Gov. Nixon signs bill letting kids work on farms

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Children younger than 16 could avoid future federal regulation and continue to work on their parents' Missouri farms under legislation signed by Gov. Jay Nixon.

The measure signed Friday responds to the federal government's proposed rules last year that would have prevented children from doing certain agricultural work. That proposal was eventually scrapped, and the Missouri Legislature moved forward and passed legislation preventing such regulation anyway.

The bill exempts children doing farm work from obtaining a work certificate and from limits on the number of hours and days they can work. Children would need only the consent of their parents to work on the family's farm. It was sponsored by Republican Sen. Brian Munzlinger of Williamstown, Mo.

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Farm labor is SB16

Online:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov

Nixon: http://www.governor.mo.gov