The onslaught of bad bills coming out of this General Assembly is nearly impossible to comprehensively follow. One especially pernicious proposal we haven’t talked about is up for a final vote in the Senate today: House Bill 1410, dubbed the “Youth Hiring Act of 2023” would dispense with the requirement that businesses who want to hired children under age 16 receive a permit from the state Department of Labor.
Rebecca Burkes
Posted inArkansas Blog
Arkansas meat processor plants busted for child labor violations amid national push to ease child labor rules
Ten Arkansas youths were found to be working overnight in dangerous conditions during an investigation that revealed more than 100 such violations spanning eight states. The story unfurled amid a nationwide push by conservatives, including some in Arkansas, to roll back regulations on young workers.
Posted inArkansas Blog
It’s already difficult to get welfare in Arkansas; a new bill would slash time limit in half
Welcome to Arkansas, where legislators have spent the last several sessions giving huge income tax cuts to millionaires, where we quit a federal pandemic unemployment program 10 weeks early because lawmakers were sure able-bodied adults were scamming the system to feed their kids, where we’re one of the leaders in denying applicants to the temporary aid to needy families program.
Posted inArkansas Blog
Heritage director Hurst hires lawyer as deputy: update
Rebecca Burkes, a lawyer and former assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the wife of Arkansas Development and Finance Authority director Aaron Burkes, has been hired as deputy director at the Department of Arkansas Heritage.