Legislation to loosen child labor laws was written by DeSantis’ office, records show

Miami Herald | By Romy Ellenbogen & Ana Ceballos | April 8, 2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office proposed major rollbacks to the state’s child labor laws earlier this year, saying changes made last year to loosen working restrictions for minors “did not go far enough,” records show.

The governor’s office crafted this year’s legislation, which would allow teenagers to work overnight hours on school nights and long shifts without a meal break. The office emailed the proposal and talking points in February to Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, and Rep. Monique Miller, R-Palm Bay, according to emails released by the Florida Senate. The records were first reported by the Orlando Weekly.

Collins and Miller are sponsoring bills largely using the governor’s office language.

A few weeks after DeSantis’ office sent the draft bill, the governor said during a panel discussion with the Trump administration’s border czar that a younger workforce could be part of the solution to replacing “dirt cheap” labor from migrants in the country illegally.

“What’s wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that’s how it used to be when I was growing up,” DeSantis said during the panel. “Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts, college students should be able to do this stuff.”

The governor’s office’s memo did not mention immigration. Instead, the email said the bill would make it easier for teens to get and keep a job, and would “allow families to decide what is in the best interest of their child.”

But the governor’s communications director, when asked for a response on the proposal, doubled down on DeSantis’ immigration comments last month. Bryan Griffin pointed to a post on X where he said part-time jobs for young adults should be encouraged and that the idea to “not enforce immigration law” because of the potential for labor shortages is “garbage” pushed by Democrats.

The governor’s proposal would remove all regulations on how late and how long 16- and 17-year-olds can work. It would also remove their guarantee of a meal break and would waive time restrictions on 14- and 15-year-olds if those teenagers are homeschooled or attend virtual school.

“Current restrictions in Florida statutes make holding employment harder than required by federal law for this age group,” DeSantis’ office wrote in a February memo. “Removing the restrictions make it no harder than required by federal law to hold employment.”

Florida law says teenagers ages 16 and 17 can’t work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on a school day and can’t work during school hours unless they are in a career education program. They are also limited to working no more than 30 hours a week when school is in session unless their parent or a school superintendent waives that restriction.

Teenagers who are 14 and 15 have to abide by stricter regulations.

Last year, Florida lawmakers and DeSantis approved changes that allowed homeschooled or virtually schooled teenagers as young as 16 to be exempted from the state’s time regulations. The final bill was significantly watered down from its initial proposal.

The conservative group Foundation for Government Accountability worked behind the scenes last year to promote the child labor bill. The group has also been involved in the push to loosen child labor restrictions in other states.

It’s unclear whether this year’s bill will get to the finish line.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said he was concerned about children working late or early hours on a school day. And Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, said lawmakers should let kids be kids.

The House proposal was amended at its first committee hearing to allow teenagers as young as 13 to work over their summer break — a change proposed by then-Sen. Randy Fine, the House sponsor said at the meeting. Fine left the state Senate earlier this year and is now a Republican U.S. representative.

The bill has two more committee stops before it can reach a full vote in the House. In the Senate, the bill appears stalled because the next committee it is assigned to is no longer meeting.