SB 185-ELIMINATE MINIMUM WAGE EXEMPTION  3:30:00 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the next order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 185(L&C), "An Act relating to exemptions from minimum wage." CO-CHAIR FIELDS specified the intent of the hearing was to bring the legislation back before the committee because, after lengthy consultation with stakeholders and Legislative Legal Services, language has been written that will ensure Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Campfire can continue to operate. He related that the [Department of Labor and Workforce Development] has promulgated temporary or emergency regulations so [these nonprofits] can continue to operate this summer regardless of whether a bill is passed, but this legislation would provide them some certainty. He said the committee needs to rescind action on SB 185, then adopt a new HCS, and then pass the amended legislation so it can be heard on the House floor. 3:30:50 PM REPRESENTATIVE NELSON offered his understanding that this is for all nonprofits, not just Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Campfire specifically. CO-CHAIR FIELDS replied yes, this exemption would fall under the "learner" category in statute. It would codify an existing practice so that employees in a residential camp receiving room and board can be paid sub-minimum wage, he explained, and there are some thresholds depending on the number of hours worked. It does not create a new exemption, he continued, it codifies a new exemption following the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's re-interpretation of the existing learner exemption. He stated that this language has been endorsed by the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Campfire, and the Alaska AFL-CIO. It would apply to other camps, he said, but it was important to work with those camps that had identified this problem. 3:31:52 PM CO-CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ specified that this would only apply to nonprofit residential camps that operate for 12 weeks or less and which offer room and board in addition to the weekly wage. It is a very narrow exemption, she continued, designed to ensure that nonprofit organizations will be able to continue offering residential summer camps within their existing financial frameworks. It does not go beyond that, she added. CO-CHAIR FIELDS clarified it would be more accurate to say that the Alaska AFL-CIO does not object to this language rather than to say that the Alaska AFL-CIO endorses it. He said he agrees it is important to have tight language so that this is not abused. His view, he opined, is that it needs to be language that can be passed on the floor; if it gets broadened it would endanger the underlying bill. 3:32:46 PM REPRESENTATIVE MCCARTY asked whether anything has been heard from nonprofits that offer winter camps. CO-CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ responded that the residential camps that were worked with operate residential camps and don't operate winter camps for the most part. While there are sometimes spring break camps, she continued, they are not typically residential camps, and this only applies to residential camps. The language is designed to apply to that very narrow exception, she added. 3:33:54 PM CO-CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ moved to rescind the committee's action [on 5/4/22] in moving HCS CSSB 185(L&C) out of committee. There being no objection, it was so ordered. CO-CHAIR FIELDS explained that now the new HCS with the consensus language, [Version 32-LS1443\E, Klein, 5/11/22)], would be brought before the committee. 3:34:13 PM CO-CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ moved to adopt the proposed House committee substitute (HCS) for CSSB 185(L&C), Version 32-LS1443\E, Klein, 5/11/22. There being no objection, Version E was before the committee. 3:34:55 PM The committee took an at-ease from 3:34 p.m. to 3:35 p.m. 3:35:13 PM CO-CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ moved to report HCS CSSB 185(L&C), Version 32-LS1443\E, Klein, 5/11/22, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HCS CSSB 185(L&C) was reported out of the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.