As ordered by the Biden administration, the Department of Labor’s new minimum wage hike, which requires federal agencies to pay their contractors a $15-per-hour minimum wage, has officially taken effect.
At first glance, the policy appears to impact only government employees, or at least that’s how it’s being presented to the public. But the fine print tells a different story — and reveals how much the president has exceeded his constitutional authority.
The first step to understanding the problem with the wage hike is to answer one vital question: What is a government contractor? The first-blush answer might be a consultant working for a federal agency such as the Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, or Veterans Affairs. Seems simple enough, right? Well, not exactly. The new rule scoops in many more businesses.
Duke Bradford, for example, is the founder and owner of the Colorado-based company Arkansas Valley Adventures, an outdoors outfitter that facilitates whitewater rafting and rock-climbing adventures for its patrons.
Duke’s company is not part of any federal agency; it’s an entirely private business. Decades ago, after years of dreaming, he turned his love of the outdoors into a company that gives his patrons the gift of adventure — and he did it on his own without any help from the government.
But his business relies on the use of federal land, as does most outdoor recreation in the American West. And to access that land and serve his customers, he has...
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