Dear Friend,
I wanted to make sure you knew that last week, Florida Republicans pushed a bill weakening our state’s child-labor laws through its first committee.
House Bill 49 would let businesses make 16- and 17-year-olds work overnight on a school night and for more than 30 hours in a school week. The bill sponsor admitted that this bill was designed to benefit the tourism industry, and she referred to children as “youth workers.” It should be noted that children can work in Florida — there are just protections in place, protections that this bill would eliminate.
I don’t normally serve on this committee but I joined it as an ex-officio member for this meeting to replace a Democratic colleague who couldn’t be there.
I and the four other Democratic members of the committee offered several amendments, all of which were blocked by the Republicans on the committee.
Some of our amendments were designed to make the bill better, while others were meant to expose the hypocrisy of Tallahassee Republicans who don’t think teens can handle learning about sexuality and gender identity – but who are happy to stick them on the graveyard shift at a 7-Eleven, even if they have an exam the next day.
Ultimately, House Bill 49 passed the committee on a 10-5 vote, with all 10 Republicans on the committee voting in favor and all five Democrats voting against. The bill still has two more committee stops in the House; no similar bill has been filed in the Senate yet. You can watch my debate against this bill via the video above.
As we approach the new year and the 2024 Legislative Session, we’ll keep you posted on this bill and so many others.
Onward,
Rep. Eskamani