Baseball player wage change passes

Ormond Beach Observer

A measure that would exempt minor-league baseball players from the state’s voter-approved minimum wage is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis after passing the House on Tuesday.

The Republican-controlled House voted 86-30 to approve the measure (SB 892), which would incorporate into the state minimum-wage law a carve-out for minor-league baseball players that is in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

House sponsor Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, warned that without the change, teams could limit access to training facilities or pull players from games to ensure they don’t exceed weekly work-hour limits.

“These players need that visibility. They need that opportunity to play and practice to make it to the next level,” Yeager said.

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

“Many of the baseball players you all have the joy of watching play, this is their way out of poverty,” Rep. Susan Valdes, D-Tampa, said. “We have baseball players from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, and we sit there and watch these young men play ball and this is their way of helping their families back in their countries.”

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 put 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.

Minor-league players recently reached a five-year collective bargaining agreement with Major League Baseball that put pay for players in Class-A at $26,200 or $27,300 a year depending on the level.

Double-A pay went to $27,300 a year and Triple-A pay is now $35,800.