This season, as Wisconsinites enjoy the annual recounting of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," Republicans in the state Legislature are busy authoring a Dickensian tale of their own. The GOP-led state Senate has sent a bill to their colleagues in the Assembly that reads like the sequel to "Oliver Twist," Dickens’ famous novel about child labor in 19th century London.
Senate Bill 332 extends the hours children under 16 can legally work if they are not covered under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. If signed into law, the work day for some kids as young as 14 could begin as early as 6 a.m. and end as late as 9:30 p.m. on days preceding a school day. They could work until 11 p.m. if there’s no school the next day. Under current state law, children under 16 can’t work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. during the school year.
The proposed change is the latest attempt by Wisconsin Republicans to solve the state’s so-called labor shortage on the backs of children. Previously, they successfully passed bills that eliminated both work permits and limits on the number of hours and days young people, ages 16 and 17, could work. And for politicians who remained squeamish about expanding child labor, they scrubbed that term from state employment statutes, replacing it with the more anodyne “employment of minors”.
The current child labor bill is likely to enjoy a warm reception from Assembly Republicans. A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has...
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