An Iowa bill that would take away local control over the minimum wage and employment and civil rights protections could face a legal challenge from Johnson County, officials said Wednesday.
"The Board of Supervisors of Johnson County will do everything we can to stop this from being implemented ... and that includes going to court, joining with other cities and counties in lawsuits," said Janelle Rettig, the board chair.
Members of the board described the bill as an overreach of state authority that flies in the face of Republican rhetoric about local control.
"Basically, they’re trying to take all possible power away from local government," Supervisor Rod Sullivan said. "And some of it strikes me as, on its face, unconstitutional. They’re saying we can’t pass a resolution saying we support a higher minimum wage. I mean, that’s crazy."
If passed, House Study Bill 92 would immediately scrap local minimum wage ordinances, bringing the minimum wage in Johnson County down from $10.10 an hour to $7.25.
Still, Rettig was quick to note that the version of the bill debated in the Iowa Legislature on Wednesday was different than a draft that she had seen earlier and said, "You can't decide until you have a real bill." The bill is currently in a subcommittee of the House Local Government Committee.
RELATED: GOP bill would freeze Iowa minimum wage at $7.25, rescind local increases
Supervisor Mike Carberry agreed that a lawsuit would be one possible response to the bill, and said the board would discuss it further.
"We may not even sue, but it’s one of our options," he said.
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said she hasn't had a chance to closely review the bill and that talk of a lawsuit is premature at this point.
"I kind of think we need to wait and see what happens," she said.
Whether or not a lawsuit materializes, local officials agreed that if passed as written, the bill's impact would go far beyond the minimum wage, and could gut local employment and civil rights protections.
The bill would also amend the Iowa Civil Rights Act, forbidding any local civil rights ordinances that afford protections beyond those in state and federal law. That move would ostensibly ban local governments from approving deeper protections for certain protected classes such as racial minorities or gays and lesbians.
Johnson County officials said they were concerned that those provisions would affect the county's human rights ordinance and other nondiscrimination measures.
PREVIOUSLY: Iowa City council adopts fair housing changes
After a cursory consideration of the proposed legislation, Assistant Iowa City Attorney Sue Dulek said the bill, if signed by the governor, could render city protections for access to housing and employment void.
Dulek said she hadn't investigated the bill closely, but "my assumption is that these protections would go away."
Early last year, the Iowa City Council amended its human rights ordinance to make it unlawful for landlords to discriminate against potential tenants based on participation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as "Section 8," or the use of public assistance, like Social Security and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
“The public assistance source of income includes Section 8, but it's a little broader than that. You can't discriminate because somebody has income from Social Security or food stamps or unemployment,” Dulek said.
Those protections would go away if the bill was passed, she said.
Iowa City residents also would lose protections from discrimination based on marital status as it relates to employment and housing, and protection from discrimination based on the presence or absence of dependents in terms of housing, “meaning whether or not you have children or adult dependents, you can't discriminate based on that for access to housing, and the state doesn't have that. That protected class would go away,” Dulek said.
MORE: Will Johnson County's $10.10 minimum wage survive?
Under the bill, cities and counties would be prohibited from passing their own ordinances, resolutions, motions and amendments related to wages, benefits, employment leave, benefits and other conditions of employment. Lyness said the current phrasing of the bill could lead to confusion.
"Part of the concern is the way it's drafted," Lyness said. "It’s not very clear who the county can set wages for, so one of the questions is are they telling us we can’t set wages for our own employees?"
Since the November election, officials have expected the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature to enact some version of legislation that would take away local control of minimum wage ordinances, as a response to wage increases in Johnson, Polk, Linn and Wapello counties last year.
However, the bill, introduced by Jake Highfill, R-Johnston, goes beyond what many in Johnson County expected. Initially, some county officials had been hopeful that a modest statewide wage increase would be passed, even as local control of the issue was taken away.
"We all expected that they were going to come at us with a preemption bill that stopped us from being able to control the minimum wage but at least raised the state wage somewhere, and now they’re not even doing that," Supervisor Kurt Friese said.
Democrats in both chambers have introduced bills to raise the state minimum wage, but those are unlikely to receive support from Republicans.
The bill also includes provisions that would prevent counties and cities from passing stricter laws regarding the sale or package of consumer merchandise. That would prevent ordinances, like one under consideration in Dubuque, that would ban the use of plastic bags at grocery stores.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...ld-sue-state-over-minimum-wage-bill/97649156/
"The Board of Supervisors of Johnson County will do everything we can to stop this from being implemented ... and that includes going to court, joining with other cities and counties in lawsuits," said Janelle Rettig, the board chair.
Members of the board described the bill as an overreach of state authority that flies in the face of Republican rhetoric about local control.
"Basically, they’re trying to take all possible power away from local government," Supervisor Rod Sullivan said. "And some of it strikes me as, on its face, unconstitutional. They’re saying we can’t pass a resolution saying we support a higher minimum wage. I mean, that’s crazy."
If passed, House Study Bill 92 would immediately scrap local minimum wage ordinances, bringing the minimum wage in Johnson County down from $10.10 an hour to $7.25.
Still, Rettig was quick to note that the version of the bill debated in the Iowa Legislature on Wednesday was different than a draft that she had seen earlier and said, "You can't decide until you have a real bill." The bill is currently in a subcommittee of the House Local Government Committee.
RELATED: GOP bill would freeze Iowa minimum wage at $7.25, rescind local increases
Supervisor Mike Carberry agreed that a lawsuit would be one possible response to the bill, and said the board would discuss it further.
"We may not even sue, but it’s one of our options," he said.
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said she hasn't had a chance to closely review the bill and that talk of a lawsuit is premature at this point.
"I kind of think we need to wait and see what happens," she said.
Whether or not a lawsuit materializes, local officials agreed that if passed as written, the bill's impact would go far beyond the minimum wage, and could gut local employment and civil rights protections.
The bill would also amend the Iowa Civil Rights Act, forbidding any local civil rights ordinances that afford protections beyond those in state and federal law. That move would ostensibly ban local governments from approving deeper protections for certain protected classes such as racial minorities or gays and lesbians.
Johnson County officials said they were concerned that those provisions would affect the county's human rights ordinance and other nondiscrimination measures.
PREVIOUSLY: Iowa City council adopts fair housing changes
After a cursory consideration of the proposed legislation, Assistant Iowa City Attorney Sue Dulek said the bill, if signed by the governor, could render city protections for access to housing and employment void.
Dulek said she hadn't investigated the bill closely, but "my assumption is that these protections would go away."
Early last year, the Iowa City Council amended its human rights ordinance to make it unlawful for landlords to discriminate against potential tenants based on participation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as "Section 8," or the use of public assistance, like Social Security and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
“The public assistance source of income includes Section 8, but it's a little broader than that. You can't discriminate because somebody has income from Social Security or food stamps or unemployment,” Dulek said.
Those protections would go away if the bill was passed, she said.
Iowa City residents also would lose protections from discrimination based on marital status as it relates to employment and housing, and protection from discrimination based on the presence or absence of dependents in terms of housing, “meaning whether or not you have children or adult dependents, you can't discriminate based on that for access to housing, and the state doesn't have that. That protected class would go away,” Dulek said.
MORE: Will Johnson County's $10.10 minimum wage survive?
Under the bill, cities and counties would be prohibited from passing their own ordinances, resolutions, motions and amendments related to wages, benefits, employment leave, benefits and other conditions of employment. Lyness said the current phrasing of the bill could lead to confusion.
"Part of the concern is the way it's drafted," Lyness said. "It’s not very clear who the county can set wages for, so one of the questions is are they telling us we can’t set wages for our own employees?"
Since the November election, officials have expected the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature to enact some version of legislation that would take away local control of minimum wage ordinances, as a response to wage increases in Johnson, Polk, Linn and Wapello counties last year.
However, the bill, introduced by Jake Highfill, R-Johnston, goes beyond what many in Johnson County expected. Initially, some county officials had been hopeful that a modest statewide wage increase would be passed, even as local control of the issue was taken away.
"We all expected that they were going to come at us with a preemption bill that stopped us from being able to control the minimum wage but at least raised the state wage somewhere, and now they’re not even doing that," Supervisor Kurt Friese said.
Democrats in both chambers have introduced bills to raise the state minimum wage, but those are unlikely to receive support from Republicans.
The bill also includes provisions that would prevent counties and cities from passing stricter laws regarding the sale or package of consumer merchandise. That would prevent ordinances, like one under consideration in Dubuque, that would ban the use of plastic bags at grocery stores.
http://www.press-citizen.com/story/...ld-sue-state-over-minimum-wage-bill/97649156/
