The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) is a public policy think tank focused on welfare and healthcare issues on both the state and national levels.
Activities and Legislation
State Child Labor Laws
In March 2023, the state of Arkansas passed a bill, sponsored and designed by the FGA, that would end work permits and age verification for workers under 16 years of age. According to the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Rebecca Burkes (R), the bill, “came to me from the Foundation [for] Government Accountability.” 1 Similar FGA-backed legislation that would impact state child labor laws has been introduced foin other states including Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota, and Georgia. 2 In addition, as of April 23, an FGA-designed bill in Iowa was passed by the state senate allowing for workers as young as 14 years old to work night shifts and 15 years of age to work on an assembly line. Several FGA-based child labor bills have received backlash and have lead to amendments: According to the Washington Post, the Arkansas bill’s passage was met with significant pushback which caused state lawmakers to pass a second piece of legislation intended to, “[increase] penalties on violators of the child labor codes,” impacted by the FGA-backed legislation. 3 In addition, a similar child labor bill in Missouri had to be amended so that children 14-16 years of age are required to have parental permission before taking on a job, though the previous version approved by the FGA did not have such a requirement. 4
References
- “Bogage, Jacob and María Luisa Paúl. “The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws.” The Washington Post, April 23, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/23/child-labor-lobbying-fga/
- Weber, Peter. “A conservative lobbying group is reportedly behind most state efforts to loosen child labor laws.” The Week, April 25, 2023. https://theweek.com/labor/1022923/a-conservative-lobbying-group-is-reportedly-behind-most-state-efforts-to-loosen-child
- “Bogage, Jacob and María Luisa Paúl. “The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws.” The Washington Post, April 23, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/23/child-labor-lobbying-fga/
- “Bogage, Jacob and María Luisa Paúl. “The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws.” The Washington Post, April 23, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/23/child-labor-lobbying-fga/