Florida 2023 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0917 Analysis / Analysis

Filed 04/24/2023

                    This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives. 
STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS  
 
BILL #: CS/HB 917    Wage and Employment Benefits 
SPONSOR(S): Commerce Committee, Yeager 
TIED BILLS:   IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 892 
 
REFERENCE 	ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or 
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF 
1) Regulatory Reform & Economic Development 
Subcommittee 
9 Y, 2 N Thompson Anstead 
2) Appropriations Committee 	25 Y, 2 N Guy-Hudson Pridgeon 
3) Commerce Committee 	12 Y, 5 N, As CS Thompson Hamon 
SUMMARY ANALYSIS 
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides workers with minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor 
protections. The FLSA authorizes the U.S. Secretary of Labor to administer the FLSA provisions, including workplace 
inspections, investigations, and enforcement of violations. The current federal minimum wage rate under the FLSA is 
$7.25 an hour. Most wage and salary workers are covered by the FLSA. The FLSA exempts certain employers and 
employees from the federal minimum wage and overtime requirements, including minor league baseball players.  
 
Pursuant to the State Constitution, on September 30, 2021, Florida’s minimum wage increased to $10 per hour. Each 
year, thereafter, Florida’s minimum wage will increase by $1 until the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour on September 
30, 2026. Beginning in 2027, the minimum wage will be adjusted annually for inflation, as it had from 2005-2021.  
 
The Florida Minimum Wage Act (Act) was enacted in 2005 to implement the minimum wage provisions in the State 
Constitution. The Act designates the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) as the state agency that implements the 
minimum wage requirements and establishes procedures with respect to enforcement of violations. The Act specifies that: 
 Only those individuals entitled to receive the federal minimum wage under the FSLA, and its implementing 
regulations, are eligible to receive the state minimum wage.  
 Federal minimum wage exemptions in the FLSA are considered incorporated into the Act. 
 
Florida’s wage and employment benefits law preempts the establishment of a minimum wage to the state. Thus, local 
governments cannot establish a minimum wage for employers in their jurisdiction. Local governments are also prohibited 
from requiring an employer to provide employment benefits not required by state or federal law. However, local 
governments have limited authority to establish a minimum wage and to require specific employment benefits for their 
own employees and those of their vendors or contractors.  
 
The bill amends the Act to clarify that the state minimum wage will track the federal minimum wage, as set forth and “as 
amended,” in the FLSA. This aligns Florida’s minimum wage exemptions with recent amendments to federal exemptions.  
 
The bill amends Florida’s wage and employment benefits law to prospectively: 
 Prohibit local governments from seeking to control or affect the wages or employment benefits, or awarding 
preferences on the basis of wages or employment benefits, provided by their vendors, contractors, service 
providers, or other parties doing business with the local government through purchasing and contracting 
procedures. 
 Remove the ability of local governments to establish a minimum wage for the employees of an employer 
contracting to provide goods or services for the local government, or for the employees of a subcontractor of such 
an employer, under the terms of a contract with the local government. 
 
The bill does not appear to have a fiscal impact on state or local government. 
 
The bill is effective upon becoming a law.    STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 2 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
FULL ANALYSIS 
I.  SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS 
 
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES: 
Current Situation 
 
Fair Labor Standards Act 
 
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938, provides covered workers with 
minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor protections.
1
 In 1938, the FLSA established a minimum 
wage of $.25 an hour. The current federal minimum wage rate is $7.25 an hour, which went into effect 
July 24, 2009.
2
 The FLSA applies to employment within any state in the U.S., the District of Columbia 
or any territory or possession of the U.S.
3
  
 
The FLSA covers most private and public sector employees. However, certain employers and 
employees are exempt from coverage, including: individuals with disabilities, youth workers, tipped 
workers and executive, administrative and professional workers. The FLSA covers businesses if the 
business has annual sales of at least $500,000.
4
 It also covers certain individual employees if such 
employee is engaged in interstate commerce.  
 
Regardless of the dollar amount of revenues of a business, the FLSA applies to:
5
 
 Governments: Federal, state, or local government agencies. 
 Hospitals: Hospitals, or institutions primarily engaged in the care of the sick, the aged, or the 
mentally ill or disabled who live on the premises. (It does not matter if the hospital or institution 
is public or private or is operated for profit or not-for-profit.) 
 Schools: Pre-schools, elementary or secondary schools or institutions of higher learning (e.g., 
college), or a school for mentally or physically handicapped or gifted children. (It does not 
matter if the school or institution is public or private or operated for profit or not-for-profit.) 
 
The FLSA includes several exemptions from the federal minimum wage provisions, including:
6
 
 Executive, administrative and professional employees; 
o Teachers and academic administrative personnel in elementary and secondary schools, 
outside sales employees, and employees in certain computer-related occupations.  
 Employees in certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments, employees in certain 
small newspapers, seamen employed on foreign vessels, employees engaged in fishing 
operations, and employees engaged in newspaper delivery;  
 Farm workers employed by certain employers; 
 Causal babysitters and persons employed as companions for the elderly or infirm; 
 Border patrol agents
7
; and 
                                                
1
 29 U.S.C. § 201-219 and 29 C.F.R. ch. V. 
2
 Congressional Research Service, CRS Report R42713, The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): An Overview, 
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42713#:~:text=The%20Fair%20Labor%20Standards%20Act%20(FLSA)%20provides
%20workers%20with%20minimum,employees%20are%20exempt%20from%20coverage, (last visited Mar. 14, 2023). (The main 
FLSA provisions and accompanying Department of Labor (DOL) regulations constitute what is commonly known as federal wage and 
hour laws and federal child labor law.). 
3
 Congressional Research Service, CRS Report R42713, The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): An Overview, 
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42713#:~:text=The%20Fair%20Labor%20Standards%20Act%20(FLSA)%20provides
%20workers%20with%20minimum,employees%20are%20exempt%20from%20coverage, (last visited Mar. 14, 2023). (The FLSA 
does not apply to employees working in a foreign country even if the employer has its main office in the U.S.). 
4
 The size of an enterprise is measured by its “annual sales or business done.” Annual sales or business done includes all business 
activities that can be measured in dollars. Thus, retailers are covered by the FLSA if their annual sales are at least $500,000. Owners 
of rental properties are covered if they collect at least $500,000 annually in rent. 29 C.F.R.§§779.258-779.259. 
5
 U.S. Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor, https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/whd/flsa/scope/screen10.asp, (last 
visited Mar. 15, 2023). 
6
 29 U.S.C. § 213. (It also includes separate exemptions from overtime pay.)  
7
 Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2014, S.1691, 113
th
 Cong, (2014).  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 3 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
 Baseball players who are compensated pursuant to a contract that provides for a weekly salary 
for services performed during the league’s championship season at a rate that is not less than a 
weekly salary equal to the minimum wage. 
 
The FLSA was amended in 2014, related to border patrol agents, and again in 2018, to exempt minor 
league baseball players who are paid at least $290 per week during the 2018 championship season 
from the federal minimum wage rate and overtime pay.
8
 These two amendments were the only 
amendments made to the minimum wage exemptions provisions of the FLSA since Florida passed its 
minimum wage law in 2005.
9
 
 
The FLSA provides that if states enact worker protections, including minimum wage rates, that are 
more protective of employees than what is provided by the FLSA, the state law applies.
10
 
Consequently, no state law may weaken the worker protections in the FLSA. However, state laws that 
impose greater worker protections will supersede those in the FLSA.
11
 
 
Thirty states plus Washington DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands provide a minimum wage 
greater than the federal minimum wage. Thirteen states provide a minimum wage that is equal to the 
federal minimum wage. Five states have not adopted a minimum wage and two states have a minimum 
wage that is below the federal minimum wage.
12
 For those seven states, the federal minimum wage 
applies, but only to those workers covered by the FLSA.  
 
Article X, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution  
 
On November 2, 2004, Floridians voted to amend the Florida Constitution by adding a minimum wage 
provision (Section 24) that established the state minimum wage.
13
 Prior to this date Florida did not have 
a law on minimum wage so the FLSA applied for covered workers. Section 24 provides the amount of 
the minimum wage and the procedure for calculating increases in the minimum wage.
14
  
 
Florida voters again on November 3, 2020, voted to approve a constitutional amendment related to the 
state’s minimum wage, Amendment 2, to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour 
by the year 2026.
15
 Pursuant to the passage of Amendment 2, on September 30, 2021, Florida’s 
minimum wage increased to $10 per hour. Each year, thereafter, Florida’s minimum wage will increase 
                                                
8
 See Levi Weaver, On Minor-League Pay, MLB’s Stance Doesn’t Line Up with the Facts, ATHLETIC (Apr. 4, 2018), 
https://www.theathletic.com/293189/%202018/04/04/on-minor-league-pay-mlbs-stance-doesnt-line-up-with-the-facts// (last visited 
March 1, 2023). (When recounting salary scale per level of minor league baseball, the article notes “federally-recognized poverty line 
is $12,140 per year for single-individual households.” According to the article, a not-insignificant percentage of minor league players 
are able to subsidize their relatively meager monthly salaries by drawing upon the signing bonuses they received from their MLB 
clubs when first entering the professional ranks. These bonuses can range anywhere from $10,000 to several million dollars. “The top 
64 picks [in the MLB draft] last year all received a bonus of over $1,000,000 before taxes, but roughly 40% of players  signed for one-
time bonuses of $10,000 or less.” 
9
 S. 448.110, F.S., expressly references ss. 213 and 214 of the FLSA, which address minimum wage exemptions and employment 
under special certificates, respectively. However, s. 214 has not been amended since 1989. (See Pub. L. 101–157, § 4(d), Nov. 17, 
1989, 103 Stat. 941.) 
10
 29 U.S.C. §218. 
11
 Congressional Research Service, CRS Report R42713, The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): An Overview, Updated March 2, 
2023, 
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42713#:~:text=The%20Fair%20Labor%20Standards%20Act%20(FLSA)%20provides
%20workers%20with%20minimum,employees%20are%20exempt%20from%20coverage, (last visited Mar. 14, 2023). 
12
 U.S. Department of Labor, Consolidated Minimum Wage Table, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/mw-consolidated (last visited 
Mar. 15, 2023). 
13
 Art. X, s. 24., Fla. Const. 
14
 Art. X, s. 24 (c), Fla. Const.  
15
 U.S. Department of State, Notice of Increase to State of Florida’s Minimum Wage, https://www.state.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-29-Notice-FL-Minimum-Wage-Increase.pdf (last visited Mar. 3, 2023).  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 4 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
by $1 until the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour on September 30, 2026.
16
 Beginning in 2027, the 
minimum wage will be adjusted annually for inflation, as it had been done from 2004 - 2021. 
 
Related to minimum wage, the Florida Constitution states, “All working Floridians are entitled to be paid 
a minimum wage sufficient to provide a decent and healthy life, that protects their employers from 
unfair low wage competition, and that does not force them to rely on taxpayer-funded public services.”
17
 
 
The Florida Constitution references the FLSA and specifically ties the meaning
18
 of certain terms, 
“Employer,” “Employee” and “Wage,” to have the meanings established under the FLSA and its 
implementing regulations.
19
 It also indicates that that case law, administrative interpretations, and other 
guiding standards developed under the federal FLSA must guide the construction of Florida’s 
Constitution related to Section 24 and any implementing statutes or regulations.
20
  
 
Florida Minimum Wage Act 
 
The Florida Minimum Wage Act (Act) was enacted in 2005 to implement the minimum wage provisions 
in the State Constitution.
21
 The Act designates the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) as the 
state agency that implements the minimum wage requirements, establishes procedures with respect to 
civil actions alleging violations, and provides that it is the exclusive remedy under state law for 
violations of Section 24.
22
  
 
The Act provides that effective May 2, 2005, employers are required to pay employees a minimum 
wage at an hourly rate of $6.15 for all hours worked in Florida. Only those individuals entitled to receive 
the federal minimum wage under the FSLA and its implementing regulations are eligible to receive the 
state minimum wage pursuant to the State Constitution and this statute. The provisions of ss. 213 and 
214 of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as interpreted by applicable federal regulations and 
implemented by the Secretary of Labor, are incorporated by reference.
23
 
 
The Act requires DEO to calculate an adjusted state minimum wage rate and requires the Department 
of Revenue (DOR) and DEO to annually publish the amount of the adjusted state minimum wage and 
the effective date on their websites. The Act authorizes persons to file a complaint or inform any person 
of his or her potential rights pursuant to Section 24 regarding unpaid wages.
24
 The Act also authorizes 
the Attorney General (AG) to bring a civil action to enforce these provisions. The AG may seek 
injunctive relief, and for willful violations, may seek to impose a fine of $1,000 per violation, payable to 
the state.
25
 
 
As it relates to the federal minimum wage and the FLSA, the Act specifies that:
26
 
 Only those individuals entitled to receive the federal minimum wage under the FSLA, and its 
implementing regulations, are eligible to receive the state minimum wage; and  
 Provisions related to federal minimum wage exemptions in the FLSA are considered 
incorporated in the Act. 
 
                                                
16
 Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida’s Minimum Wage, https://floridajobs.org/docs/default-source/business-growth-and-
partnerships/for-employers/posters-and-required-notices/2022-minimum-wage/2022-florida-minimum-wage-
announcement.pdf?sfvrsn=961754b0_2 (last visited Mar. 3, 2023).  
17
 Art. X, s. 24 (a), Fla. Const.  
18
 In re Advisory Opinion to the Atty. Gen. re Fla. Minimum Wage Amend., 880 So. 2d 636, 641–42 (Fla. 2004). (“The proposed 
amendment does not state that it is adopting the FLSA's definition of the term “employee,” but provides that it is adopting the meaning 
of the term “employee,” which is a much broader concept.”) 
19
 Art. X, s. 24(b), Fla. Const.  
20
 Art. X, s. 24(f), Fla. Const.  
21
 Ch. 2005-353, Laws of Fla., codified in s. 448.110, F.S. 
22
 S. 448.110(10), F.S. 
23
 S. 448.110(3), F.S. 
24
 S. 448.110(6), F.S. 
25
 S. 448.110(7), F.S. 
26
 S. 448.110(3), F.S.  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 5 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
Professional Baseball in Florida 
 
Currently, there are 12 minor league baseball teams that are affiliated with Major League Baseball 
(MLB) in Florida. There are approximately 500 players currently rostered, employed, and being paid by 
the 12 Florida Minor League Baseball teams.
27
 Additionally, 15 MLB teams conduct major and minor 
league spring training in Florida at thirteen different spring training facilities, a decrease from 18 teams 
in 2008 and 16 teams in 2009. The Cleveland Indians (previously playing at Winter Haven), Los 
Angeles Dodgers (Vero Beach) and Cincinnati Reds (Sarasota) have all moved to Arizona in recent 
years.
28
 Two teams that play in the MLB, the Miami Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays, are permanently 
located in Florida. 
 
The main baseball season runs from early April to early October with teams typically playing six days a 
week. There are also play-offs which take place at the end of the normal season for the top-ranking 
teams. The main season is preceded by spring training which typically starts around the middle of 
February. Many of Florida’s baseball parks host other MLB teams every Spring as part of the Grapefruit 
League Spring Training season. According to a 2018 economic impact study, the 2018 Florida 
Grapefruit League generated an economic impact of approximately $687 million, $348 million in direct 
spending, 7,152 jobs, and $253 million in earned wages, for the State of Florida.
29
  
 
According to the industry, baseball players hours vary widely based on a number of factors, which can 
vary. Players often perform extra activities, work longer hours than regularly scheduled, and perform 
different activities than their teammates.
30
 As a result, the MLB has argued that the nature of the sport 
stymies conventional attempts at categorizing “work hours.”
31
 
 
Recently, MLB agreed to pay $185 million to current and former minor league baseball players to settle 
a federal class action lawsuit in California alleging violations of minimum wage laws.
32
 In the lawsuit, 
the players sued MLB and the MLB Clubs claiming they failed to pay the players minimum wage and 
overtime pay in violation of the FLSA and state wage-and-hour laws in California, Arizona, and Florida.  
 
MLB also agreed to rescind any prohibitions against teams paying wages to minor league players 
outside of the season. The MLB also committed to issuing a memorandum advising their clubs to 
compensate minor leaguers in compliance with wage-and-hour laws in effect in Arizona and Florida 
during spring training, extended spring training, instructional leagues, and the championship season in 
those states, including any minimum wage laws that apply.
33
 
 
The Court held the final approval hearing related to the settlement on February 17, 2023. A late filed 
motion to object to the settlement was filed and the Court has taken the motion under consideration. A 
ruling is not expected until late March 2023.
34
 
 
Local Wage Ordinances 
 
                                                
27
 See Michael Avallone, Then and now: Florida State League, MiLB.com, https://www.milb.com/news/florida-state-league-overview 
(last visited Mar. 3, 2023). 
28
 FloridaReview.co.uk, FLORIDA SPRING TRAINING 2023, https://floridareview.co.uk/florida-events/florida-spring-training (last 
visited Mar. 15, 2023). 
29
 Florida Sports Foundation, 2018 MLB SPRING TRAINING ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY , http://playinflorida.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/08/GFL-IS-Page-by-Page-Booklet-spread.pdf (last visited Mar. 15, 2023). 
30
 Bleacher Report, Pregame Routines: A Typical Day in the Life of a Professional Baseball Player, 
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1061824-pregame-routines-a-typical-day-in-the-life-of-a-professional-baseball-player (last visited 
Mar. 15, 2023). 
31
 Pew Trusts, Baseball Players Press Lawmakers for Minor League Labor Standards, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-
analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/03/30/baseball-players-press-lawmakers-for-minor-league-labor-standards (last visited Mar. 19, 2023). 
32
 Aaron Senne et al vs. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball et al., Civil Case No. 14-cv-00608. 
33
 NBC News, MLB settles minor league players' wage-and-hour class action suit for $185 million, 
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mlb-settles-minor-league-players-wage-hour-class-action-suit-185-milli-rcna38554 (last 
visited Mar. 15, 2023). 
34
 JND Legal Administration, WELCOME TO THE SENNE V. OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL SETTLEMENT 
WEBSITE, https://www.baseballplayerwagecase.com/ (last visited Mar. 15, 2023).  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 6 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not preempt state laws or municipal ordinances from 
establishing a higher minimum wage. See s. 18(a) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as 
amended, 29 U.S.C. s. 218: 
 
No provision of [the Fair Labor Standards Act] or of any order thereunder shall 
excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance 
establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under 
[the federal act]. 
 
In Florida, the State Constitution authorizes counties to enact ordinances that are not inconsistent with 
state law.
35
 The State Constitution also grants municipalities the power to enact ordinances on any 
subject that state law may address, except:
36
 
 The subjects of annexation, merger, and exercise of extraterritorial power; 
 Any subject expressly prohibited by the State Constitution; 
 Any subject expressly preempted to state or county government by the State Constitution or by 
law; or 
 Any subject preempted to a county under a county charter.  
 
In 2003, the Legislature preempted the establishment of minimum wages to the state.
37
 However, a 
political subdivision (local government)
38
 retains the authority to establish a minimum wage other than a 
state or federal minimum wage or to provide employment benefits not otherwise required under state or 
federal law for:
39
 
 Its employees; 
 The employees of an employer contracting to provide goods or services for the local 
government, or for the employees of a subcontractor of such an employer, under the terms of a 
contract with the local government; or 
 The employees of an employer receiving a direct tax abatement or subsidy from the local 
governments, as a condition of the direct tax abatement or subsidy. 
 
The law also provides an exception for domestic violence or sexual abuse ordinances, orders, rules, or 
policies adopted by a local government.
40
 
 
The law contains an exception for situations where compliance with the law would prevent a local 
government from receiving federal funds. This allows compliance with the Davis-Bacon and related 
acts,
41
 which direct the federal Department of Labor to determine fair wages for contractors and 
subcontractors working on public buildings and public works. Florida law only allows non-compliance 
with regard to local minimum wage alterations to the extent necessary to allow receipt of federal 
funds.
42
 
 
Additionally, local governments are prohibited from requiring an employer to provide employment 
benefits
43
 not required by state or federal law.
44
 
 
                                                
35
 Section 1(f) and (g), Art. VIII of the State Constitution; see also s. 125.01, F.S. 
36
 Section 2(b), Art. VIII of the State Constitution. 
37
 S. 218.077(2), F.S. 
38
 “Political subdivision” is defined to mean a county, municipality, department, commission, district, board, or other public body, 
whether corporate or otherwise, created by or under state law. S. 218.077(1)(f), F.S.  
39
 S. 218.077(3)(a), F.S. 
40
 S. 218.077(3)(b), F.S. 
41
 See, e.g., 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq. 
42
 S. 218.077(4), F.S. 
43
 “Employment benefits” is defined to mean anything of value that an employee may receive from an employer in addition to wages 
and salary. The term includes, but is not limited to, health benefits; disability benefits; death benefits; group accidental death and 
dismemberment benefits; paid or unpaid days off for holidays, sick leave, vacation, and personal necessity; retirement benefits; and 
profit-sharing benefits. S. 218.077(1)(d), F.S. 
44
 S. 218.077(2), F.S. Federally authorized and recognized tribal governments, however, are not prohibited from requiring employment 
benefits for a person employed within a territory over which the tribe has jurisdiction. S. 218.077(5), F.S.  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 7 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
Recent Court Ruling 
 
In 2016, the city of Miami Beach enacted a local ordinance establishing a minimum hourly wage 
significantly exceeding the current Florida minimum wage. The ordinance applied to all employers 
operating with the city. The ordinance, which was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2018, 
established both a local minimum wage of $10.31 an hour and annual increases to $13.31 an hour 
effective January 2021. Subsequently, the ordinance was challenged on the grounds that it was 
preempted by Florida’s wage and employment benefits law that preempts the establishment of 
minimum wages to the state, and Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals struck down the ordinance. 
The court held that the Florida Constitution authorizes the state legislature to preempt municipal 
powers by statute. The court also rejected the city’s principal argument that Article X, Section 24 of the 
Florida Constitution, raising the state minimum wage, made the statute unconstitutional. In 2018, the 
Florida Supreme Court agreed to take up the case.
45
 However, in 2019, the Florida Supreme Court 
issued an order that discharged jurisdiction over the case. As a result, the Third District’s decision 
invalidating Miami Beach’s local wage ordinance appears to currently stand.
46
 
 
Effect of Proposed Changes 
 
The bill amends the Act to incorporate current and future amendments made to the FLSA into the Act, 
aligning Florida’s minimum wage exemptions with federal exemptions.  
 
Specifically, the bill: 
 Deletes an unnecessary date; 
 Adds “as amended” to the reference to the FLSA; and 
 Provides that this specific amendment to the Act is intended to “clarify existing law.” 
 
The bill amends Florida’s wage and employment benefits law to address local wage and employment 
benefits mandates. Specifically, the bill prohibits political subdivisions or local governments from 
seeking to control or affect the wages or employment benefits provided by their vendors, contractors, 
service providers, or other parties doing business with the political subdivision: 
 Through their purchasing or contracting procedures, or  
 Through the use of evaluation factors, qualification of bidders, or otherwise from awarding 
preferences on the basis of wages or employment benefits provided by their vendors, 
contractors, service providers, or other parties doing business with the political subdivision. 
 
The bill removes the exception allowing political subdivisions to establish a minimum wage or 
employment benefits not otherwise required under state or federal law for the employees of an 
employer contracting to provide goods or services for the political subdivision, or for the employees of a 
subcontractor of such an employer, under the terms of a contract with the political subdivision. 
 
This provision only applies to contracts, purchasing or contracting procedures, evaluation factors, 
qualifications of bidders, or other award preferences adopted by a political subdivision related to wages 
or employment benefits provided by vendors, contractors, service providers, or other parties doing 
business with the political subdivision entered into on or after the date this act becomes a law. 
 
B. SECTION DIRECTORY: 
Section 1: Amends s. 448.110, F.S., relating to state minimum wage; annual wage adjustment; 
enforcement. 
 
Section 2: Provides applicability. 
 
Section 3: Provides an effective date of upon becoming law. 
                                                
45
 City of Miami Beach v. Florida Retail Federation, Inc., 233 So.3d 1236 at 1238 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (declined for review February 
5, 2019). 
46
 JDSUPRA, Can Cities Set a Local Minimum Wage? Florida Supreme Court Says No (Feb. 14, 2019), 
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/can-cities-set-a-local-minimum-wage-67192/ (last visited Apr. 21, 2023).  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 8 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
 
II.  FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT 
 
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT: 
 
1. Revenues: 
None. 
 
2. Expenditures: 
None. 
 
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: 
 
1. Revenues: 
None. 
 
2. Expenditures: 
None. 
 
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR: 
The bill may have an effect on salaries paid to minor league baseball players. 
 
The bill will no longer allow political subdivisions or local governments to establish a minimum wage 
greater than a state or federal minimum wage for their vendors or contractors nor would they be 
allowed to require employers that have contracts or subcontracts with a political subdivision to provide 
employment benefits not otherwise required under state or federal law. This change may lower 
operating costs for these private employers. 
 
D. FISCAL COMMENTS: 
None. 
 
III.  COMMENTS 
 
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES: 
 
 1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision: 
Not applicable. This bill does not appear to require counties or municipalities to spend funds or take  
action requiring the expenditures of funds; reduce the authority that counties or municipalities have  
to raise revenues in the aggregate; or reduce the percentage of state tax shared with counties or  
municipalities. 
 
 2. Other: 
None. 
 
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY: 
None. 
 
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS: 
None. 
  STORAGE NAME: h0917e.COM 	PAGE: 9 
DATE: 4/24/2023 
  
IV.  AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES 
On April 24, 2023, the Commerce Committee adopted a proposed committee substitute (PCS), adopted 
one amendment to the PCS, and reported the bill favorably as a committee substitute. The PCS differed 
from the bill in that it: 
 Prohibits local governments from seeking to control or affect the wages or employment benefits, or 
awarding preferences on the basis of wages or employment benefits, provided by their vendors, 
contractors, service providers, or other parties doing business with the local government through 
purchasing and contracting procedures. 
 Removes the ability of local governments to establish a minimum wage for the employees of an 
employer contracting to provide goods or services for the local government, or for the employees of 
a subcontractor of such an employer, under the terms of a contract with the local government. 
 Requires these provisions to apply prospectively. 
 
This analysis is drafted to the committee substitute as passed by the Commerce Committee.