Florida lawmakers consider banning cities, counties from setting local minimum wages

Should local governments be free to set minimum wages? Two state legislators say no.

James Call
Capital Bureau | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

The state's top business lobbying associations are putting their combined political might behind a bill that could cut the pay of thousands of Florida workers. 

The Florida ChamberAssociated Industries of Florida, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and the Florida Retail Federation are urging House and Senate committees to approve a proposed ban on local wage mandates that are higher than the state minimum of $10 an hour. 

Cities, counties and workers argue local governments should be free to include so-called "living wage" and benefits mandates in local contracts.

Since 2003, the minimum wage in Florida has been reserved to the state, except for contracts signed by cities, counties, school boards and their affiliates. A waiver exists in a provision of the law allowing them to require employment benefits not otherwise included in state and federal laws for contract bids.

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Opponents to a bill (SB 1124) by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, also the chair of the Florida Republican Party, and another (HB 943) by Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, argue local governments are more informed about local conditions than the Legislature and should be allowed to set wages higher than a state minimum.

Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, stands at his desk as the Florida Senate is in session Tuesday, April 30, 2019.

Gruters and Harding counter that local mandates stifle competition, undermine market forces, increase costs for taxpayers and thus the waiver should be repealed.  

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen T. Higgins recently explained to the House Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Committee that her board moved to require a living wage on contracts for more than $100,000 because of a local high cost of living. 

Higgins said the going rate for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,000 a month; a full-time job at the state minimum of $10 an hour produces an $1,600 monthly income. 

“So please, we encourage you to vote against this bill because local governments are uniquely positioned to understand the cost of living where we are,” Higgins told lawmakers. 

State Rep. Joe Harding speaks on the House floor in this undated photo.

If the bills were to become law, Higgins calculates more than 20,000 Miami port workers alone would see an immediate pay cut of nearly 30%. Miami's living wage mandate is $14.02 an hour with another $2.06 for health care benefits. 

Harding counters Higgins' testimony with concern for small, minority-owned businesses. He explained many of them are blocked from competing for bids because they can not afford lawyers to decipher bid requirements. 

“That small business that doesn’t have attorneys to review a 50-page mandate … (to) make sure that they’re not committing some type of illegal activity by not paying a person that walks to a truck to pick up wire $44 because suddenly (that person) is now considered an electrician,” Harding said. 

Gruters expanded on Harding's theme that wage mandates undermine market forces and creates economic harm, saying artificially set wages hurt small, new, and minority-owned businesses, as well as unskilled workers.

"We're much better off as a state letting the market play out rather than having local governments decide these artificial wages for specific professions on some of these jobs," Gruters said.

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State of play

  • SB 1124: Considered Tuesday by the Senate Community Affairs Committee but a vote on the bill was postponed when time ran out. It is set to be heard by two more panels: Commerce and Tourism, and Rules.
  • HB 943: Cleared the Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Tuesday by a vote of 10-7; state Rep. Sam Killebrew, R-Winter Haven, voted with Democrats. It next goes to the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee for consideration but has not been scheduled for a hearing date. 

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee

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