Child Labor
SB840
Chief Patron:
Schuyler VanValkenburg
(D)
Current Status: Incorporated into SB998
Summary as Introduced:
Specifies certain criteria for a child to be considered engaged in the work of content creation and prohibits a child who is under 14 years of age from engaging in the work of content creation. A child 14 years of age or older who is considered a child engaged in the work of content creation shall be compensated by the content creator, defined in the bill, whose video content includes such child's likeness, name, or photograph. The bill requires the content creator to set aside gross earnings on the video content including the likeness, name, or photograph of the child in a trust account to be preserved for the benefit of the child upon attaining 18 years of age or being declared emancipated. The bill also requires the content creator to maintain certain records specified in the bill and retain them until the child reaches 21 years of age. The bill allows the child, or his parent or guardian on behalf of such child, to commence a civil action to enforce the provisions of law related to the trust account. Finally, the bill gives the Attorney General the authority to enforce the provisions of the bill by issuing a civil investigative demand and causing an action to be brought in the appropriate circuit court to enjoin any violations. This bill was incorporated into SB 998.
Drafting
Long before the session started, Senator VanValkenburg worked with Virginia's Division of Legislative Services (DLS) to put this bill in proper legal form. During this phase, legislators describe their policy goals, and DLS provides nonpartisan legal and research support. This is called the "prefiling period," and typically begins in late fall and ends shortly before the session starts in January.
Jan. 2
Prefiling
Senator VanValkenburg submitted this bill for pre-filing with the Virginia Division of Legislative Services (DLS) on Jan. 2, 2025.
It was given a title, assigned a unique number and became Senate Bill 840 (SB840) of the 2025 Regular Session.
At this point its text was entered into the official public record. This allows anyone interested in the bill, including citizens and interest groups, to review the proposed legislation in advance.
Official Description: "Child labor; child engaged in the work of content creation, trust account."
Assigned to Committee
SB840 was referred to a Senate committee:
Commerce & Labor.
In the Senate, the Clerk of the Senate refers bills to a standing committee based on the subject matter of the bill and the jurisdiction of the committees. The Virginia Senate Rules provide guidelines for which topics go to which committees.
The Senate President (usually the Lieutenant Governor) and majority party leadership often play an informal role in these decisions.
In the U.S. Congress, committee jurisdictions — where bills should go — is more strictly defined, so leadership in Congress has more power to decide where bills should be assigned. Another difference is that bills in the GA are generally assigned to a single committee in each chamber, where in Congress bills are frequently referred to multiple committees in the House and sometimes in the Senate.
Jan. 20
Incorporated into Another Bill
The committee decided that this bill's key provisions or objectives should be combined into another bill that is already under consideration. This allows two or more bills that address the same or closely related issues to be merged; one becomes the "primary" bill and moves forward; the others effectively disappear as standalone piece of legislation, but their language or concepts may live on in the primary bill.
The official record reads: "Incorporated by Commerce and Labor (SB998-Williams Graves) (15-Y 0-N)"