Senator Basham, under his constitutional right of protest (Art. 4, Sec. 18), protested against passage of Senate Bill No. 320 and moved that the statement he made during the discussion of the bill be printed as his reasons for voting "no."
The motion prevailed.
Senator Basham's statement is as follows:
I rise to oppose the passage of Senate Bill No. 320. This bill would expand the number of hours that a teenager is allowed to work in a given week. Currently, a teen is allowed to work 48 hours of combined school and work in any given week. This seems to be fair and even allows for a work-school combination in excess of the 40-hour work week. Of course, this doesn't account for their hours of extracurricular activities that many students participate in and the necessary studying.
This bill allows students to work up to 22 hours a week regardless of the number of hours spent in school. If a student spends 35 hours a week in school, plus 22 hours at work, this would equal 57 hours a week before we account for extracurricular activities, studying, and chores around the house.
We need to send the message loud and clear to students and to employers that their employees, while we value the real world experience that a part-time job can offer, a student's education is the No. 1 priority. There is a reason we put child labor laws in place, and it is because we know that children are vulnerable to the wishes of their employer and afraid to stand up when their employers ask them to work longer hours. So we need to reject this bill to protect the interest of our students and oppose Senate Bill No. 320.