New reporting show Governor Ron DeSantis is behind proposals advancing in the Florida legislature this session that would reduce child labor protections in the state.
The proposals would remove the 30 hour-a-week work limit for 16-year-olds, strip protections for 14-year-olds enrolled in virtual or home school and allow some 13-year-olds to work over the summer.
DeSantis previously signaled support for the bills, but public email records obtained by the Orlando Weekly’s McKenna Schueler show that DeSantis’ staff sent bill drafts and talking points to the lawmakers currently carrying the proposal. WFSU Public Media’s Tristan Wood spoke with Schueler about her reporting.
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Wood: Hey, McKenna.
Schueler: Hey, how's it going?
Wood: Going Well. So, I read your story about the public records you uncovered around where this child labor bill came from. Can you tell me a little bit about you know what your reporting uncovered?
Schueler: Specifically, what came back was email communications between the governor's office, his legislative affairs team, and two Republicans who are sponsoring bills this year that aim to lift certain child labor restrictions.
I got a hold of emails dating back to at least February before the bills were filed with draft legislation provided to the bill sponsors ahead of time by the governor's office.
That also included some talking points for how to explain why they were supporting the bill and sponsoring the bills, as well as the actual legislation being filed and other background information about current child labor law and the changes they were looking for.
Wood: It's not atypical for the governor's staff to send bills and collaborate with lawmakers. What you found in the public records, what context does add to why this bill is coming up now?
Scheuler: So, your audience might be aware that Florida also enacted certain rollbacks to child labor restrictions last year, and so this goes even further, which makes sense, because the rollbacks that did occur last year were kind of like watered down from where they originally started.
A summary of talking points from the governor's office this year that was provided to the bill sponsors, Senator Jay Collins and Representative Monique Miller, explains that this is this new proposal that they're seeking the governor's office is because the governor thought last year's changes, quote, did not go far enough. Unquote.
What we do know too, as far as where these child labor rollbacks are coming from, we know, originally from reporting from the Washington Post a couple of years ago that the Foundation for Government Accountability, which is a right-wing think tank based in Florida with ties to Governor DeSantis and both the Trump administration, was really a key interest group that was pushing rollbacks to child labor laws: not just here in Florida, but Republican controlled states like Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, and then last year, it finally came to Florida here as well.
Wood: One of the main reasons your reporting surprised me was, a couple weeks back, DeSantis made these comments related to child labor:
“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.”
How much do you think that plays a role in the governor's office is pushing for this bill?
Scheuler: The governor really kind of spoke for himself in terms of like, it seems like he's acknowledged the issue of ongoing labor shortages in certain industries where immigrant workers are particularly concentrated. So that's agriculture, construction and the hospitality and service industries.
We've seen reporting about immigrant workers leaving the state since the 2023 immigration law that really just kind of made it harder to both live and work in Florida. I think the issue of putting more children and teenagers into the workforce may seem like a viable solution.
Just, as you know, an untapped population of workers, but also legally, under federal law, you can pay workers under, I believe, 20-years-old, a sub-minimum wage for the first 90 days of employment. And now, we're also seeing legislation that's advancing the state legislature that would allow employers to pay younger, inexperienced workers less than minimum wage.
Wood: I'm aware that there's been some uncertainty whether these bills are going to move any forward. I know House Speaker Daniel Perez has expressed some hesitancy to move forward with the bills. What do you think are the odds that will see this bill further advance this session?
Scheuler: I'm kind of hearing from folks that it's unclear whether this is going to advance. We’ve seen Republican opposition, which is kind of interesting. And so, to me, it's unclear at this point, but I'm definitely curious to see whether it does actually move forward, or whether there's just not going to be enough political appetite for it this year.
Wood: Thank you so much McKenna for speaking with me.
Scheuler: Yeah, thank you so much for inviting me. I really appreciate it.
