House Bill 255 eases Kentucky's child labor restrictions, which currently limit minors to six hours a day and 30 hours a week during school weeks. In addition, top labor officials could not set standards on child labor that go beyond minimum federal protections.
Bill sponsor, Rep. Phillip Pratt — a Republican from Georgetown — stressed that the bill brings the state into alignment with federal law.
"Sometimes when you look at the law, you say why are we more restrictive in this area. It doesn't make sense. This is one of them," Pratt said.
But skeptics have worried aloud about how the bill might impact graduation rates and safety. Democratic Rep. Al Gentry pointed to what he characterized as a trend of the commonwealth chipping away at labor-related restrictions.
"We've done this with worker compensation, with OSHA, now we're going into child labor laws. What I mean by that is we're trying to set a precedent of not having having restrictions that go beyond federal standards," the Louisville Democrat said.
The bill loosening the labor laws easily passed committee and heads to the House.
