HB49: Will Florida’s Lawmakers Throw Other People’s Children to the Wolves?

To put this piece in perspective you should read February’s heart breaking investigative report by the New York Times, exposing how some of our most at risk children, as young as 12 years old, are ending up in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws across the United States, including Florida:

“In many parts of the country, middle and high school teachers in English-language learner programs say it is now common for nearly all their students to rush off to long shifts after their classes end.

“They should not be working 12-hour days, but it’s happening here,” said Valeria Lindsay, a language arts teacher at Homestead Middle School near Miami. For the past three years, she said, almost every eighth grader in her English learner program of about 100 students was also carrying an adult workload.” – “Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S.” Feb. 25, 2023

Eighth graders in Florida are 13 years old.

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Last spring, Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire  wrote a piece in The Nation entitled “Why Is the Republican Party Suddenly Weakening Child Labor Laws?” The subtitle hinted at the answer: “Rolling back restrictions on child labor and dismantling public education will make the country far more unequal. For today’s GOP, that’s a feature, not a bug.” They explained:

“Peeling back child labor laws and undermining public education is, at its core, about restoring a vision of society that is profoundly unequal, one in which schooling is the privilege of those families who can afford it, and work for those can’t. It’s about washing our hands of one another. And while the economically well-off may gain in the short term, we will all pay the cost in the long run for a society that no longer views itself as such—a nation in which we throw other people’s children to the wolves.”

It was only a matter of time before the Florida legislature would join in on the action.

This week, on Wednesday, 12/13 at 1:30 pm, Florida’s House Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee will hear HB49. Sponsored by Rep. Linda Chaney (R-81), HB49 repeals all work restrictions for 16 and 17 year olds. The wording is clear:

For the record, most students turn 16 during their sophomore year of high school (10th grade).

The Florida Policy Institute created this graphic highlighting the proposed changes, noting that “Florida’s Department of Education and Department of Business and Professional Regulation both emphasize that the state’s current child labor laws are meant to protect children’s health, workplace welfare, and education. Yet, HB 49 would undo decades of these vital protections for Florida’s children and allow for the increased exploitation of child workers in the Sunshine State.”

Orlando Weekly reporter, McKenna Schueler, wrote about HB49 and exposed the billionaire backed, conservative think tank which drafted the legislation and provided Rep. Chaney with the talking points to defend it: “Emails show that the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a dark money group funded by a bunch of ultra-conservatives and a billionaire mega-donor, doesn’t just support Chaney’s bill, but literally wrote it themselves.”

Schueler reported:

• The FGA is funded by wealthy conservatives, including billionaire Dick Uihlein, a major donor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
• DeSantis has received over $2 million in campaign donations over the last five years from the FGA’s largest funder, Richard “Dick” Uihlein, who contributed $1 million to DeSantis’ presidential super-PAC in May.
• FGA and its lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project, directly lobbied Republicans in states like Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa to relax child labor laws, framing it as an opportunity for businesses to address labor shortages.
• When Rep. Chaney asked for talking points, a FGA associate emailed a list of talking points, including a description of how the bill would provide greater “flexibility in work” for teenagers: “Flexibility to teenagers allows them to learn valuable skills, earn money while assisting small businesses with worker shortages,”
• The FGA’s lobbying efforts have also fought efforts to expand Medicaid under provisions of the Affordable Care Act, while supporting efforts to tighten eligibility requirements for food stamps and undermine labor unions.”
• Since 2016, the FGA’s Opportunity Solutions Project has hired at least 116 lobbyists across over two dozen states. Lobbying expenditures in Florida alone have topped $500,000.
• “State laws deregulating child labor have also been backed by business industry groups like chambers of commerce and the National Restaurant Association, a trade group that represents low-wage industry giants like Burger King and McDonald’s (a repeat violator of child labor law), as well as companies like Disney.”

Currently, HB49 does not have a senate companion but session hasn’t even started yet.

Senator Corey Simon has filed SB460 which lowers age requirements for working in roofing and scaffolding — jobs currently considered too hazardous for children. Public records have revealed two powerful lobbying groups, Associated Builders and Contractors and Florida Home Builders Association, drafted that legislation.

These bills are part of a coordinated, multi-state effort led by business lobbying groups and right-wing advocacy groups to weaken child labor protections. Children from low income families, when things get tough, will have to choose between helping put food on the table or receiving an education.

Will a high school education become a luxury for those who can afford to attend? Will Florida’s lawmakers vote to throw other people’s children to the wolves? HB49 will be heard in committee on Wednesday…