STATE NEWS BRIEFS

Rep. Ryan Chamberlin [Photo courtesy myfloridahouse.gov]

Minimum wage change targeted

A proposal to carve an exemption in the state’s voter approved minimum wage has resurfaced for the 2026 legislative session that begins in January.

Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, on Oct. 17 filed a measure seeking to allow people to voluntarily accept pay below the minimum wage when employed in positions deemed a “work-study, internship, pre-apprenticeship, or other similar work-based learning opportunity.”

A similar effort advanced through several committees in both chambers before stalling during this year’s legislative session.

Proponents argued the proposal would help people gain skills through entry-level work experience that isn’t available at the state’s minimum wage.

Opponents countered that employers would simply redefine entry-level jobs as “internships.”

A 2020 state constitutional amendment required gradual increases in the minimum wage. It is $14 an hour and will go to $15 an hour on Sept. 30, 2026. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Shutdown pauses jobs update

Amid the federal government shutdown, the state Department of Commerce did not release monthly unemployment figures as expected on Oct. 17.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau and Department of Labor are not updating labor market and employment information during the shutdown, leaving the state’s jobless rate of 3.8 percent on hold, according to Florida Department of Commerce spokeswoman Kristin Gehrke.

“Florida’s release of employment data will recommence when the federal government resumes operations,” Gehrke said when asked about the latest numbers on Friday.

The state’s unemployment rate will stay at the level reported for August, which showed 424,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed from a workforce of 11.196 million.

On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly said Florida is creating more businesses and leading in talent recruitment and development. Growth in skilled manufacturing jobs faces a challenge “explaining to young people why they want to get into skilled laborer jobs,” Kelly added.

“Most of these jobs are pretty high tech, exciting jobs,” Kelly told the House Careers and Workforce Subcommittee.

Of the 430,000 Floridians working in manufacturing, more than half are 45 and older, with many companies operating with a “lean” workforce — a situation that may continue through 2035, according to Kelly.

“Which is very disproportionately different than most of our other workforce sectors in Florida,” he said. “So, for all we’re doing, we’re just simply aging our retirements out of our manufacturing sector faster than people coming into it.”

Lake County cattle ranch preserved

Florida has agreed to spend $3.8 million to limit development on 1,254 acres in Lake County used for a cattle operation, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced on Oct. 17.

The deal involves purchasing a conservation easement on the land used by D & D Ranch, with money set aside in the state Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. Conservation easements allow agricultural operations to continue while preventing development. The ranch is flanked by pasture, wetlands and citrus groves to the east and upland forest to the west.

The property overlaps a strategic corridor within the Florida Ecological Greenways Network and is within the Florida Wildlife Corridor. Lands to the south and west of the ranch are expected to be developed by 2040, according to a University of Florida Center for Landscape Conservation Planning report.