Gabrielle Russon
A Senate bill to allow workers to be paid less than the minimum wage got tabled on Monday night.
The decision at the Senate Rules Committee came after Senators had already started a prickly debate on SB 676, and several members of the public spoke out against it.
“In order to keep HB 541 alive, it will probably come over in messages, I’m going to TP this bill,” said SB 676 sponsor Sen. Jonathan Martin about the House companion that’s already been placed on the second reading calendar.
SB 676/HB 541 would allow workers to voluntarily opt in to receive a wage below the minimum if they are in a work-study, internship, or apprenticeship. Employees would need to sign a waiver and would only be allowed to be paid the minimum wage for nine months.
Democrats expressed concerns that employers could reclassify jobs as “learning opportunities” to pay workers less and exploit the system with little oversight.
“I don’t see anyone taking advantage of the bill. I see it providing opportunities that don’t currently exist under this economic and educational framework that we have,” argued Martin, a Fort Myers Republican. “There’s been a decades-long decline in the labor force for teenagers and young adults.”
In 2020, voters approved raising the state’s minimum pay to $15 an hour by 2026
“Are you asking us today, here and now, to supersede what the voters of this state have already identified as to what they want?” Sen. Tracie Davis, a Democrat, asked Martin.
“Not at all,” Martin argued. “This waiver gives them the ability to choose whether or not they want to get job experience or not. We have the ability as legislators to narrowly tailor legislation if it serves a compelling government interest.”
Florida AFL-CIO Director of Politics and Public Policy Rich Templin warned that the bill, which he said was vague and had holes, could be part of an effort to bring a case to the Supreme Court regarding the minimum wage amendment.
“This bill is not ready for prime time,” Templin said. “It is not ready for the Rules Committee.”
