Matthew Burkart impressing lawmakers INDIANAPOLIS - A 13-year-old Newburgh boy's effort to change Indiana's child labor laws so that he can referee soccer games before his next birthday took another step forward Tuesday, winning a House panel's approval.
Along with Southwestern Indiana's legislative delegation, Matthew Burkart is pushing a measure that would allow sports leagues to hire youths his age as officials. His idea has passed the full Senate and now a House committee without a single "no" vote.
"This bill will get kids off the couches and iPads and help teach us responsibility, commitment and confidence through a job that we can enjoy for much of our lives," Burkart said.
Currently, Indiana law prevents children under age 14 from being hired, except as golf caddies, farm workers and newspaper deliverers. Burkart is seeking to add officiating youth sports events to that list of exemptions.
His proposal, Senate Bill 153, was approved unanimously Tuesday by the House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee. It now heads to the full chamber for a vote as early as next week that could send it to Gov. Mike Pence's desk.
The bill is advancing with the support of Murray Clark, the Indiana Soccer Association president who is also the former Indiana Republican Party chairman.
Clark told the committee Tuesday that the measure "affects about 300 Matthews statewide."
Poster Comment:
I'm not Matthew!