Foundation for Government Accountability

• Escaping the pit of dependency is possible, but it requires a serious focus on policies that work, not scare tactics that freeze people into inaction out of fear of falling off an imaginary cliff.
• True welfare reform promotes work and earned income, which can lift millions out of dependency.
• "If policymakers are serious about improving lives, they should concentrate on true welfare reform that promotes work and earned income, which can lift millions out of dependency."
• Adam Gibbs, The Foundation for Government Accountability, 239.244.8808 x165, [email protected] , www.thefga.org
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• A movement to weaken American child labor protections at the state level began in 2022.
• Many conservatives and business leaders have long argued, based on a combination of ideological and economic grounds, that federal child labor rules aren’t necessary.
• Expanding child labor can encourage kids to drop out of school and jeopardize young people’s health through injuries and work-related illnesses.

Long-brewing battle

• U.S. law also does not treat 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.
• The federal government deems many occupations to be too hazardous for anyone under 18.
• Three years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld it in the U.S. v. Darby Lumber ruling, which toppled a related precedent.

Challenges began during the Reagan administration

• In 1982, President Ronald Reagan sought to ease federal protections to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work longer hours in fast-food and retail establishments and to pay young workers less than the minimum wage.
• A coalition of Democrats, labor unions, teachers, parents and child development groups blocked the proposed changes.
• Today, the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida-based think tank, is drafting state legislation to strip child labor protections, The Washington Post has reported.

Iowa and Arkansas

• In our view, Iowa has the most radical new law designed to roll back child labor protections.
• Teens as young as 16 can now serve alcohol in Iowa restaurants, as long as two adults are present.
• Arkansas has scrapped those safeguards against child labor exploitation.

Federal vs. state laws

• Doesn’t federal law preempt state laws?
• Both federal and state laws govern the employment of minors, and all states have compulsory school attendance laws.
• Federal laws set a floor of regulations in youth employment that cover maximum hours, minimum ages, wages and protections from hazardous jobs.
• Having child labor laws on the books at both the federal and state levels is only half the battle.

Construction sites?

• Some states are considering legislation that directly conflicts with federal child labor standards on hazardous occupations.
• For example, a bill Republican Minnesota state Sen. Rich Draheim introduced would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in or around construction sites.
• Strong opposition from politicians, child advocacy groups, education associations, labor unions and the public has defeated some of these efforts.
• Georgia Republicans introduced a bill that would have eliminated work permits for minors, but they withdrew it without a vote.

Taking aim at federal rules

• There are some national efforts to weaken – or strengthen – child labor rules as well.
• Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican, seeks to revise federal regulations to permit 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights and up to 24 hours per week during the school year.
• And several Democrats have introduced measures to strengthen federal child labor restrictions, especially in agriculture.

• NAPLES, Fla., April 26, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 as part of the debt ceiling negotiations.
• Included in this bill are bold reforms, particularly the REINS Act and work requirements for food stamps and Medicaid.
• Work requirements alone would save federal taxpayers $154 billion while boosting economic growth and making the Social Security and Medicare programs more solvent.
• The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 includes reforms that address some of the major causes of the United States' workforce crisis and sky-high inflation.

• The Foundation for Government Accountability launches federal lawsuit to require the Biden administration to enforce drug price transparency rule.
• NAPLES, Fla., March 23, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S.
• The rule was finalized in 2020 and the drug price transparency provision was set to take effect on January 1, 2022.
• FGA is taking this fight directly to the federal court to order the implementation and enforcement of this drug price transparency rule," said Stewart Whitson , FGA legal director.