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In Ohio, 14- and 15-year-olds earn a minimum of $7.25 an hour, about $3.50 less than adults. So when a bill backed by the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance and the billionaire Koch Industries-backed Americans for Prosperity-Ohio pushed later hours for younger teenagers, Democrats blasted the idea, criticizing Republicans for their push of “cheap labor.”

Republicans approved the idea anyway.

The bill would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on school nights with parent permission.

While the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 protected child workers, many states have relaxed their own labor protections since the COVID-19 pandemic

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