Senate Passes Bill Requiring State Labor Standards

A bill that would override local government's current authority to set local labor standards, such as requiring private employers to pay a specific minimum wage, cleared the Senate on a 35 to 31 vote. The bill, HF 600, sponsored by Senator Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, would prohibit local governments from establishing a minimum wage, setting paid or unpaid leave requirements or dictating benefits.

In his closing argument for the Uniform State Labor Standards Act, Miller said, "Eight hundred fifty-three cities and eighty-seven counties within the state of Minnesota. As you can imagine, a patchwork of inconsistent labor standards, from city to city, or county to county, or both cities and counties, would be extremely confusing, and a significant burden on Minnesota's businesses, especially small businesses."

The city of Duluth has spent several years studying the efficacy of setting local wage and benefit ordinances. Senator Erik Simonson, DFL-Duluth, spoke against the measure. "We have not vetted these issues. We have not talked about why it is and why it is not important for a local community to enact a higher minimum wage. We have not talked about why it is or why it isn't important for a local community to establish an earned safe and sick time ordinance. All that we've talked about is stripping away local government's ability to make their own decisions," he said.