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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023, state legislators aimed to assuage the workforce shortage with 14- and 15-year-olds.

The Ohio Senate passed a bill allowing young teenagers to work between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at any time of year, with their guardians’ permission.

At the time, Euclid Democrat Kent Smith exhorted legislators to address the child care crisis so parents could work – rather than kids. Republican Jerry Cirino talked up the idea as solving “the problem for some limited number of businesses that have operating hours where they’re running short of employees.”

The idea could also save businesses money, since Ohio employers must generally pay work

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