South Carolina’s attorney general is joining 20 other states in a lawsuit against the federal government to overturn new federal overtime rules.
Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a suit Tuesday filed in the Eastern District of Texas against the U.S. Labor Department. The suit seeks to block the department from making more workers eligible for overtime.
“This administration is once again allowing unelected bureaucrats to circumvent Congress and make up the rules as they go,” Republican Wilson said in a statement. “This overtime rule is bad for South Carolina businesses,” he said, adding it also will “take away employment opportunities for South Carolinians.”
The new rules will take effect on Dec. 1 unless blocked.
On May 23, the Labor Department issued a rule raising to $913 a week the amount a worker must make to be exempt from overtime.
Wilson says the new rule could force governments to cut labor costs, eliminate services or lay off employees. He also called the rule a violation of the 10th Amendment.
Other states joining the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
Bristow Marchant: 803-771-8405, @BristowatHome, @BuzzAtTheState
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