A young activist and political organizer from Orlando this week called out Florida Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, over a bill (HB 541) that seeks to allow employers to pay interns and apprentices less than minimum wage.
The House Bill and its companion in the Senate (SB 676) cleared their first of three legislative committees this week, despite opposition from a South Florida teacher, a school counselor, the president of the Florida Buildings Trade Council and a pastor from Jacksonville.
Matthew Grocholske, a Rollins College graduate and activist with the climate-focused Sunrise Movement chapter in Orlando, warned a panel of state lawmakers on Wednesday that undermining minimum wage requirements for work-based learners would “hurt” young people like himself.
“As a young person, I can sit here and testify how hard it is to break into the job market, how housing is unaffordable in the state of Florida, it’s difficult to keep the power on, and hell, look at the price of food now,” he pointed out to the House Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee. “I was unhoused for a significant part of 2023,” Grocholske said, admitting he was living out of his car for a time.
“What helped me during that time period the most: a paid internship,” he continued. “That is what helped me, and that’s why I’m not unhoused anymore, is because of programs like paid internships that paid $15 an hour.”
Under Chamberlin’s proposal, filed for consideration during Florida’s 2025 legislative session, interns, apprentices, pre-apprentices and other “work-based” learners would be given the option to “opt out” of being paid minimum wage by checking a box on a form or providing written consent to their employer.
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Florida’s minimum wage currently sits at $13 an hour, or $9.98 for tipped workers, and is set to rise to $14 later this year. Chamberlin defended his proposal Wednesday by arguing that Florida’s current minimum wage, baked into the state constitution, “cripples” employers.
“It cripples an employer’s ability to provide more opportunities for unskilled workers in the areas of apprenticeship and education,” Chamberlin argued. “This is having a huge impact on our young people and those seeking retraining and other more profitable fields of work.”
A living wage in Florida, based on the cost of basic necessities such as housing and transportation, is closer to at least $23 an hour for a single adult with no children, according to MIT’s living wage calculator. Housing costs in Florida spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, with major metros like the Tampa Bay region, Orlando and Miami being some of the communities hit hardest.
Critics of the proposal, including state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, grilled Chamberlin on whether the “opt out” option for workers under his bill would truly be optional, or if it could be exploited in order to pay workers less.
“Do you think this might open the door for businesses to pressure workers into waiving their right to their wages, and are there any safeguards in this bill to protect the workers from having to face that?” asked Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville.
The answer? Not really. “I do not believe this bill is going to stop all the companies out there that are offering minimum wage or higher jobs to stop offering them,” Chamberlin responded, without offering any intention to add safeguards against exploitation.
Eskamani filed an amendment to the bill that sought to allow workers to bring a civil action against their employer and recover back wages and damages, if the employer violated the state’s minimum wage requirements.
“It basically just puts into place enforcement for bad actors that are either holding back wages or are not following the standards of the minimum wage,” Eskamani explained.
The amendment, described by Chamberlin as “unfriendly,” was voted down by the Republican majority on the House committee, as were additional amendments filed by Hinson and Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville.
Many apprenticeship programs, at least those hosted by labor unions such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, already offer starting wages that are higher than minimum wage, and are accessible to anyone with a high school diploma or GED. Unlike college, they’re also tuition-free.
“This bill undermines fair wages by paving the way for employers to pay below the state-mandated minimum wage, especially for vulnerable workers, such as students, practices and interns,” said Cape Coral high-school teacher Lynette Rodriguez-Wibbels, speaking in opposition to the bill on Wednesday. It also creates a “two-tier workforce by design,” she added, “designating between workers who are entitled to minimum wage and those who are not.”
Critics have also argued the proposal is unconstitutional, and a legislative analysis from the Florida Senate notes that, under existing case law, even “if an employee signs a waiver stating that they opt out of minimum wage requirements, the employer is still bound by the minimum wage requirements of the state Constitution.”
Under the state Constitution, anyone who is entitled to minimum wage under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act — which already has a host of carveouts for people working as babysitters or in newspaper delivery, for example — is also entitled to the state minimum wage.
Despite concerns, the House Industries & Professional Activities subcommittee voted 10 to 5, largely along party lines, to advance HB 541 forward. Only Republican Rep. Susan Valdes, who switched parties in December, joined her Democratic colleagues in opposition.
Both the House and Senate bills still need to clear two committee stops, plus garner majority support from both chambers of the Florida Legislature in order to pass. Then the proposal would head to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.
This post has been updated to clarify the correct spelling of Matthew Grocholske’s surname. Their surname is Grocholske, not Groncholske.
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This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2025.
