FRANKFORT, Ky. — Last May a report was issued by advocate group Human Rights Watch detailing hardships young children faced while working in tobacco fields. Since then, legislative efforts have begun both on the federal and state levels to restrict the age of those working with the crop.

The latest was introduced in the Virginia legislature, but the proposed bill never made it out of a committee hearing.

House Bill 1906 would have prohibited “any person from employing a child under the age of 18 years to work in direct contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves, unless the owner of the farm or other location at which such work is conducted is the child’s parent, grandparent or legal guardian and the child’s parent or legal guardian has consented in writing to such employment,” according to information from the Virginia Legislative Information System.

Earlier this month the bill was tabled in the Committee on Commerce and Labor by a voice vote. Proponents of such legislation were quick to voice their disapproval. The National Consumers League (NCL) released a statement stating it was “deeply disappointed in the defeat of a Virginia state legislature bill that would have been the first of its kind to protect children from working in dangerous tobacco fields.”

Last fall Democrat U.S. Reps. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania and David Cicilline of Rhode Island were among 35 lawmakers who sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez asking him to consider enacting a regulation to prohibit children from working in the cultivation or curing of tobacco.

Cicilline also introduced House Bill 5327 with the intent to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as a way to prohibit work by children in tobacco-related agriculture as particularly hazardous oppressive child labor.

The act prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. Most of the operations, however, associated with tobacco are not listed as being prohibited jobs.

Tobacco producer organizations, too, have been vocal in their stand against children under a certain age being allowed in the tobacco fields. Both the Council for Burley Tobacco (CBT) based in Kentucky and the Tobacco Growers Assoc. of North Carolina (TGANC) issued statements referring to the matter.

The CBT has offered its support to establishing a mandatory age of those hired to work in tobacco. Its board of directors passed a resolution that stated: “We do not condone the hiring of anyone under the age of 16 for work in tobacco anywhere in the world.”

The TGANC has also issued a statement clarifying its policy. The statement read: “TGANC does not condone the use of child labor and tobacco growers and farm labor contractors should not employ workers younger than 16 years of age for work in tobacco, even with parental permission and including instances where the parents request the work for them.”

While supportive, the two organizations have drawn the line when it comes to the question of passing legislation that would affect family members on the farm.

Reid Maki, the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) coordinator and director of Social Responsibility and Fair Labor Standards at NCL, said there have usually been exceptions for farm families on any protection legislation directed toward the agriculture industry. “It’s been a hard message to get across to the farming community,” he said. “In pretty much every protective regulation I’ve seen over the years, they all exempt the children who work on their families’ farms, and this was true with the Virginia bill as well.”

While Virginia appears to be the first state to tackle the issue, Maki said he hopes others will do the same. But he also said he would prefer a federal law that would be more clear and comprehensive.