TALLAHASSEE — Minor league baseball players would be exempt from Florida’s voter-approved minimum wage law under a proposal that has started moving forward in the state Senate.
The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee voted 8-2 on Monday to approve a measure (SB 892) that would incorporate into the state’s minimum-wage law a carve-out for minor-league baseball players in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. An identical House bill (HB 917) has been filed for this year’s legislative session.
A Senate staff analysis estimated about 500 players are tied to minor league teams in Florida.
Spring training is held at 13 sites across the state by 15 major-league teams and their minor-league affiliates. During the summer, 12 minor-league teams play in Florida, with 10 in the Single-A Florida State League, the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Bill sponsor Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, equated the time that minor leaguers spend on the field and in training, which often exceeds a 40-hour work week, to an “interview for a job.” Martin recounted his time two decades ago as a clubhouse attendant at the Boston Red Sox’s training complex in Fort Myers and said minor leaguers weren’t envious that he made a higher wage while doing their laundry, vacuuming and preparing meals.
“Some of them had seven-figure contracts that had paid them substantially. Others were there for the opportunity to play baseball for a living and earn a massive income,” Martin...
Patricia White, 70, of Old Greenwich, received a nine-month prison sentence for submitting false claims for unclaimed properties to around 30 state treasuries. HARRISBURG, Pa. — Months after her br...