So much for truth, justice and the American way — the American way being, you work, you get paid. It’s a fair and simple equation that Miami-Dade County codified in its Wage Theft Ordinance. It’s an innovative law that lets workers who haven’t been paid — as the bills pile up — file a complaint and, eventually, make the recalcitrant employer pay up.

But barely a day into the legislative session, some lawmakers don’t want Miami-Dade to have a say-so. Wednesday, most of the members of the House community and military affairs subcommittee, doing the bidding of their deep-pocketed “patrons” — the Florida Retail Federation among them — approved HB 609 to override Miami-Dade’s ordinance.

HB 609 not only ignores Miami-Dade County’s home-rule charter, it would eliminate a program that has secured almost $1 million in wages for nearly 1,000 aggrieved workers since November 2010. The committee approved this terrible bill by a strict party-line vote. Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, subcommittee vice chair — and vice chair of the Miami-Dade delegation — gave the bill a thumb’s-up. Democrats Daphne Campbell and John Patrick Julien voted against. They seem to understand the facts on the ground. Should this bill — there is a Senate companion — become law, it would have a devastating effect beyond hurting an unpaid worker’s ability to keep the lights on and put food on the table.

And, since when is this a partisan issue? Rather it’s an issue of fairness, of good business, of boosting Miami-Dade’s economy and of a higher quality of life — things all lawmakers say they value when they’re stumping for reelection.

Here’s how Miami-Dade’s ordinance supports a worker’s rights: The employee files a complaint with the county, which then calls the employer. Sometimes the claim can be conciliated right then and there. Often, the employer is a subcontractor with cash-flow problems who’s unable to pay. If the employer turns out to be a real Scrooge, the case goes to a hearing examiner. The employer, if found culpable, is subject to a fine in addition to the unpaid wages.

Think of the implications: When workers are paid, they put the money back into the local economy. When unscrupulous companies are forced to pay up instead of cheap out, they can’t undercut price-wise competing businesses that operate with integrity. Though Miami-Dade’s ordinance was originally enacted with undocumented, agricultural and construction workers in mind, wage theft has been an equal-opportunity scourge. Telemarketers, a young architect and teachers from a Montessori school have been among the claimants.

The Florida Retail Federation says that, though wage theft indeed should be rooted out, it wants a statewide law, not a patchwork of local laws. It’s a responsible stand; however, there is no crazy quilt of county ordinances. Miami-Dade’s is the only one in Florida, though Palm Beach County is considering following suit. The thing is, at Wednesday’s committee meeting, lawmakers who voted to gut Miami-Dade’s ordinance swore up and down that they could most definitely support a uniform state law. Then they hypocritically voted down a Republican colleague’s motion to allow lawmakers to add statewide language to the bill.

This bill is bad for business and for Floridians, especially Miami-Dade County residents. Lawmakers should kill it or sincerely pursue a statewide solution to what is a $28 million problem for Florida. That would be the American way.