Testimony — Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance, in Support of Senate Bill 50 (October 8, 2025)

Summary

Written testimony of the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance in support of Senate Bill 50, dated October 8, 2025 and addressed to Chair Johnson, Vice Chair Lear, Ranking Member McNally and members of the House Commerce & Labor Committee. The Alliance speaks for 24,821 restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice locations and the 564,000 employees who work in Ohio's hospitality businesses, and thanks Senator Schaffer for sponsoring the bill. It states that the current 7:00 pm limit on 14 and 15 year olds prevents many willing teenagers from more opportunities and that 9:00 pm is a more reasonable limit. It states that the legislation requires parental consent. The testimony ends with Tod Bowen's name block.

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    Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance Testimony in Support of Senate Bill 50
October 8, 2025,
Chair Johnson, Vice Chair Lear, Ranking Member McNally and Members of the House Commerce & Labor
Committee:
On behalf of Ohio’s 24,821 restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice locations and the 564,000 employees
who work in Ohio’s hospitality businesses, the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance appreciates the
opportunity to support Senate Bill 50 and thanks Senator Schaffer for his sponsoring of this important
legislation.
The skills and fundamentals that young people learn in the workforce are invaluable and will serve
them well for the rest of their career. Young people learn academics through school and have access to
an endless repository of information right in their pockets. But the things they learn while working are
not something you can easily learn in a class or online. Being employed, especially in sectors like
foodservice, retail and hospitality, offers these young people the opportunity to gain essential skills like
customer service, problem solving, and time management.
Unfortunately, the current 7:00 pm limit on 14 and 15 year olds prevents many willing teenagers from
having more opportunities to grow. While limiting how late younger workers can work is appropriate,
we believe that 9:00 pm is a more reasonable limit. The later time opens more opportunities for
personal growth and skill building.
We appreciate and support the fact that this legislation clearly states that parental consent is required
for those young people who want these opportunities. This choice should clearly belong to the family,
which is clear in the legislation’s language.
Ohio’s restaurants value all who work in hospitality in our state and look forward to this legislation
providing younger Ohioans the opportunity to learn, grow and earn.
Thank you again for the opportunity to support this important legislation and for the work you all do to
ensure that Ohio’s hospitality businesses continue to provide robust employment and career
opportunities and contribute to the thriving, vibrant communities they serve.


Tod Bowen
Managing Director of External Affairs & Government Relations
Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance


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