Tennessee minimum wage bill scheduled for vote

The Tennessee House of Representatives will vote today on the new minimum wage law that will raise the state's minimum wage to $6.15. The bill has also cleared committees in the Senate and a vote there is expected soon.But a funny thing happened on the way to the floor for a vote. Actually, a couple of funny things. Well, not so funny, really.First, under pressure from special interests, including the nation's largest cinema chain operator which is headquartered in Knoxville and also happens to employ large numbers of part-time college students, the bill was amended to provide the same exemption for student workers as provided under federal law. (Federal law requires employers to obtain a certificate of exemption, but Tennessee's law does not appear to have the same requirement.) There are also amendments to exempt agricultural and nursery workers.Second, the bill was effectively neutered by removing all regulatory enforcement provisions. The original bill called for enforcement by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and made violations a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to $500 in fines, or civil penalties of up to $1000. These provisions were struck from the bill, leaving it up to employees to file a civil lawsuit as their only recourse to recover lost wages. This was allegedly done to eliminate a $450K+ fiscal impact on the state budget for enforcement.(In somewhat related news, another bill has been kicking around that would outlaw state and local governments from enacting a "living wage" over and above any minimum wage in effect.)Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen initially opposed raising the minimum wage, but now says he supports it. Presumably he will sign it if it passes. If so, it would be one of the few times he has acted like a Democrat, but a Democrat's gotta do what a Democrat's gotta do to get elected and keep office in a Red State.Raising the minimum wage is an easy bone to toss his Democratic base, though, because most voters are not opposed -- 85% of them if you believe the national polls, and Republicans seem to be putting up only token opposition. Let's hope this is still the case when the bill reaches the floor of the Republican controlled Senate.UPDATE: The House has postponed their vote until next week. No word yet as to why.