Gov. Rick Scott didn’t disappoint big business Friday, when he signed off on a bill which pre-empts local governments from adopting sick leave ordinances, like the one championed by Orange County citizens.
The bill which had the strong backing of corporations like Disney and Darden, makes meaningless a three-judge panel’s ruling that Orange County place its sick time initiative on the next election ballot scheduled for August 2014.
Supporters of the measure hailed Scott’s inking of HB 655, while critics called the bill “particularly troubling.”
“Today, Gov. Scott sided with corporations like Disney and Darden over Florida families,” said Stephanie Porta, a leader in the initiative fight to get Earned Sick Time on the ballot in Orange County. “But the fight for Earned Sick Time will continue. Floridians believe in earned sick time for hardworking families and we don’t give up when we believe in something.”
Last year, more than 50,000 residents of Orange County signed a petition to ask voters whether businesses of a certain size should offer paid sick-leave to employees. And a recent PPP Poll found that 80% of like Florida voters support Earned Sick Time.
However, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and big business praised Scott for signing “a bill protecting job creators and job seekers.”
“Protecting small businesses and jobs from union mandates that drive up costs makes Florida more competitive,” said Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber, in a statement. “This law ensures mandatory leave is decided at the state level and preempts union-backed efforts to have local and county governments adopt policies governing terms of employment and other wage related issues.”
The statewide standard will help make Florida more competitive by preventing a patchwork of unpredictable and differing varying mandatory leave requirements, the Chamber added.
And he waited until Mayor Jacobs was done speaking to local elected officials of BOTH Parties so nobody needed to raise the troubling issue of texts, lobbyists or who really runs this community. All the Democrats and Republicans in the room could just applaud her video about “imagining” the future where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.