TALLAHASSEE, Fla.–As anti-immigrant laws leave many jobs vacant in the state of Florida, lawmakers are considering a controversial bill that would lift restrictions on child labor to fill in the gap.
Senate Bill 918 would remove all work limits on 16- and 17-year-olds in the state. It allows employers to schedule them for unlimited hours during the school day, without breaks, and up to 30 hours during the school week.
“Child labor laws are essential for safeguarding children’s health, well-being, and educational opportunities,” Florida Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones told the Black Wall Street Times in a statement Wednesday morning.
If signed into law, SB 918 would allow teens to be scheduled to work before 6:30 a.m. and after 11 p.m. during a school day, according to the bill’s text, which strikes out previous limits on work hours. Meanwhile, 14- and 15-year-olds could also be scheduled to work for unlimited hours and days without breaks if they’re home-schooled or graduated early.
The bill’s author, Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa) described it as a “parental rights issue” before it passed a Senate committee 5-4 Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis described it as an answer to the labor shortage impacting Florida following the passage of anti-undocumented immigrant laws, according to a report from the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts. College students should be able to do this stuff,” DeSantis told President Trump’s border czar Tom Holman at a roundtable last week.
Weakening labor laws to fill in gaps
The recent vote on the bill comes a year after Florida already weakened the state’s child labor laws by expanding available work hours for teens. It also comes after Florida passed a law requiring employers to provide proof of their employee’s citizenship, which has resulted in many undocumented immigrants leaving the state.
The federal government estimates around 40% of farm workers are undocumented immigrants, according to a report from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Notably, the nation’s child labor laws largely exempted farm workers and domestic laborers, who are more likely to be Black or Hispanic.
Now, opponents of Florida’s bill say it would have negative consequences for all of the state’s teens. The Florida Policy Institute estimates SB 918 and similar bill HB 1225 would impact over 110,000 youth in a state that already has one of the highest number of child labor violations.
Over 72 percent of Florida’s 16- and 17-year-olds who are in school could be forced to choose between earning money and earning a diploma.
“If these bills pass, they will remove nearly every state guardrail that helps ensure youth are not too exhausted to perform well in school and other extracurricular activities,” the FPI stated Monday.
Even Oklahoma, one of the most conservative-leaning states in the nation, has more strict state regulations around child labor.
Minors between 16- and 18-years old can only work in non-hazardous working environments, though there are exceptions. Meanwhile, 14- and 15-year-olds in Oklahoma are limited to working a maximum of three hours on a school day, but not during school hours, and a maximum of 18 hours in a school week.
Are oligarchs funding Florida child labor effort?
Notably, large lobbying groups and billionaires are advancing efforts to expand child labor in Florida and beyond. The Foundation for Government Accountability, founded in 2011, describes itself as a “powerhouse for policy wins in the areas of of welfare, unemployment, workforce, election integrity and health care.
It received a seven-figure donation from the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation in 2016, one of the largest donors to Republican campaigns in the country.
As twice-impeached President Trump fills the White House with billionaire advisors, a similar scenario is taking place on the ground in Florida.
“Easing the state’s child labor standards is not the answer to illegal immigration and workforce shortages,” Florida state Sen. Jones told theBWSTimes. “Doing so would be misguided and dangerous as it fails to address the root causes of both issues and poses significant risks to children’s well-being.”
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