TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Teenagers as young as 14 could soon be allowed to work overnight shifts as part of an effort in the Republican-led Legislature to roll back major aspects of the state’s child labor laws.

The proposal — which moved through its first Florida Senate committee Tuesday — comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis says a younger workforce could be part of the solution to replacing “dirt cheap” labor from migrants in the country illegally.

“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,” DeSantis said last week during a panel discussion with President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan.

The governor said the state has taken several steps to crack down on hiring workers living in the country illegally, including enacting a state law that requires large companies to screen workers through E-Verify, a federal database that confirms an employee’s citizenship status.

“Yes, we had people that left because of those rules, but you’ve also been able to hire other people. And 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.

The governor’s remarks are coloring the debate in Tallahassee as state lawmakers consider removing all limitations on how late and how much 16- and 17-year-olds can work and ending those teenage workers’ guarantee of a meal break.

The proposal also would remove employment time restrictions for younger teens aged 14 and 15 if they are homeschooled or attend virtual school.

A similar idea was floated last year in the Legislature but it was ultimately watered down. This year’s bill is sponsored by Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa. He did not return multiple calls for comment about the bill and why he thought it was necessary.

As it stands now in Florida, teenagers aged 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 also are limited to up to 30 hours a week of work when school is in session, unless their parent or a school superintendent waives that restriction.

Homeschooled or virtually schooled teenagers that age are exempt from those time regulations, a change made by the Legislature last year.

If the state’s child labor laws are changed, the risk is that young workers will have fewer protections and will have a harder time saying no to employers, said Nina Mast, an analyst with the Economic Policy Institute.

“The teens who will be most harmed by this bill are low-income young people or those without documented status who are compelled by their situation to work,” Mast said.

Companies across the United States, regardless of existing labor laws, have employed migrant children in dangerous jobs, reports have shown. In January, meatpackers Perdue Farms and JBS agreed to pay a combined $8 million after the Department of Labor found the companies relied on the labor of migrant children in their slaughterhouses.

Mast said bills like the one Florida is considering are “essentially trying to legalize violations that employers are already committing.” She noted that hour violations in jobs like food service are among the most common.

The number of child labor violations in Florida tripled from 95 in 2019 to 281 three years later, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics cited by the Florida Policy Institute.

In 2023, violations dropped to 209 but were still high compared to previous years.

Florida’s child labor law provides additional protections beyond what the federal Fair Labor Standards Act imposed in 1938. But Collins’ bill would move Florida closer to the baseline federal standard.

Under this year’s proposal, 14- and 15-year-olds would be able to work longer hours if they have graduated high school or have a GED, if they have an exemption from the school superintendent or if they are homeschooled or virtually schooled.

Teenagers would still be prohibited from working in many hazardous occupations, like meatpacking or roofing.

Alexis Tsoukalas, a labor expert with the left-leaning Florida Policy Institute, said the bill’s proposals are “being shortsighted versus thinking long term.”

Tsoukalas said research shows that when adolescents work more than 20 hours a week, they’re at a greater risk of dropping out of high school or having a poorer performance in school.

“In the short term, yeah they might make some extra money, but in the long term it hurts them more in the labor market because they don’t have the education,” Tsoukalas said.

Tsoukalas said even if a teenager isn’t working in a hazardous job, working longer hours puts them more at risk of accident or injury.

Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, said that while he supports students working part-time jobs, he believes the bill being proposed this year “exploits students and potentially affects their well-being in school.”

Beyond that, Jones worries that Republicans are looking to young workers to address potential shortfalls in the workforce as Trump promises to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally.

“Let’s not look to our students to fix the problem that President Donald Trump and the Republicans have caused,” Jones said. “Lowering the working age is not the key to filling the gap in our workforce – the key is fixing our broken immigration system, and that does not include Florida or the United States using inhumane tactics for political gain.”

Collins’ bill closely mirrors the proposal that failed to pass the Legislature last year after facing public backlash from critics who worried that letting teenagers work longer hours during the school year would impact their health and education. Last year’s bill was sponsored by Rep. Linda Chaney, R-St. Pete Beach.

Last year, Chaney’s bill was filed after the conservative advocacy group Foundation for Government Accountability passed the draft to her office. The group has pushed for rollbacks of child labor laws in other states, as well.

Records show that Chaney’s office asked the foundation for talking points on the bill. The group responded by saying the changes would help teenagers learn skills and the value of the dollar.

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