Twenty-eight states have introduced bills to weaken child labor protections since 2021: Map of state legislation rolling back child labor protections, 2021–2024
| State | Bill status | Bill status indicator | Select bill supporters | Work permit details | Work permit indicator | Hours | Hours indicator | Alcohol Service | Alcohol service indicator | Hazardous work | Hazardous work indicator | Subminimum wage | Subminimum wage indicator | Other | Other indicator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Enacted* | 5 | SB 53 (2024): Eliminates work permit requirement for 14-15 year-olds — introduced | 1 | HB 176 (2022): Lowers age to serve alcohol from 21 to 18 | 3 | |||||||||
| Alaska | |||||||||||||||
| Arizona | Failed | 1 | HB 2727 (2021): Establishes a subminimum wage of $8.50 for student employees — failed | 5 | |||||||||||
| Arkansas | Enacted | 5 | HB 1410 (2023): Drafted by the Foundation for Government Accountability | HB 1410 (2023): Eliminates age verification and parent/guardian permission requirements | 1 | ||||||||||
| California | |||||||||||||||
| Colorado | |||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | |||||||||||||||
| Delaware | |||||||||||||||
| Washington D.C. | |||||||||||||||
| Florida | Pending | 4 | HB 49 (2024): Drafted by the Foundation for Government Accountability; SB 460 (2024): Drafted by the Associated Builders and Contractors and Florida Home Builders Association | HB 49/SB 1596 (2024): Eliminates hours restrictions for 16-17 year-olds during the school year — passed House | 2 | SB 460/HB 917 (2024): Expands hazardous work for 16-17 year-olds on or near roofs in violation of federal hazardous occupation order (amended out) — in committee | 4 | ||||||||
| Georgia | Pending | 4 | HB 501 (2023): Eliminates work permits — in committee | 1 | HB 501 (2023): Allows 14 year-olds to work in landscaping on grounds of factories and other prohibited workplaces — in committee | 4 | |||||||||
| Hawaii | |||||||||||||||
| Idaho | Failed | 1 | SD 1308 (2022): Lowers the minimum age to serve alcohol from 19 to 17 | ||||||||||||
| Illinois | Mixed | 3 | SB 1996 (2023): Illinois Manufacturers’ Association; Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce | HB 1258 (2023): Reduces hours per week but removes limit of 8 hours per day for minors under 16 — introduced | 2 | SB 1996 (2023): Expand manufacturing apprenticeships to 16-17 year-olds — passed Senate; HB 4285 (2023): Expands permitted work for minors under 16 in otherwise prohibited workplaces — in committee | 4 | ||||||||
| Indiana | Pending | 4 | SB 146 (2024): Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association | SB 146 (2024): Increases maximum hours for minors under 16 in violation of federal law (amended out), lowers the age to serve alcohol, establishes employer civil immunity when a minor is injured or killed while employed in a work-based learning program (amended out) — passed Senate; HB 1093 (2024): Extends hours, allows night work for minors, eliminates all hours restrictions for 16-17 year-olds — passed House | 2 | SB 146 (2024): Lowers the age to serve alcohol from 19 to 18 — passed Senate | 3 | HB 1189 (2022): Allows exempted minors to work on farms during school hours — failed; SB 146 (2024): Establishes employer civil immunity when a minor is injured or killed while employed in a work-based learning program (amended out) — passed Senate; HB 1093 (2024): Eliminates hazardous work protections for 16-17 year-olds working on farms, allows exempted minors to work on farms during school hours — passed House | 4 | HB 1093 (2024): Establishes exemptions to child labor protections for performers, newspaper carriers, and homeworkers who make wreaths — passed House | 6 | ||||
| Iowa | Enacted* | 5 | SF 2190 (2022): Iowa Restaurant Association; HF 2198 (2022): Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce; SF 542 (2023): Americans for Prosperity, Home Builders Association of Iowa, Iowa National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association, Iowa Restaurant Association, Opportunity Solutions Project (Foundation for Government Accountability); HF 2056 (2024): Americans for Prosperity; SF 2109 (2024): Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Iowa Hotel & Lodging Association, Iowa Restaurant Association | SF 542 (2023): Eliminates work permits — enacted | 1 | SF 542 (2023): Extends work hours — enacted | 2 | SF 542 (2023): Lowers age for alcohol service in restaurants — enacted | 3 | SF 1290 (2022): Allows minors to operate power-driven pizza dough rollers in violation of federal law — enacted; SF 542 (2023): Lifts restrictions on hazardous work, limits state agencies’ ability to impose penalties for future employer violations — enacted | 4 | HF 2198 (2022): Lowers minimum age of child care workers; increases staff-to-child ratios — enacted; HF 2056 (2024): Lowers minimum age in child care settings again — in committee; SF 2019 (2024): Allows 14 year-olds to drive up to 25 miles to work — in committee | |||
| Kansas | |||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | Enacted* | 5 | HB 252 (2022): Lowers the age to serve alcohol from 20 to 18 — enacted | SB 128 (2024): Allows nonprofits to hire 12-13 year-olds in “work programs” — in committee; HB 255 (2024): Bars labor commissioner from setting child labor standards above FLSA — in committee | 6 | ||||||||||
| Louisiana | |||||||||||||||
| Maine | Failed | 1 | LD 559 (2023): Maine Tourism Association, Maine Chamber of Commerce | LD 559 (2023): Extends work hours for some youth during the school year — failed | 2 | LD 1332 (2023): Establishes a youth subminimum wage — failed | 5 | ||||||||
| Maryland | |||||||||||||||
| Massachusetts | Pending | 4 | S 1168 (2023): Establishes a training wage for minors who work fewer than 20 hours per week | ||||||||||||
| Michigan | Enacted | 5 | HB 5696 and HB 5726 (2022): Lowers age to work at liquor stores; HB 4232 (2022): Lowers age to serve alcohol | 3 | |||||||||||
| Minnesota | Mixed | 3 | SF 1102 (2023): Extends work hours — introduced | 2 | SF 3054 (2022): Increases the maximum alcohol by volume of alcoholic beverages served by an establishment employing minors — failed | SF 375 (2023): Lifts restrictions on hazardous work — in committee; SF 3176 (2023): Lifts restrictions on hazardous work in long-term care settings — in committee; SF 3240 (2023): Lifts restrictions on hazardous work in construction — in committee | 4 | ||||||||
| Mississippi | |||||||||||||||
| Missouri | Pending | 4 | SB 175 (2023) and SB 1057 (2024): Drafted by Foundation for Government Accountability | SB 175 (2023): Eliminates work permits — failed; SB 1057 / HB 2271 (2024): Eliminates work permits — in committee | 1 | ||||||||||
| Montana | |||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | Pending | 4 | LB 15 (2023): Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Nebraska Grocery Industry Association | LB 15 (2023): Establishes youth subminimum wage — in committee | 5 | ||||||||||
| Nevada | |||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | Enacted* | 5 | SB 345 (2022): New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, New Hampshire Liquor Commission | SB 345 (2022): Extends work hours; HB 1519 (2023): Extends work hours for minors when school is in session — in committee | 2 | SB 345 (2022): Lowers age to bus tables where alcohol is served — enacted | 3 | HB 57 (2023): Establishes a subminimum wage of $8 for minors for the first 6 months of employment — failed | |||||||
| New Jersey | Enacted* | 5 | A 4222 (2022): New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Business and Industry Association | A 4222 (2022): Extends work hours and increases time before break — enacted; S 1282/A 2474 (2022): Extends hours for 14-15 YOs to 11 pm between Memorial Day and October 1 — failed; S 494 (2024): Extends hours for 14-15 YOs to 11 pm between Memorial Day and October 1 — introduced | 2 | ||||||||||
| New Mexico | Enacted | 5 | HB 255 (2021): Lowers the minimum age for alcohol service from 19 to 18 — enacted | 3 | |||||||||||
| New York | Pending | 4 | A 1798 (2023): Allows 14-15 YOs in religious communities to do otherwise prohibited hazardous work under supervision by someone age 18 or older | 4 | |||||||||||
| North Carolina | Enacted | 5 | HB 661 (2021): Lowers the minimum age beer and wine wholesalers from 21 to 18 — enacted | 3 | |||||||||||
| North Dakota | |||||||||||||||
| Ohio | Enacted* | 5 | SB 30 (2023): Americans for Prosperity, Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce, Ohio NFIB, Ohio Restaurant Association | SB 30 (2023): Extends work hours — passed Senate | 2 | SB 102 (2021): Lowers the minimum age for alcohol service from 19 to 18 — enacted | 3 | ||||||||
| Oklahoma | |||||||||||||||
| Oregon | |||||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | Introduced | 2 | HB 460 (2023): Lowers age for junior driver’s license to 15 so that young people can get to work — introduced | 6 | |||||||||||
| Rhode Island | |||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | |||||||||||||||
| South Dakota | Failed | 1 | HB 1180 (2023): Extends work hours — failed | 2 | |||||||||||
| Tennessee | Enacted | 5 | HB 1212 (2023): Allows 16-and 17-year-olds to work in establishments where over 25% of revenue comes from alcohol sales — enacted | 3 | |||||||||||
| Texas | |||||||||||||||
| Utah | |||||||||||||||
| Vermont | |||||||||||||||
| Virginia | Failed | 1 | HB 1669 (2023): Establishes a subminimum wage for minors — failed | 5 | |||||||||||
| Washington | |||||||||||||||
| West Virginia | Enacted* | 5 | HB 5159/SB 559 (2024): Eliminates work permit requirement for 14-15 YOs — in committee | 1 | HB 2025 (2021): Lowers the minimum age for alcohol service from 18 to 16 — enacted | 3 | HB 5162 (2024): Expands hazardous work for 16-17 year-olds through youth apprenticeship program — in committee | 4 | |||||||
| Wisconsin | Mixed | 3 | AB 286 (2023): Tavern League of Wisconsin; SB 332 (2022): Wisconsin Grocers Association; Wisconsin Independent Businesses, Inc.; Wisconsin NFIB; Association of Wisconsin Tourism Attractions; Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association | SB 436 (2023): Eliminates work permits for minors under 16 — failed in House | 1 | SB 332 (2022): Extends work hours — vetoed by Governor | 2 | AB 286 (2023): Allows 14 year-olds to serve alcohol — in committee | 3 | ||||||
| Wyoming |
Note: "Enacted*" indicates that a state has enacted a bill, but other bills in that state have failed or are pending legislative action. "Mixed" indicates that a state has multiple bills at different stages of the legislative process, but none have been enacted. Bill statuses are as of February 7, 2024.
Source: EPI analysis of state legislative activity and news related to child labor legislation.