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Legislation to prohibit local communities from enacting labor policies like a $15 per hour minimum wage and earned sick time has passed both the Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate.
A conference committee was expected to soon reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills.
Governor Mark Dayton, as reported April 21 by the Pioneer Press, said he was waiting to see the final version of the bill and added, “I’m not going to make a public position at this point.”
Within minutes of the Senate vote April 20 to pass the “preemption” bill, the Minnesota AFL-CIO sent out an e-mail alert urging phone calls and messages to the Governor’s office to ask him to veto the legislation.
The e-mail read, “the Minnesota Legislature has passed a bill that would steal paid sick days from 150,000 working Minnesotans and prevent communities from raising wages and labor standards at the local level.”
“Please tell Governor Dayton to protect working people and veto this bill.”
Governor Dayton’s office may be contacted by phone at 651-201-3400 or (toll free) 800-657-3717.
An e-mail message to Governor Dayton may be sent via an online form available at mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form.
The legislation (House File 600) passed the Republican-majority Minnesota House of Representatives 76-53 March 2. Only two Democrats voted yes.
In the Republican-majority Minnesota Senate, the April 20 vote was 35-31 (Senate File 580), with only one Democrat voting in favor.
The legislation aims to block $15 per hour minimum wage ordinances currently moving forward in the Minneapolis and St. Paul city councils.
The legislation also would roll back recently-passed ordinances in the two cities which require employers to offer earned sick time.