Kentucky Lantern Commentary: Kentucky kids deserve better than being exploited like it’s 1899
By ADAM K. RAYMOND
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy
I was 16, I nearly sliced two fingers off my left hand while working at a plastics factory. A tenacious strip of tissue and pins inserted through my fingertips gave me a second chance.
I thought of my near amputationlast week as the state House passed House Bill 255, which would weaken Kentucky’s already permissive child labor laws. That bill will put more children at risk of falling behind at school, being exploited by unscrupulous employers eager for low-wage workers and getting hurt at work.
In the floor debate, supporters said the goal of HB 255 is to allow teenagers to work. Of course, Kentucky regulations already allow that. Under current law, bosses can schedule 16- and 17-year-olds as many as 40 hours a week and for 6.5-hour shifts on the heels of their seven-hours in the classroom. They can schedule kids to get off at 11:00 p.m. on school nights and 1 a.m. on weekends. If HB 255 becomes law those limitations would be removed, allowing bosses to push kids to work through the night and as much as they need them.