What is the Florida baseball players minimum wage bill? Newest legislation explained

On Monday, June 12, a new minimum wage bill was passed in Florida when Governor and 2024 Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed it into law.

Under the new law, the State of Florida will remain exempt from federal minimum wage exemptions, which was approved by congress after renewal of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 2018. As part of the act, the MLB was allowed to circumvent minimum wage laws for minor league players.

In short, the new minimum wage bill will allow minor league baseball players in Florida to receive less than minimum wage. A Republican legislator who sponsored the bill made the point that MiLB players are often supplied with free meals, transportation and accomodation, saying that "nobody is starving".

The bill, known as SB 892, was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Florida State House. The bill passed by a vote of 85 to 35 in the 120-seat legislature. All 84 DeSantis-aligned Republicans supported the bill, while all but one Democratic representatives voted against it.

"What do you think @mlb? @MiLB Ron DeSantis Signs Bill to Stop Florida Baseball Players Making Minimum Wage" - Stephanie

The federal minimum wage in the USA is just $7.25 per hour, but $11 in Florida. While the state minimum wage will rise to $12 per hour on Sept. 30, MiLB players will see no such change when the new minimum hourly rate comes into play. Ten out of 30 MLB teams, including the New York Yankees, have their Class-A affiliates in the Florida State League.

To keep up with this and other minimum wage bill passages, Minor League Baseball has raised its minimum. Class A players will now see the minimum annual salary rise from just over $11,000 to over $26,000, while Triple-A ball players will now be entitled to a minimum annual salary of $35,000.

"Minor league baseball players can be paid less than Florida’s minimum wage under this bill Gov. DeSantis just signed into law:" - Aaron Parseghian

With teams like the New York Mets paying players like Justin Verlander about $43 million per season, it is not hard to see the glaringly extreme spectrum of salaries throughout the various levels of baseball.

Florida minimum wage bill maintains the status quo

With the bill, Ron DeSantis is doing what he was elected to do, which is to maintain Trump era policies. With the GOP race heating up between the Florida Governor and the former President, do not expect to see the Florida minimum wage bill surface as any sort of hot topic of debate.