STATE NEWS

Baseball minimum wage change signed

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed 17 bills, including a measure (SB 892) that creates an exemption to the state’s minimum-wage law for professional baseball.


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  • | 4:45 p.m. June 14, 2023
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  • Ormond Beach Observer
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Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed 17 bills, including a measure (SB 892) that creates an exemption to the state’s minimum-wage law for professional baseball. 

The measure incorporates into the state minimum-wage law a carve-out for minor-league baseball players that is part of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The federal act includes several minimum-wage exemptions, such as for baseball players, casual babysitters, some seasonal amusement workers and border patrol agents. 

It requires baseball players to receive an in-season weekly salary equal to the minimum wage for a 40-hour work week. When Congress amended the federal law in 2018, the minor-league minimum was set at $290 a week --- the equivalent of $7.25 an hour --- without overtime eligibility. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. 

Florida voters in 2020 backed a constitutional amendment that increases the minimum wage $1 a year until reaching $15 on Sept. 30, 2026. 

The Florida minimum wage is now $11 an hour and will go to $12 on Sept. 30. Before the state House passed the bill last month, sponsor Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, warned that without the change, baseball teams could limit access to training facilities or pull players from games to ensure they don’t exceed weekly work-hour limits. 

Democrats argued the bill supports “billionaire” major-league team owners.

 

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