Ohio Republican lawmakers could try to override Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto that would have allowed Ohio teenagers 14 and 15 years old to work until 9 p.m. throughout the year.
DeWine vetoed Ohio Senate Bill 50, but the bill passed the legislature with veto-proof numbers.
Lawmakers would need a three-fifths vote from each chamber to override the veto, meaning 20 votes in the Senate and 60 votes in the House.
The bill passed in the Senate with 24 votes and with 62 votes in the House.
The Ohio Senate would have to start the override process since state Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, introduced the bill.
“That’ll be a conversation,” Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, said when asked if the Senate will try to override the veto. “If we do, it will happen in January, in all likelihood.”
The Ohio Senate will be in session on Jan. 28.
Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, was glad DeWine vetoed the bill.
“I sent (DeWine) a text and said ‘Bravo,’” she said. “I think it’s a dangerous precedent to set. I think it opens the door to child labor in the state of Ohio.”
A child’s first responsibility is to be in school and doing their school work, Antonio said.
“I can think of a million different ways to encourage more people to come to the state of Ohio and work and have jobs here,” she said. “I don’t think we have to start with our children.”
Ohio law currently allows 14 and 15 year olds to work until 9 p.m. during the summer or during a school holiday, meaning they are not able to work past 7 p.m. on school nights.
In his veto message, DeWine said it would be “unwise” for 14 and 15 year olds to work that late on school nights.
“I believe the current law has served us well and has effectively balanced the importance of 14- and 15-year-old children learning to work, with the importance of them having time to study,” DeWine wrote in his veto message.
Ohio is unable to change the law without the federal government making changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Ohio lawmakers also passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, which urges Congress to alter the Fair Labor Standards Act to let a teenager younger than 16 work between 7-9 p.m. during the school year if the teenager has their parent or guardian’s permission.
The Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance was disappointed to see DeWine veto the bill.
“Legislative initiatives such as Senate Bill 50 recognize the importance of employment in shaping future careers by fostering skills that cannot be taught in a classroom, including customer service, problem-solving and time management,” Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance President and CEO John Barker said in a statement to the Ohio Capital Journal.
“These fundamental skills that young people learn in the workforce, especially within the food service and hospitality industry, are invaluable to their future.”
Extending working hours for children can have negative consequences on their academics, said Brianna Booker, policy associate for Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio.
“If you extend working hours for young people, then they’re more likely to drop out of school, or their grades are likely to suffer,” she said. “We’re putting the future of young people at risk for a short-term economic relief for the state of Ohio.”
Booker said overriding DeWine’s veto would be bad for young people.
“Children should not have to be the solution to adult problems, and I think that if they make a choice to override the veto, they’re essentially making children responsible for adult choices,” Booker said.
Ohio businesses can pay 14 and 15 year olds the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which is less than the state’s minimum wage of $10.70 per hour, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce.
This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and republished here with permission.