Bills Weakening Child Labor, Transparency Laws On Holcomb’s Desk

House Republicans passed two dangerous bills to Governor Holcomb’s desk Wednesday weakening child labor laws and gutting power from Indiana’s public access counselor. 

House Bill 1093 is an extreme rollback of child labor laws in Indiana. It allows children employed in agriculture to work in a “hazardous occupation”, and for 14 and 15 year olds to work until 9 p.m. until Labor Day during the summer, which overlaps with the start of most school years. 

“We need to invest in our local schools, and improve education in Indiana. This bill says we’d rather have students work low wage jobs than focusing on school work and furthering their education,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl. “Hoosiers have watched this supermajority strip away the share of funding for local public schools, attack Indiana’s teachers, and defund higher education. Less Hoosiers are going to college than their peers anywhere in America, even Mississippi. It’s time to turn that trend around, and this bill does just the opposite.

An amendment tacked onto House Bill 1338 strips away power from Indiana’s public access counselor. Counselor Luke Britt has issued opinions in recent years that Republicans believe go too far in the direction of government transparency.

“The Republican supermajority is clearly scared of Hoosiers having a transparent look at their own government,” said Schmuhl. “By stripping the power of the public access counselor, Republicans want to govern in the dark, and take away the ability for regular Hoosiers to challenge the decisions they make behind closed doors. This bill is another step backward, and Governor Holcomb should reject it as an attempt to take away oversight and power from Hoosiers.”