness to champion this great policy!” she added.

The mission of the governor’s legislative affairs office, according to its website, is to “advocate and secure passage of the Governor’s legislative priorities.”

Neither Futch, the governor’s office, nor any other EOG staffer named in emails obtained by Orlando Weekly responded to a request for comment for this story. Metadata on the draft legislation shows the document was first created in November.

Collins, the Republican sponsoring the proposal in the Florida Senate, is a U.S. Army combat veteran and self-described “big fan” of DeSantis. Miller, the House sponsor, is a freshman lawmaker and self-described conservative “activist” affiliated with Moms for Liberty — a parental rights group that has allied with DeSantis on issues ranging from censorship in classrooms to the removal of LGBTQ+ and race-related books from school libraries.

“I think every family needs to make that decision for what’s best for them, instead of having the government tell them what’s best,” Miller declared, in defense of her sponsored child labor-related bill during a hearing last week. Sen. Collins similarly described the proposal as a way to “stand up for parental rights.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former presidential hopeful who’s declared himself a champion of the parental rights movement, hasn’t exactly stayed silent on the issue of child labor himself. Last month, he made national headlines for publicly pitching teenagers as a replacement for “dirt cheap labor” provided by immigrant workers.

“What’s wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? That’s how it used to be when I was growing up,” DeSantis lamented during a forum in Sarasota featuring President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan. “Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when teenagers used to work at these resorts? College students should be able to do this stuff.”

Foreign-born workers make up nearly one-third of Florida’s workforce, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and are particularly concentrated in hospitality, agriculture and construction jobs. Trade groups for both the hospitality and construction industries, altogether representing thousands of employers throughout the state, notably lobbied last year for child labor rollbacks amid ongoing labor shortages exacerbated by a 2023 state law cracking down on undocumented immigrants.

Such rollbacks, quietly signed into law by DeSantis last March, included allowing minors 16 and older to be scheduled for more than six days a week during the school year and allowing them to work jobs on construction sites previously deemed too dangerous for minors under state law.

“Florida students that are not sure about their career path deserve the opportunity to explore the construction industry and trades in a meaningful way,” argued Rusty Payton, a chief lobbyist for the Florida Home Builders Association, at the time. 

Despite DeSantis’ comments last month about college students being “able to do this stuff,” legislation pitched by his staff doesn’t address college-age workers. The proposal instead seeks to lift restrictions on the number of hours that minors 16 and 17 years old can work during the school year, thereby allowing them to work unlimited hours and without meal breaks that are currently mandated for them under state law.

Minors aged 14 and 15 who are homeschooled, enrolled in virtual school, or who have obtained a high-school diploma would also be exempted from employment time restrictions, under the proposal. Minors employed by their parents, or in private homes (as babysitters, for instance) are also exempted.

According to background information DeSantis’ staff emailed to Collins and Miller in February, it’s the governor’s position that last year’s changes to child labor law “did not go far enough.”

“HB 49 passed the Florida Legislature on March 8, 2024. It made moderate changes to Florida law regarding hours worked by minors aged 16 and 17 years of age. While these changes will aid in making it easier for minors of this age group to obtain employment, HB 49 did not go far enough to relieve the burdens of employment for this group,” the document, containing background information, reads.

Additional talking points fed to Collins and Miller (who have since parroted these publicly) emphasize that additional reforms will “align Florida law with Federal law,” provide young workers “with more flexibility in working,” and allow families “to decide what is in the best interest of their child.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, a federal law that set a floor on child labor standards, only restricts work hours for minors under 16. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds, under the FLSA, aren’t covered by similar restrictions on how many hours they can work, or other protections, like seven-day workweeks. Child welfare advocates in Florida pushed for state lawmakers to strengthen the state’s own child labor rules decades ago.

“I think we need to let kids be kids,” admitted Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, during the first committee stop for Collins’ bill last month. Florida House speaker Daniel Perez, also a Republican, has similarly appeared reluctant to lift more child labor restrictions.

“Personally … my greatest concern with that is having children work late hours or early hours on a school day,” said Perez, according to joint reporting from the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times. “I don’t ever want to take that away from our young children, or really any children for that matter.”

Metadata on documents from DeSantis staffers shows that talking points for the child labor legislation were authored by a public policy director within the Governor’s office and the chief of staff for the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state agency responsible for enforcing child labor regulations.

The DBPR, an agency that budgets just 10 positions for child labor compliance and spends less than $1 million annually on actual enforcement activity, also grants waivers under current law for parents who wish their child to be exempted from certain child labor restrictions.

“I think the waiver program works as it is,” said Sen. Kristen Arrington, D-Kissimmee, during discussion of the bill last month. “We didn’t hear anyone testify and say they had an issue getting a waiver. I haven’t ever heard anything from constituents, even from my four years serving in the House.”

The House version, sponsored by Miller, has since been revised to prevent 16- and 17-year-olds from working overnight shifts, while also allowing 13-year-olds to begin working during the summer if they turn 14 later that same year.

DeSantis’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether they support Miller’s amendments to their requested legislation.

The proposal originally authored by the governor’s office has faced opposition from progressive student activists, teachers, organized labor and immigrant rights groups that have testified against it. Opponents have cited concerns over young workers’ increased risk for exploitation on the job, amid the state’s failure to establish an agency responsible for preventing wage theft or addressing workplace health and safety issues.

“It’s being said, it’s about the parents and choice, but where in the bill does it say parental rights have to be secured before employers can overwork these teens?” noted Alexis Tsoukalas, a policy analyst for the progressive Florida Policy Institute.

Some critics have also brought up connections between child labor rollbacks enacted last year and the Foundation for Government Accountability, a billionaire-funded think tank and Project 2025 contributor that drafted one of last year’s child labor proposals and has historically worked in lockstep with DeSantis to advance certain anti-DEI and anti-worker policies. The group, headquartered in Naples, Florida, has similarly pushed for child labor rollbacks in other GOP-controlled states.

“As you decide whether or not to vote to remove child legal protections in Florida, you should also know that the billionaire funder and CEO of this think tank [FGA] pushing this bill served in the governor’s transition committee and was appointed to Florida’s government efficiency task force by the governor,” said Yenisbel Vilorio, with Six Action Fund, speaking to a panel of lawmakers in the Florida House.

“I ask our Florida state elected officials to do the right thing and not support a bill being pushed by billionaires across the country.”

Editor’s note: As noted above, our reporter requested comment from Futch as well as six EOG staffers. None replied by her communicated press deadline; after publication, one (Bryan Griffin) replied to her email of detailed queries with a link to this tweet. When asked to specify which part, exactly, of the tweet was meant as an official statement or response to our queries, there was no further communication.

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This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2025.