Gray Rohrer
In the last week of the Regular Session, the Senate and House are in a showdown over whether local governments can set wage preferences for contractors and subcontractors.
The Senate has amended HB 433, stripping the piece of the bill that preempts local ordinances from giving preference for local contractors that provide better wages or benefits to their workers.
The rest of the bill preempts cities and counties from passing ordinances requiring businesses to allow workers who toil outdoors to receive breaks in the shade and water at intervals throughout the day. The Senate approved the measure on a 28-11 vote along party lines, with Democrats objecting to the heat exposure regulation preemption.
The move sends the bill back to the House, which passed it on a 79-33 vote on Friday.
Sen. Jay Trumbull, a Panama City Republican sponsoring the bill, said it’s needed to prevent a hodgepodge of regulations from popping up throughout the state, causing businesses operating in multiple areas to adjust to each jurisdiction.
“What this bill is saying is we’re not going to allow cities to have a patchwork of regulations,” Trumbull said.
But Democrats noted that no city or county in Florida currently has a heat exposure ordinance, although some are considering it. Sen. Geraldine Thompson, a Windermere Democrat, also highlighted the protections required for athletes, including shade breaks and water, that followed instances of deaths during football practices.
“Do we value athletes more than we value employees and the workers?” Thompson said.
Other Democrats said the bill would leave outdoors workers without any heat exposure protections, since the state doesn’t have any regulations and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has only guidelines. But Trumbull noted that OSHA does fine companies when employees experience heat illnesses.
“In the last couple of years there’s been multiple fines to agriculture businesses specifically for not providing adequate things for their employees,” Trumbull said.
The Regular Session is scheduled to end Friday.
