HB 433 – Employment Regulations

On Thursday, March 7, HB 433 by Representative Tiffany Esposito (R-Fort Myers) was heard, amended, and passed on the House Floor with 73 yeas and 33 nays. Senator Jay Trumbull (R-Panama City) sponsored the Senate companion, SB 1492.

HB 433 was filed as a bill that would preempt local governments from adding additional ordinances relating to workplace heat exposure requirements. It was amended to include preemptions relating to local wage requirements.

Employers are already required under OSHA to provide a place of employment that is free from recognized standards including heat. There are clear standards employers must meet and this bill will prevent another level of regulation in this area and an unlevel regulatory playing field.

Some local governments have enacted ordinances that require businesses to pay mandated wage rates higher than the minimum wage and meet other employment requirements. HB 433 promotes free market principles and ensures consistency by only recognizing the constitutionally mandated state minimum wage.

On Tuesday, March 5, the Florida Senate adopted an amendment that removed the provision relating to local minimum wage preemptions and sent the bill back to the Florida House. Today, the Florida House, after receiving the bill from the Senate, reinstituted the local minimum wage provision that was removed by the Senate. HB 433 will now go back to the Florida Senate for further consideration.

AIF supports regulatory consistency in workplace safety regulations that prevents a patchwork of local regulations that could include unattainable standards which do little to protect employees while opening an onslaught of fines penalties, and other punitive measures.