Nevada Legislature: $9 minimum-wage provision added to overtime bill

Republicans surprised their Democratic colleagues on Friday by tacking a provision raising Nevada’s minimum wage to $9 an hour to a bill that would repeal a law limiting the regular workday to eight hours.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Labor and Energy passed an amended version of SB193, in spite of indignation from Democratic committee members who said the matter was not thoroughly vetted and married a concept they might support with one they dislike.

“There’s an opportunity here to move it along and do the right thing,” said Republican Sen. Patricia Farley, who proposed the wage hike. “I think people forget sometimes, but Republicans have a heart too.”

The original measure repealed a law requiring employers to pay overtime after eight hours of work in a 24-hour period. It would only require overtime once an employee works more than 40 hours in a week.

Republicans said it would give employers more flexibility in scheduling workers. Unions and Democrats opposed the concept, which they said could lead to exploitation of workers.

Farley proposed an amendment just before the vote, suggesting the minimum wage rise from $8.25 to $9 an hour for workers who don’t receive employer-sponsored health care.

Democrats cried foul, saying the new hybrid bill contained toxic provisions and would box them into voting against a higher minimum wage — something they have long supported.

“It’s like saying: ‘Here’s your Starbucks coffee. What kind of poison would you like with it?’ “ Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman said.

Sen. Mark Manendo, a Democrat, objected to the sudden introduction of the measure, saying the minimum wage is a major policy issue that needed a full hearing and ample notice for the public. He asked why Farley chose $9, and whether $10.10, $12 or some other rate might be more appropriate.

“What the hell is the number?” he said.

Republican committee chair Sen. James Settelmeyer described the bill as a compromise and faulted Democrats for their efforts to take the wage issue to the ballot rather than deal with it legislatively.

It’s at least the third time this session that the Republican-controlled Legislature has advanced bills mixing Democratic priority issues with ones they find objectionable. A bill recently signed by the governor allowed more money for school construction while suspending prevailing-wage rules for contractors, and another bill expanded a ban on guns for domestic abusers while also expanding the definition of justifiable homicide.

“This is Republicans attaching bad stuff to good stuff,” said Senate Minority Leader Aaron Ford, a Democrat. “This is par for the course.”