Federal ban on child tobacco work closes a dangerous loophole
S. 1742 — Children Don't Belong on Tobacco Farms Act · Filed by Richard Durbin (D-IL) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced May 13, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to classify work involving direct contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves as oppressive child labor, prohibiting employment of anyone under 18 in such work. It adds tobacco-related agriculture to the list of occupations where child labor is federally banned, alongside existing prohibitions on manufacturing and mining.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand the federal definition of oppressive child labor to include tobacco-farm work, a straightforward occupational safety measure with no secondary purpose or rider.
What the text implies
- May reduce labor supply in U.S. tobacco agriculture, potentially increasing reliance on adult workers or imported labor and raising production costs for domestic tobacco growers.
- Enforcement depends on Department of Labor resources; underfunded inspection regimes may limit real-world protection despite the statutory ban.
- State-level agricultural exemptions or enforcement gaps could create pockets where the prohibition is not effectively applied.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Children under 18 are protected from documented health hazards of tobacco exposure (nicotine poisoning, pesticide contact, ergonomic injury). Rural and agricultural families, who bear the highest exposure risk, gain a federal safety floor. No offsetting cost to ordinary citizens is apparent.
Named in the bill
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Department of Labor, U.S. tobacco agriculture sector, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- May 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 13, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S2897)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (722 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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