The Ohio House has sent Gov. Mike DeWine two measures that encourage extending the hours 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds in the state can work.
Senate Bill 50, introduced in January by Sen. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster), would tweak Ohio law to allow them to work after 7 p.m. and until 9 p.m. more frequently with permission from a parent or a legal guardian.
The state can’t make the change without the federal government rolling back an almost 90-year-old law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is why Schaffer also introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 that asks Congress to do so. Under the FLSA, kids younger than 16 can only work after 7 p.m. on holiday and summer breaks.
The proponents of SB 50 and SCR 3 said adding the two hours could ease workforce woes.
“To stay an extra hour to work at a grocery store, bagging groceries or even to make an extra buck, I find there’s not a thing wrong with learning how to work at a young age,” Rep. Mark Johnson (R-Chillicothe) testified on the House floor Wednesday.
Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) argued, however, that minors wouldn’t fill Ohio’s most in-demand jobs, largely in the health care sector or various skilled trades.
“Quite frankly, I have to ask, what on earth are we doing here?” McNally testified on the floor. “History is screaming at us right now, because we’ve been here before. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was our promise to America’s children: You deserve a childhood, you deserve an education, you deserve safety.”
One Democrat, Rep. Chris Glassburn (D-North Olmsted), joined all but two Republicans, Reps. Scott Oelslager (R-North Canton) and Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), in voting for SCR 3. Rep. Daniel Troy (D-Willowick) voted against SCR 3 but for SB 50.
DeWine said Thursday he hasn’t looked at either measure yet.
In the last few years, more than 60 bills in states across the country have been introduced loosening child labor restrictions, according to the State Innovation Exchange.
