Orange County residents were poised to vote on legislation regarding mandatory paid leave time in a 2014 referendum. But, just in time, Rick Scott signed into law a bill that stops local governments from legislating paid sick leave.
The bill has made moot a 2014 referendum in Orange County that would have decided whether to require paid sick leave. More than 50,000 voters had tried to get the measure on the November 6 (2012) ballot but the County Commission voted it off. It made it on the ballot in 2014 thanks to a three-judge panel.
These bills are part of ALEC’s efforts to weaken wage and labor standards: Since 2011, 67 such ALEC-affiliated bills have been introduced in state legislatures, 11 of which had been signed into law before Scott signed this bill.
Governor Scott, taking the side of the business community, wasted no time in reviewing and signing the bill. He only used four days of a fifteen day legal review period before signing the legislation. The bill was supported by Disney, Darden Restaurant Group, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
“Protecting small businesses and jobs from union mandates that drive up costs makes Florida more competitive,” Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber said in a statement.
“Florida businesses cannot survive with competing regulations on a county by county basis and this legislation now allows for a level playing field for job creation and expansion,” Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said.
Associated Industries of Florida CEO Tom Feeney:
“All Floridians need to be grateful to Gov. Scott for standing up to sweet-sounding promises of ‘free benefits’ and union demagoguery that would be the siren call for Florida’s economy, crashing us into another recession. On behalf of Florida’s business community, we thank the Governor for signing this job-saving legislation,” he said in a statement.
In other words, pretty much the same old cliché rationale for anti-worker laws such as this.
Opposition was very strong against this law and the consequences for the working poor. Scott’s office said four times as many emails arrived to him urging a veto the bill; 28 phone callers asked him to sign it, while more than 1,025 phoned in suggesting he reject it.
“By signing HB 655 Governor Scott shows once again he is beholden to Big Business (Disney, Darden) at any cost, even at the expense of women, children, workers, and those falling behind. The inequity of wealth in Florida just widened even more today and the real possibility of quality of life enhancements for the people of Florida vanished by a stroke of the pen by a heartless and uncaring man,” Fred Frost, Chairman, Miami Dade County Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces, said in a release.
A recent poll revealed that 80 percent of Floridians support earned sick leave.
I really don’t see how Gov. Scott is going to get reelected… Oh, I forgot, it’s Florida.
