Iowa governor Kim Reynolds just signed into law one of the most exploitative roll backs of child labor laws we’ve seen in decades.

In addition to extending the amount of hours teenagers are allowed to work, it allows kids into ultra-dangerous meatpacking facilities, high-volume Pepsi bottling plants, and building demolition and construction sites where more than 5,000 workers died last year.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) found numerous provisions in the legislation that are in direct conflict with federal labor law. Most of the conflict arises from laws loosening the hours and places 14- and 15- year olds are allowed to work. For example, provisions allowing minors to work six hours a day and until 9pm during the school year, and work in meat freezers and industrial laundries, are directly prohibited by federal law

It’s not just Iowa.

Across the country -- in red states, blue states, and everywhere in between -- special interest groups representing corporations are pushing bills that would weaken child labor laws.

Groups such as the National Restaurant Association, National Federation of Independent Business, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity have all spent millions of dollars in support of rolling back child labor laws.

As we mark the 85th anniversary of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 -- one of the last legislative achievements of the New Deal that gave us the standard workweek, established a minimum wage, and outlawed child labor by setting the general age to enter the workforce at 16. President Biden must honor the legacy of this historic legislation by standing up to corporate greed and protecting kids from exploitative business practices.

Add your name to urge the Biden administration to act now.