@SrRochardBunson no, neither is happening, they are both insane.

"weaken child labor protections" does not necessarily mean kids like OP's picture, nor anything remotely similar. You realize, this, yes? You kind of have to be at least that discriminating if you want to be able to coherently participate in any kind of policy discussion.

Just like carelessly wording a bill to say "person shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability ... based on their actions ... with respect to ... perinatal death" and then fixing it right away when it was noticed is not "Oh no legalized infanticide!".

In some states it's pretty hard for 15yos to e.g. get summer jobs due to paperwork etc – a lot of employers just don't bother jumping through the hoops. This is bad. This is not good for those kids. There is a balance to find, and our laws should be adjusted to "weaken child labor protections" if they're causing harm in this way.

So obviously the details of the changes and the way it plays out in practice is what you need to look at. You mentioned Iowa: Are kids there being overworked or in dangerous jobs? More so than 15 years ago? https://www.iowadivisionoflabor.gov/child-labor doesn't look like a dystopian hellscape. Federal regulations still apply, of course? Spell this out for me.