House committee advances bill to double criminal fines for Child Labor Act violations

House Bill 118, which would double criminal fines for violations of the Pennsylvania Child Labor Act, was reported as committed from the House Labor & Industry Committee following debate and an unsuccessful amendment to expand criminal and administrative penalties.

Sponsor Representative Kristin Young, prime sponsor of HB 118, told the committee the bill is aimed at deterring employers who violate child labor protections. "My legislation, House Bill 118, would double the criminal fines for violations of Pennsylvania's Child Labor Act," Representative Young said, citing increases in federal and state child-labor cases and comparisons to neighboring states with higher penalties.

The bill would increase criminal penalties for violations of the Child Labor Act. Representative Grove offered amendment A00036 to add a second‑degree misdemeanor for willful violations when an employer knew or reasonably should have known the child lacked proper parental care, to impose up to $5,000 administrative fines for willful violations that cause or create significant risk of bodily harm and for falsification of records, to require a warning letter for a first negligent violation with department follow‑up in 30 days, and to impose penalties of $100–$500 for subsequent negligent violations of the same type. The committee considered the amendment but it failed on the vote.

Representative Cooper, who moved to adopt the amendment, described it as a compromise intended to target human trafficking and willful exploitation while easing penalties for paperwork errors: "This bill puts harsher penalties on individuals who ... willingly traffic children for labor purposes. On the other side of it, we have a lot of businesses that get wrapped up with heavy penalties for basically paperwork errors. So this tries to set a policy correct ..." Representative Kinkade asked for clarity on who could be charged under the proposed misdemeanor; a committee member replied, "The employer who violates the law," and clarified that charging would follow the summary offense provisions in the underlying statute.

After debate the committee moved to the bill. Committee leadership recorded Democrats voting in the affirmative; Representative Cooper was recorded as voting yes despite a party split reported for other members. The chair announced: "The bill passes." The committee reported HB 118 as committed to the House with the underlying text advancing but without the failed A00036 amendment.

The transcript records references to national trends and U.S. Department of Labor findings cited by Representative Young and to the comparison that Delaware and Maryland allow penalties of up to $10,000 for first‑time violations. The bill text reported to the committee is limited to the criminal‑penalty changes described at the hearing; the committee did not adopt the broader misdemeanor and graduated administrative penalty framework proposed in the failed amendment.

Votes at the committee were recorded verbally during roll call; the transcript records Democratic members voting in favor and Republicans largely in opposition, with Representative Cooper noted as voting with Democrats.

House Bill 118 will move forward to the next stage of the House process as reported by the committee.