All’s well that ends well, both Shakespeare works and, sometimes, in the General Assembly, as well.
A measure, patroned by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), to end a 1940s-era measure allowing those employing workers with disabilities to pay less than the minimum wage, is headed into law.
Both houses of the legislature on April 12 agreed to recommendations made by the Youngkin administration on the bill. Final votes were 96-0 in the House of Delegates and 40-0 in the state Senate.
The measure would impact about 300 people, who under the bill eventually would be paid no less than Virginia’s prevailing minimum wage once full provisions of the measure kick in in 2030.
Today, those workers can be paid less than the state and federal minimum wages, in some cases as low as $3 per hour.
The bill also uses federal funding to reimburse the employers (not more than 20) currently using existing law to pay their workers less than minimum wage.
Current state law authorizing a sub-minimum wage, when enacted decades ago, was seen as a progressive measure, enabling those with disabilities to enter the workforce and be productive. But in recent years it has been viewed as archaic.
Hope’s measure sailed through the Republican-controlled House of Delegates unanimously, but ran into trouble with GOP members in the Democratic state Senate before winning narrow passage on a party-line vote.
Hope worked with Gov. Youngkin’s office to address concerns, crafting a compromise that seemed to make everyone happy.
