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Tallan
"T-Man" Latz performs at Summerfest in Milwaukee. A
blues guitar prodigy, the 8-year-old has played in bars and
clubs, including the House of Blues in Chicago, and even jammed
with Les Paul and Jackson Browne. However, the state of
Wisconsin says that Tallan cannot play in taverns and nightclubs
because of state child labor laws.
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MADISON - Rock on, T-Man.
The state Department of Workforce
Development on Friday said kids clearly can perform at festivals. That's
a different tune than the one the agency was singing Thursday when it
said children can't dance, sing or act anywhere alcohol is served,
raising questions of whether traditional child performances at county
fairs, the state fair and Milwaukee's Summerfest were illegal.
At the heart of the controversy is
8-year-old blues prodigy Tallan "T-Man" Latz. T-Man had
performed in taverns and bars until February, when Workforce Development
barred him from such venues after getting a complaint that he was too
young to play in such seedy establishments.
T-Man's father, Carl, turned to state
Sen. Neal Kedzie for help. Kedzie asked the agency for an explanation of
state child labor laws.
DWD Labor Standards Bureau director
Robert Anderson told Kedzie's staff state law clearly prohibits children
from performing in "a roadhouse, cabaret, dance hall, night club,
tavern or other similar place."
The law doesn't define what might be
similar to a tavern. Anderson told Kedzie's staff the agency interprets
that phrase to mean any place alcohol is served.
The statutes also say children can
perform at festivals, creating a gray area on just where children can
perform. For example, is the children's stage at Summerfest, where
patrons can carry beer anywhere on the grounds, legal or not?
Agency spokesman Richard Jones on
Thursday said DWD would investigate complaints on a case-by-case basis
and he couldn't comment on hypothetical situations.
That left Carl Latz upset. He took that
interpretation to mean his boy not only couldn't play in bars but was
barred from festivals, too.
On Friday, though, DWD issued a
two-paragraph statement saying minors can perform at Summerfest and
other community festivals, but can't perform at taverns and similar
places. The statement offered no rationale for the about-face from
Anderson's stance.
Jones said Friday that Anderson isn't a
lawyer. Agency attorneys reviewed the statutes Thursday after an
Associated Press story raised questions about how the law applies. They
decided the language that allows children to perform at festivals is
clear, he said.
"The advice we had previously was
not from an attorney," Jones said.
Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, said he's not
satisfied. He wrote to DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman on Friday asking
for an in-depth analysis of how the agency arrived at the new
interpretation and what specifically separates a festival from a place
similar to a tavern.
"There's not clarity among those
enforcing these laws," Kedzie said. "There needs to be a paper
trail to fall back on."
Carl Latz didn't immediately return
messages Friday afternoon.
Kedzie said one thing's clear, at least:
"(It's) a big win for T-Man. I think
he might have a fairly happy weekend."
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