State Child Labor Rollbacks Pose Enforcement Nightmare for DOL

The Biden administration has limited tools to fight child labor violations in Iowa, where a Republican state legislature just enacted a statute that would allow kids to work in conditions that are illegal under federal law.

While top officials from the US Labor Department have said that the bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) last month violates federal protections that trump state rules, the agency hasn’t outlined any specific plan to boost enforcement in Iowa, or in other states loosening child labor restrictions.

The DOL may not act anytime soon. The agency can educate the public about the law ...