Local smackdown: GOP bill would freeze Iowa minimum wage at $7.25, ban city, county increases

Republican lawmakers are pushing a bill that would freeze Iowa's minimum wage at $7.25 and strip local counties and cities of the ability to set their own wage limits.

If signed into law, House Study Bill 92 immediately would roll back minimum wage increases approved in Polk, Johnson, Wapello and Linn counties. The bill, which remains in a subcommittee of the House Local Government Committee, was introduced by Rep. Jake Highfill, R-Johnston.

The far-reaching bill also restricts the power of local governments to set their own labor regulations, create civil rights protections and even institute bans on the use of plastic bags at retail stores.

Critics who packed a subcommittee meeting Wednesday called the bill an affront to local government control. And after reading the proposal, several county supervisors said they likely would launch a court challenge if the bill is signed into law.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/08/gop-bill-freezes-iowa-minium-wage-725-rescinds-local-increases/97625588/