Senior Director for Workforce Development Policy Veronica Goodman at the Center for American Progress says corporate influence in Republican states is weakening child labor protections.
"So what we've seen is that it's really a result of sustained lobbying from certain industries like restaurants or hospitality, companies that view working minors as an opportunity for cheap labor to boost profits," Goodman said in a phone interview with WVIK on July 24th.
She adds it's important to note the context that Republican-led state legislatures are targeting child labor laws, specifically a century-old federal child labor protection law known as The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. That was passed at a time when it was not uncommon for minors to sustain injuries on the job and even death in factories, mines and other hazardous positions.
"Despite this history, Republican Project 2025 is laying out a disturbing proposal to further weaken child labor laws, specifically to get rid of protections around children working in dangerous workplaces like factories and slaughterhouses," Goodman said.
Project 2025, or the Mandate for Leadership, is a 900+ page plan by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973. Their website states, "The 2025 Presidential Transition Project paves the way for an effective conservative Administration based on four pillars: a policy agenda, Presidential Personnel Database, Presidential Administration Academy, and playbook for the first 180 days of the next Administration."
Former President and current candidate Donald Trump is distancing himself from the plan, even though CNN reports that over 140 people tied to the plan, including former cabinet secretaries, have worked with Trump. His VP pick, J.D. Vance, is also reported to have written the foreword for a book authored by the architect of Project 2025, Kevin Roberts.
Goodman points to Iowa as one of the states pulling back child labor protections.
"For example, Republican legislators in Iowa passed a law last year that is in direct violation of federal child labor laws," Goodman says, including specifics of 14-year-olds working in assembly lines and meatpacking facilities.
Goodman mentions a few bills in Congress that could strengthen labor protections, like the Pro-ACT, which has undergone multiple changes after passing the House and stalling in the Senate. The bill remains in limbo because previous House passages could not get the necessary 60 votes in a divided Senate.
Goodman joined the Center for American Progress in January of this year. The nonpartisan policy institute, also known as CAP, believes in progressive ideals. The advocacy organization is twenty years old. Goodman has worked as an advisor to Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, among other ventures.
You can read her latest child labor protections and Project 2025 article here.
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