It's bad enough that the state where I was born and raised elected a full-blown teabaggy idiot for a governor. But now Maine legislators are trying to ease up on those pesky child labor laws:

But under a new piece of legislation introduced in the state's House of Representatives, employers would be able to pay anyone under the age of 20 as little as $5.25 an hour for their first 180 days on the job.

The bill, LD 1346, also eliminates the maximum number of hours a minor 16 years of age or older can work on a school day and allows a minor under the age of 16 to work up to four hours on a school day during hours when school is not in session.

In totally unrelated news, Maine's high school dropout rate is floating just below 20%. I'm sure loosening child labor laws will help with that.