Republicans set up Iowa businesses to fail

Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Restaurant Association are doubling down on the dupe that they just care about your children and want them to learn through working. The old “woe is me” and “we didn’t know” is in full force. The blaming of the federal government and “this is big brother’s fault” is being spewed now at every turn.

In the 2023 legislative session, the Republican governor and her comrades in the Legislature decided that the Iowa Restaurant Association and big business needed the ability to take advantage of children and throw them further into the workforce with less regulation. This was decided even after warnings from the federal government that Senate File 542, the law they were so set on passing, violated federal child labor laws.

Everyone who knew anything about anything, including some Republican legislators, tried to convince state Sen. Dickey, who took up the pre-written bill in the Senate, and Gov. Kim Reynolds that this was not only a terrible idea that would place our children at risk for the sake of profit but, also illegal

. SF 167, the original bill handed to Sen. Schultz by business lobbyists, was far worse than the one passed and even allowed for children to work in mines and packing plants. Amendments were made when the reality of how stupid this bill was came to public light on the national level.

Now, the current administration wouldn’t care much what the public thinks as they have so many times previously proven, but this time it was so egregious they had to make some changes to gain passage from their own party. The bill that got passed was still terrible and placed children at risk, but hey! Big-money donors demanded it.

Now, small businesses are being fined by the federal government for violation of child labor laws — laws the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies are sworn to uphold. Small business owners, you were duped. You are the guinea pigs here for big business to test their attempt to water down the Fair Labor Standards Act. You are being duped by the Reynolds administration and you have a right to be upset that you were lied to. . We have had years now of the stripping down of workers’ rights in Iowa. This time, the State of Iowa got a little ahead of itself in their attempt to help make big-money donors richer by allowing cheap child labor — shameful.

Small business owners should ask to be made whole by Reynolds and the Republican legislators who voted for this garbage child labor bill. They knew it was a violation of federal law and were warned this would happen. They held no regard for you and your small business. If they did, they would have built indemnification into the bill to protect you as a small-business owner.

This state administration of smoke and mirrors continues. We can only hope that someday the good people of Iowa will see through their illusions and elect new leaders.

Rick Moyle is executive director of the Hawkeye Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.