Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy signed Senate Bill 185 into law, which repeals the minimum wage exemption in Alaska Statute 23.10.070 which allows anyone who “is impaired by physical or mental deficiency, age, or injury” to be paid less than minimum wage.
Bill sponsor, Senate President Peter Micciche said:
“Statute does demonstrate the values of a society. When they brought this bill to me and I read the words in existing statute, it instantly struck me as being wrong…as you walked from office-to-office and talked to legislators and they went, ‘I can’t believe this is in our statutes,’ that those with physical disabilities can be paid less than minimum wage for equal and sometimes superior labor, it just didn’t make sense.”
Sen. Micciche added:
“So, think about what’s written in the statutes today. I’m a Senator. I’ve been pretty active, relatively successful. Just think about what it would be like if they said, ‘You’ve done a pretty good job, but you walk a little bit differently, so we’re going to pay you a little less than what the other senators earn.’ Or as a commercial fisherman as I am, if my fish were worth less because I have a minor difference to the way that I function physically. Or when I was in the private sector, if my wages were less. There are thousands of Alaskans with disabilities that are in the workplace, many of them performing well above their counterparts without disabilities.”
Additionally, the legislation adds an exemption for nonprofit resident camps that provide staff with room and board, professional development, and training, which allows for camps to have a predictable and consistent process for budgeting and planning for staff wages. The language also makes sure that the Alaskan youth camps can continue to function and that staff who work there are compensated within the norms for resident camps established across the United States.
Governor Dunleavy said:
“My job is just to help sign this into law because all the heavy lifting, all the work has been done by all of you folks. It really is one step closer to making Alaska and the United States, but Alaska a more perfect place for all of our people, for everybody.”
The bill retains the requirement that all minimum wage exemptions be approved by the Department of Labor Commissioner.
Click here for more information about SB 185.
