Many Ohio businesses said they are having trouble finding employees, especially low-skilled labor. The Ohio Senate has passed a bill its sponsors say will help the situation by allowing 14- and 15-year-olds work longer on school nights.
Currently, those teenagers must quit working at 7 p.m. on school nights and 9 p.m. from June 1 to September 1. This bill would allow workers under 16-years-old, with their parent鈥檚 permission, to work until 9 p.m. any time of the year. The Senate also passed a resolution asking Congress to take similar action on a national basis.
The bill鈥檚 sponsor, Sen. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) said is a win-win for businesses. But he said it will also allow young employees to learn good habits to last a lifetime.
鈥淟earning how to show up on time, learning how to follow direction and execute commands, execute missions and things like that,鈥� Schaffer said.
Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) said the bill will help kids in other ways too.
鈥淚t will allow them the opportunity to earn some extra dollars. And here鈥檚 a bonus that we maybe haven鈥檛 thought about 鈥� this is less time that they will be spending on social media, like TikTok and others.鈥�
But Sen. Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) voted against the bill because she is afraid the situation could be abused.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have any guardrails in there. We don鈥檛 have any mention whatsoever in this bill nor in that resolution as to how we continue to monitor,鈥� Ingram said.
Ingram said she thinks this could lead to a slippery slope. Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) said he thinks lawmakers are going down the wrong road by focusing on 14- and 15-year-olds instead of three-, four and- five year olds. He said a survey from the Center for American Progress showed many women cannot work because they lack available child care.
鈥淭wenty percent of stay-at-home mothers would enter the workforce if they had child care assistance. That鈥檚 where we need to be targeting our workforce shortages,鈥� Smith said.
Smith also noted many people who retired during the height of the COVID pandemic are not likely to re-enter the workforce.
But Sen. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) said the government has made it difficult for teenagers to work. He spoke about how his father and grandfather were bailing hay as young kids. And Johnson said he worked at a local golf course before entering high school and for years thereafter.
鈥淚t taught me an independence that I would not have otherwise had if I had not been able to go out and do things,鈥� Johnson said.
The bill passed the Senate on party lines with Republicans voting for it, Democrats voting against it. The proposal now goes to the House, where Republicans also have a supermajority.