Rod Adams, an advocate with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, doesn’t mince words when it comes to the so-called Uniform Labor Standards Act — a Republican-led effort to block cities from imposing their own paid sick leave mandates or minimum-wage increases.

“Republican legislators, this is a spit in the face of the working people who you claim to represent,” said Adams, flanked by DFL lawmakers in advance of a House floor session on Thursday evening.

Minutes later, he joined dozens of labor, social justice and anti-poverty advocates outside the House chamber to chant and rally against “corporate greed” and in favor of “local control.”

Business advocates, however, say they have good reason to be wary of a potential patchwork of wage, sick leave and scheduling regulations that vary from city to city.

“If businesses don’t know the rules they’re going to be operating under, they’re not going to grow in Minnesota,” said lead author and Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, addressing House lawmakers Thursday during the marathon and sometimes emotional floor session, which stretched toward midnight. “They’re not going to add jobs in Minnesota. This bill simply conforms with what we’ve done for over 100 years.”

Minnesota Chamber urges lawmakers to vote for "pre-emption" bill to block St. Paul and Minneapolis from mandating paid sick leave benefits. pic.twitter.com/2dsionr218 — FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) March 3, 2017

The so-called “pre-emption” bill passed the Republican-controlled House 76-53 late Thursday night, largely along party lines, but it has yet to be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, who has shown no enthusiasm for the proposed legislation, has called it a business tactic to tamp salaries.

LOCAL WAGE, SICK LEAVE RULES

A December survey of 500 Minnesota companies, most of them small-business owners, found that more than 70 percent believe a raft of new rules — including a proposed $15 minimum wage in Minneapolis — will negatively affect their businesses.

“The results from our survey clearly demonstrate the need for a statewide uniform approach to these issues,” said Vicki Stute, president of the Dakota Regional Chamber of Commerce and chairwoman of the Metropolitan Advocacy Coalition of Chambers, in a prepared statement.

St. Paul and Minneapolis passed ordinances in 2016 that require most employers to offer workers paid sick leave, effective July 1. Advocates estimate some 150,000 workers — 63 percent people of color — would benefit.

In addition, Minneapolis is hosting listening sessions this month in advance of a possible increase to the citywide minimum wage. Duluth has been studying a possible sick leave mandate, and other cities are likely to jump aboard.

All of those efforts would fall by the wayside if House File 600, otherwise known as the Uniform Labor Standards Act — or pre-emption bill — becomes law. The bill blocks cities from mandating a higher minimum wage or greater sick leave and scheduling benefits than what’s required by the state of Minnesota.

Proponents such as Garofalo have said the intent is to create uniformity in employment regulations from city to city. The alternative, he said, would leave employers scrambling to understand requirements that could change at every municipal border.

“There are 854 cities in the state of Minnesota,” Garofalo said this month while introducing the bill at a House job growth committee he chairs. “It is unrealistic and unproductive to have 854 different labor standards.”

Some business owners say the lack of uniformity would leave employers vulnerable to predatory lawyers eager to exploit honest mistakes in paperwork and accounting as their mobile workforce moves from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Even the threat of a lawsuit can draw settlement offers from worried small-business owners.

Opponents such as the anti-poverty group ISAIAH say the proposed legislation would block local control over citywide rulemaking, historically a staple concern of conservative lawmakers.

“Working people are actually winning at the local level, and that scares people desperately,” said Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, on Thursday, addressing House lawmakers.

On Feb. 23, the seven members of the St. Paul City Council authored a letter to House Ways and Means Chair Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, offering to help him replicate St. Paul’s sick leave regulations on a statewide basis, an offer that Republican lawmakers have shown no interest in taking up.

St. Paul City Council authors letter to House Ways and Means Chair offering to help him craft statewide bill based on St. Paul's sick leave pic.twitter.com/6gZ4BaY58w — FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) March 3, 2017

The council members said the pre-emption bill would “undermine the critically important relationship between us as locally elected officials and our constituents.”

Labor interests say that given the lack of state and federal action on paid sick leave in particular, a city-by-city approach to increasing worker wages and benefits may be the only alternative. Workers in retail, food service and other low-wage industries would benefit most.

“We’re going to fight against these Republican efforts,” said Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, during a media gathering prior to the floor session. “They’re anti-worker. They’re anti-democracy.”

Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said the pre-emption bill “locks in” inequality and overturns democratic decision-making.

The statewide minimum wage is $7.75 for small businesses and $9.50 for larger employers. North Minneapolis mother Rosheeda Credit said that’s not enough for her to save up for a house or even the two months rent necessary as initial payment for an apartment.

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How COVID upended our lives. Here are 12 stories. “If I’m making $9.50 an hour, how am I going to have two months rent saved up?” said Credit, a McDonald’s worker who said she has been living week to week with her five children in different cheap motels.

Retired St. Paul firefighter Dick Sarafolean, an ISAIAH member, and Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis, called the pre-emption bill boilerplate copied from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national business advocacy coalition that has pushed model legislation on behalf of members such as ExxonMobil, Pfizer and Koch Industries.

ALEC’s Minnesota state chairs are Garofalo and Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake. With that much corporate influence, Sarafolean said, “Why do we need a legislature?”

Dan Swenson-Klatt, owner of the Butter Bakery Cafe in South Minneapolis, said he happily offered paid sick leave to his workers months before the city of Minneapolis mandated it.

“Last year, we had 22 folks put it to use,” said Swenson-Klatt, standing next to one of his bakers who had used the benefit. “It came out to less than 2 percent of my payroll, and less than 1 percent of the actual cost of running the shop.”

Butter Bakery: 22 workers used sick leave last year. Cost owner less than 2 pct payroll, < 1 pct overall expenses pic.twitter.com/gEstLXNlO9 — FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) March 2, 2017

This story has been updated to correct an earlier version that gave an incorrect number of Republican authors for the bill in the House. There are 32 GOP sponsors of the bill, 3 are members of the DFL Party.

HOW THEY VOTED