Iowa Republicans voted just before 5 a.m. to roll back child labor laws, letting teens work on packaging lines and serve alcohol

• The Iowa Senate voted just before 5 a.m. to pass a bill that would roll back child labor laws.
• The bill, if passed by the House, would allow teens to work longer hours and serve alcohol.

Iowa's Republican-led state senate voted in an early-morning session to roll back child labor laws in the state — allowing teens to work longer hours and to serve alcohol at their jobs.

The bill passed 32-17 before 5 a.m. local time on Tuesday with two Republicans — Sens. Charlie McClintock and Jeff Taylor — joining the entire Democratic party in opposition of the bill.

The bill would allow sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to work until 9:00 p.m. during the school year and until 11:00 p.m. over the summer. It also allows same-aged kids to serve alcohol in restaurants if their parents sign off on it.

The bill prohibits fourteen and fifteen-year-olds from any mining or manufacturing work but adds that anyone under the age of eighteen can do "light" assembly line or packaging work — as long as machines aren't involved.

The voting session had dragged into the early morning because supporter GOP Sen. Adrian Dickey refused to answer a question from Democrats about amendments to the bill, the Des Moines Register reported.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for a vote.

A slew of Democrats and labor leaders in the state have spoken out against the bill, noting that it could create unsafe work environments for kids.

According to the Register, Democrats had tried to include additional amendments to the bill to offer additional workers' compensation benefits to any teens that got injured on the job.

Charlie Wishman, the President of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, told Insider in a statement he thought the passing of the bill is a "disgrace," adding that it will "do nothing to attract new Iowans, and puts children at risk of death in dangerous occupations."

"Every parent wants their kids to grow up with every opportunity to succeed, not risk an early death by working in dangerous jobs," Wishman said. "The legislation passed by the Senate tonight is every parent's worst nightmare."

He added that "the majority party's inability and unwillingness to answer any questions about this legislation disenfranchises Iowans from the political process and takes away their elected representatives' ability to get them answers."

"If the Iowa Senate wishes to operate in this fashion, democracy dies in our state," Wishman told Insider.

Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls in a statement to Insider called the bill "dangerous" that "will allow Iowa kids to serve alcohol, work in roofing and demolition, and inside industrial freezers – and they passed it in the dead of the night when they thought they could dodge democratic accountability."

He continued: "If this legislation becomes law, Iowa kids will be exposed to dangerous working conditions that violate federal law and threaten their health and wellbeing. This bill is immoral, illogical, and it will lead to more kids getting injured and killed in workplace accidents. While Iowa is facing a workforce crisis, Senate Republicans shouldn't try to solve it on the backs of children."

Gov. Kim Reynolds has previously spoken in favor of the bill, telling reporters this month she doesn't think "we should discourage" kids wanting to work and to earn money, the Des Moines Register reported.

At an April 4 press event, Reynolds, speaking about the bill, pointed to her own experience working as a teen babysitting and waiting tables, according to the Register.

"That's good experience," Reynolds said. "You know, it teaches the kids a lot and if they have the time to do it and they want to earn some additional money I don't think we should discourage that."

Reynolds did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Other supporters of the bill, including Dickey, have argued that the bill will teach Iowa's children important skills in workforce training programs, the Register reported.

"While the responsibility of having a job might be more valuable than having a paycheck, the reward of the paycheck will allow these youth who want to have a job to possibly save for a car, maybe buy a prom dress, go to a summer camp, take a date out for the weekend," Dickey said, according to the Register.

In addition to rolling back child labor laws, Republicans in the state have voted to restrict SNAP food benefits.

This month, legislators passed a bill that adds hurdles for those wanting food assistance, including banning anyone with more than $15,000 in liquid assets or savings from getting benefits and requiring state agencies to run identification checks on beneficiaries.

An earlier version of the bill banned people on the food assistance program from buying staples like white bread or American cheese, but that was stripped from the final bill.