Florida’s Capitol building in Tallahassee Credit: Adobe

A Florida bill that would weaken child labor protections for 16- and 17-year-olds is on its way to the full Florida House floor for a vote after receiving majority support from three Republican-dominated House panels.

The House Commerce Committee, the last panel to hear Florida House Bill 49, approved the bill Tuesday in a 13-5 vote along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

Sponsored by State Rep. Linda Chaney (R-St. Pete Beach), the proposal has been met with a wave of opposition from labor unions, a number of teachers who have identified against the bill, and social advocacy groups. On the flip side, it’s received broad support from industry groups representing employers in the restaurant and tourism industries, which routinely violate child labor law as it is.

The proposed legislation, similar to other child labor rollbacks in states like New Jersey and Iowa, would relax Florida’s child labor regulations by gutting restrictions on the number of hours that older teenagers are allowed to work.

Under current law, minors under 18 cannot work more than 30 hours per week during the school year or more than eight hours per day, with a laundry list of exceptions that includes children who have already graduated high school or who have received their high school diploma. Children also cannot work more than six consecutive days in a row, and must be given 30-minute breaks on the job every four hours.

This bill would get rid of all of that, specifically for 16- and 17-year-olds, whom bill sponsor Rep. Linda Chaney claims are “not children” but “youth workers.”

Florida Rep. Linda Chaney, sponsor of a child labor rollback bill (HB 49) Credit: The Florida Channel

Public records show the legislation was initially drafted by the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative think-tank funded by billionaires, which then fed the legislation to Chaney over email through its lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project.

Chaney has used talking points from the FGA, emailed to her legislative aide in September, to defend the legislation. Namely, that the child labor rollback would offer “flexibility” and “freedom” for minors who want to work more than 30 hours per week while still attending school.

The Foundation for Government Accountability, based in Naples, has been one of the driving forces behind similar child labor laws in states like Iowa, Arkansas, and Missouri, according to reporting by the Washington Post. The group has also lobbied for policies that would stand to weaken the social safety net for low-income families.

Industry groups representing employers that hire a large share of Florida’s teen workforce have also expressed support for the bill. The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, representing thousands of businesses across the state, named it as one of their top legislative priorities.

“The current regulations are overly restrictive and can be challenging to manage,” said Samantha Padgett, a lobbyist for the FRLA, speaking in front of a House panel last month ahead of the official kickoff of the 2024 legislative session.

“Additional staffing is desperately needed,” she said. “Families need additional income and team members are asking for more hours.”

Critics, on the other hand, note that the state already grants partial waivers for children who wish to be exempted from the law and worry that loosening child labor protections would pose a risk to older teens’ education, health, and safety.

A group of over 100 local, state, and national organizations, ranging from the Florida Policy Institute to the Florida Student Power Network and Central Florida Jobs with Justice, sent a letter to legislative leaders last week urging them to oppose HB 49 and another industry-backed bill that would weaken protections for older teens in the construction industry.

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Two public school teachers also spoke out against the legislation Tuesday, taking advantage of their last chance to provide public testimony (public comment is not permitted on the House floor).

“In my second period class every day, I have a student who routinely comes in and cannot stay awake,” said Emily Griest, an art teacher in Hillsborough County. “He’s talked to me after class and explained that he’s so sorry, but he’s been working late and long hours and physically cannot stay awake. His grades are slipping and all of his classes, and he’s not able to prioritize his education because of his working hours, which is necessary to help his family,” Griest continued. “If this is happening with our current laws, I don’t want to imagine the negative impact that this is going to have on him and other students if this bill is passed.”

According to an analysis by the Florida Policy Institute, there are roughly 80,000 teens aged 16 and 17 in Florida’s workforce, 76% of whom are juggling both school and work demands.

Research has found that working more than 20 hours per week can have negative effects on children’s academic performance, and can increase the risk of skipping school and other behavioral problems, like drug use. Young workers are also more likely to be injured on the job.

Child labor violations are already on the rise as it is, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and the state’s enforcement capacity is weak. Florida doesn’t have a labor department to investigate child labor complaints itself, instead it relies on the federal government and an underfunded state agency that only dedicates seven state employees to the task.

The federal Wage and Hour division for its part fined Florida businesses over $100,000 in penalties related to child labor violations in 2023 alone.

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Rep. Chaney, who last month said she thought her bill would be “noncontroversial” and “bipartisan,” said her legislation is only aiming to align state law with federal child labor standards, which don’t contain standards on work hours or required breaks for teens older than 15.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, Florida is one of 25 states (plus Washington D.C.) that have enacted such standards for minors 16 and older. Advocates characterize such standards as protective of children (if inconvenient for employers short of cheap laborers). Moreover, there are currently bipartisan proposals in Congress to strengthen federal child labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which has been criticized for being outdated and for establishing penalties that are too weak to deter repeat violations.

With its final vote of approval by the Home Commerce Committee Tuesday, Florida’s House Bill 49 is now teed up for a vote by the full chamber, made up of 85 Republican state representatives and 36 Democrats.

Similar legislation (SB 1596) has been filed in the Florida Senate by GOP Sen. Danny Burgess. Legislation needs approval from both chambers of the state legislature and Florida’s governor in order to become law. If approved, the legislation would be effective July 1, 2024.

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This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2024.

General news reporter for Orlando Weekly, with a focus on state and local government and workers' rights. You can find her bylines in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, In These Times, and Facing South.