News & Commentary April 23, 2023

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/april-23-2023/

By Swap Agrawal

Swap Agrawal is a student at Harvard Law School.

In this weekend’s news and commentary, emails reveal that a Florida-based think tank is driving roll back of child labor laws, and House and Senate Democrats reintroduce the Do No Harm Act.

On April 23, the Washington Post reported that the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a Florida-based think tank, has been a driving force behind the campaign to roll back child labor protections in state legislatures around the country. The FGA played a key role in designing and garnering support for a new Arkansas law to eliminate work permits and age verification for workers younger than 16. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Rebecca Burkes (R), said in a hearing that the legislation “came to me from the Foundation [for] Government Accountability.” Emails obtained by the Washington Post show that the think tank and its lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project, also helped draft state legislation in Arkansas, Ohio, Minnesota, and Georgia. According to the political watchdog group Open Secrets, the Opportunity Solutions Project has hired 115 lobbyists across the country with a presence in 22 states since 2016.

FULL story at link above.