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Subcommittee backs bill to remove farmworker exemption from Virginia minimum wage
Summary
Delegate Dalia McClure's HB20 would remove farmworker and temporary foreign worker exemptions from Virginia's minimum wage. Labor and faith groups urged passage; farm organizations warned of financial and operational impacts. The subcommittee reported the bill 5–2.
Delegate Dalia McClure told the panel HB20 would remove two long‑standing exemptions from the Virginia Minimum Wage Act that leave some farmworkers covered only by the federal $7.25 hourly minimum or excluded entirely. "It's past time that we remove the discriminatory farmworker exemption from our Virginia minimum wage law," McClure said, arguing the bill targets outlier employers that pay inhumane wages.
Supporters — including Manuel Gago of the Legal Aid Justice Center and representatives of SEIU, the Virginia Interfaith Center and the Virginia AFL‑CIO — described the exemption as an outdated Jim Crow vestige and urged the subcommittee to 'send HB20 to the governor' after passage. Gago said many workers who harvest and pack food are still denied the basic right to a minimum wage.
Opponents including Rachel Henley of the Virginia Farm Bureau and representatives of the Virginia Agribusiness Council cautioned that seasonal incomes, thin margins and market pressures make compliance difficult for some farms and could threaten farm viability. Henley said maintaining the exemption currently allows some farms to provide flexible staffing and survival through volatile markets.
Members questioned fiscal and competitive impacts and acknowledged prior vetoes of similar measures; after debate the subcommittee reported HB20 5–2. The bill will proceed to subsequent committee consideration.
