Paxton files brief supporting states' right to enact uniform minimum wage laws
(Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Wednesday in support of Alabama's authority to enact a uniform minimum wage across the state.
Texas is one of 28 states, including Alabama, that have laws keeping municipalities from enacting their own minimum wage ordinances.
The Alabama Legislature passed the Uniform Minimum Wage and Right-to-Work Act in 2016 after the city of Birmingham attempted to set its own local minimum wage ordinance which led to a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination. A U.S. District Court tossed the lawsuit in 2017, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed the ruling and then later withdrew its decision so the full court could rehear the case.
"The broader issue in this case is that municipalities such as the city of Birmingham can't be allowed to circumvent state law just because they disagree with the judgment of their state's elected representatives," Paxton said in a statement. "Our multistate coalition is confident the 11th Circuit will side with Alabama and dismiss the lawsuit."
Paxton is joined on the brief by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana and Missouri.