Pa. lawmakers move to update Child Labor Law (to allow for more working hours for minors)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110807/NEWS90/108070341

By YASMIN TADJDEH
PA Independent
August 07, 2011

HARRISBURG — For the first time in nearly a century, Pennsylvania's child-labor laws may be completely revamped and allow for more working hours for minors.

The Child Labor Law of 1915 contains "archaic" provisions, contradicts itself and needs to be modernized, state Rep. Sheryl Delozier, R-Cumberland, the main sponsor of HB 927, said this week at a House Labor and Industry Committee hearing.

Due to amendments to the law, the state's child-labor standards have become increasingly difficult to understand, said Bruce Hanson, executive director of the House Labor and Industry Committee and drafter of the bill. HB 927 would modernize the language and make it easier for employers and employees to grasp, as some terminology used in it is even beyond the understanding of the lawmakers.

"Pennsylvania's child-labor law was first enacted in 1915. Over the last 96 years, the way people live their lives has drastically changed. We went from horse and buggy to horse-powered engines; from black-and-white televisions to high definition; from compasses to GPS; from phonographs to digital downloads; and from Vaudeville to the Internet," said Scott Robinette, a deputy secretary for the Department of Labor & Industry, who testified at Wednesday's hearing.

The law has been amended several times, and the department said the time has come for the law to be reformed, said Robinette.

Under the bill, teenagers 16 and older could work 10 hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays, up from eight in the current law.

FULL story at link.

[DBoon]

1. step 1: destroy public eduation

step 2: turn the inevitable high school dropouts into a low paid labor force
step 3: Profit!

[Meeker Morgan]

2. Public education has already been destroyed ...

... there is only an empty shell.