Senate Approves Changes in Iowa Child Labor Laws

(Radio Iowa) The Iowa Senate has approved a bill that would extend the hours teenagers may work in Iowa and teens would be able to take some jobs they are not allowed to have today. Debate on the bill started Monday and it passed with the support of 32 Republicans early today (Tuesday). Two Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls spoke right after the vote.

“It is almost five in the morning and as we approach the dawn of a new day it has been a dark night in the Iowa Senate,” Wahls says. ”
Wahls says the bill rolls back protections for children. Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, accused Democrats of being hypocrites.

“If your outrage is because high school students are able to work until 11 p.m. in the summer, where’s your outrage all these years by not requiring high school students to be home and in bed by 11?” The bill would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to serve alcohol if they have written permission from a parent, but minors would still be barred from working in strip clubs.