Attorney General Brad Schimel
Wisconsin is one of 21 states suing the federal government over new overtime rules.
The rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this year effectively doubles the threshold for when salaried workers need to paid overtime, setting it at $47,476 a year. The change is set to take effect in December and critics argue it could force private and public sector employers to cut services and lay-off workers.
A complaint filed by a bipartisan group of states is asking a federal court to block the rule. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel argues states “must be able to set their own priorities and policies, and not be forced to take directive from an unchecked Washington D.C. bureaucracy attempting to establish unprecedented power.”
In addition to Wisconsin, other states who joined the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.