TALHASSEE – The office of Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a major rollback to the state’s child labour law earlier this year, with changes made last year to ease work restrictions for minors “didn’t go well enough,” records show.
The governor’s office has formulated this year’s law. This allows teenagers to work overnight hours on long shifts without school nights or meal breaks.
The office sent an email to Senator Jay Collins, who is Senator Jay Collins and Rep. Monique Miller of R Palm Bay in February, according to an email released by Senator Florida. Records were first reported by Orlando Weekly.
Collins and Miller sponsor bills primarily using the governor’s office language.
A few weeks after Desantis’ office sent the bill, the governor said in a panel discussion with the Trump administration’s border emperor that the younger workforce is part of a solution to illegally replace “cheap” labor from the country’s immigrants.
“What’s the problem with expecting younger people to work part-time now? I mean, that’s when I was growing up,” DeSantis said during the panel. “Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even importing them illegally, when you know, when teenagers worked at these resorts, college students should be able to do this.”
The governor’s office notes did not mention immigration. Instead, the email said the bill would make it easier for teens to find employment and maintain, allowing families to determine the best interests of their children.
However, the governor’s communications director doubled Desantis’ immigration comments last month when asked to respond to the proposal. Brian Griffin pointed to X’s post, saying that part-time jobs for young adults should be encouraged, and that the idea of ”not enforcing immigration laws” is being promoted by Democrats because of possible labor shortages.
The governor’s proposal removes all restrictions on how late and how long aged 16, 17 and 17 will work. They also remove the guarantee of meal breaks and abandon the time limit for 14 and 15 year olds if those teenagers are homeschooled or attend virtual school.
“Current restrictions in Florida laws are limiting employment for this age group more than federal law requires,” Desantis’s office wrote in a February memo. “Removing the restrictions is less difficult than federal law requires to retain employment.”
According to Florida law, teenagers ages 16 and 17 cannot work during school hours unless they are unable to work before 6:30am or after 11pm on school days and are participating in a vocational education program. They are also limited to working within 30 hours a week when the school is being held, unless the parent or school principal waives that limit.
Teens, ages 14 and 15, must adhere to stricter regulations.
Last year, Florida State Assemblyman and DeSantis approved changes that would allow homeschooling or effectively school teens to exempt young teenagers from state time restrictions. The final bill was heavily devalued from the original proposal.
The conservative group foundation for government accountability worked behind the scenes last year to promote the Child Labour Bill. The group is also involved in pushing to ease child labour restrictions in other states.
It is unclear whether this year’s bill will reach the finish line.
House Speaker R-Miami Daniel Perez said he is worried about children working late or early on school day. Sen. Joe Gruters of R-Sarasota said lawmakers should make children into children.
The House proposal was amended at the first committee hearing to allow young teenagers, 13 years old, to spend their summer holidays. House sponsor Randy Fein said at the meeting. Fine left the Senate earlier this year and is now the Republican US representative.
The bill will have two more committee suspensions before it reaches full vote in the House. In the Senate, the bill appears to be stagnant as the next committee to which it is assigned is no longer meeting.
