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Supporters urge Massachusetts to ratify long-pending federal child-labor amendment
Summary
Witnesses including local activists and constitutional-law volunteers told the Joint Committee on Election Laws that Massachusetts should ratify a federal Child Labor Amendment pending since 1924, citing recent legislative rollbacks in other states and ongoing child-labor enforcement issues.
Several speakers asked the Joint Committee on Election Laws to advance a state resolution or resolve to ratify a long-pending federal Child Labor Amendment that was first proposed in 1924 and remains unratified by enough states to become part of the U.S. Constitution.
Vincent Lawrence Dixon and Alexander Jablon told the committee the amendment remains relevant because recent state legislation elsewhere has expanded permitted work hours for minors and because enforcement problems have reappeared in franchise chains, as cited in testimony. Jablon said ratification would "send a powerful and clear message" that Massachusetts will protect children’s education and safety.
Samuel Fieldman and other volunteers described procedural questions and urged the committee to coordinate language among related bills filed in the Legislature; Fieldman recommended H3-845 as a strong procedural vehicle and offered to work with staff to align legislative language across proposals.
Witnesses cited historical context: Massachusetts placed a related advisory question on the ballot in 1924 and debate over the 1924 amendment continued in subsequent decades. Testimony stressed that ratification does not create immediate state law changes but signals state-level support for a federal constitutional amendment and can influence national momentum; speakers asked the committee to move one of the pending resolutions or resolves out of committee so both branches of the legislature can vote.
No formal committee action on these resolutions occurred at the hearing.
