MLB has been allowing its minor league clubs to pay players as little as $1,100 a monthGETTY IMAGES
A government spending bill that Congress is expected to consider this week "could include a provision" exempting MiLB players from "federal labor laws," according to Mike DeBonis of the WASHINGTON POST. The exemption would "represent the culmination of more than two years of lobbying" by MLB, which has sought to "preempt a spate of lawsuits that have been filed by minor leaguers alleging they have been illegally underpaid." MLB has long "claimed exemptions for seasonal employees and apprenticeships, allowing its clubs to pay players as little as $1,100 a month." But with those exemptions under legal challenge, MLB has "paid lobbyists hundreds of thousands of dollars to write a specific exemption into the law." The $1.3T spending bill is expected to be released as soon as today and "must pass ahead of a March 23 deadline to avoid a government shutdown." Two congressional officials said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), an avid Nationals fan, is among those "backing the provision." Those two officials, along with one other, said that leaders of both parties have been "willing to entertain the measure" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/19). In N.Y., David Waldstein note inclusion of the provision could "open baseball and members of congress to criticism over a multibillion-dollar entity using its influence in Washington to exploit some of its employees during a period of legislative urgency over the bill." If the provision is "not included in the final bill," MLB could "continue with its current pay system, at least until the litigation on behalf of minor leaguers is resolved." Baseball is "not expected to make any changes while the case is still pending" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/20).
