SENATE BILL: Fair Labor Standards Act of 2013 (Redraft at Vote)

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I think ridding ourselves of unpaid internships may do more harm than good. Most of these companies will merely eliminate them rather than actually paying their interns when given the choice, which in turn will only hurt students opportunities to gain experience. I worked an unpaid internship two summers ago, and there is no way they would have hired me if it had been paid, but the experience I gained that summer was irreplaceable.

I understand this is a controversy, especially because of the recent death this summer, but I don't want us to overreact. These unpaid internships can benefit one's career immensely. I don't want to see that go away. I want to give people more opportunities, not less, and this will not help our already high unemployment.

Otherwise I'm fine with this bill.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

If there is a way to enforce "assigning meaningful work" and the like, and someone knows how to legislate that, I am all for it. Otherwise, it will just add a toothless mandate to the legislation.

I do support the rest of this bill, but I will wield my veto pen as long as section 7 remains in it. I think it will cause far more harm than good.

Let the attacks commence...

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

If there is a way to enforce "assigning meaningful work" and the like, and someone knows how to legislate that, I am all for it. Otherwise, it will just add a toothless mandate to the legislation.

I do support the rest of this bill, but I will wield my veto pen as long as section 7 remains in it. I think it will cause far more harm than good.

Let the attacks commence...

You suck!

Is your issue just with the internship parts of section 7 or the entirety of the section? I reluctantly would be okay removing the parts on unpaid internships, but I would not be down with removing the parts on prison labor. 

My only beef is with the internship portion. I'm fine with prison compensation.

I know I suck, but hopefully I suck a little less with that response.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I will certainly offer the redraft below before I would considering vetoing this bill.

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[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

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I'm happy to sign this

x Duke

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

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I'm happy to sign this!

x Duke