Florida Amendment 2: $15 minimum wage draws cheers from workers, jeers from tourism industry
While many of Florida’s workers and businesses are still badly bruised by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a heated battle over a 2020 constitutional amendment that would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The fight is over Amendment 2, a ballot initiative up for a vote in November, that would bump up Florida’s minimum wage, currently $8.56, by $1 every year until it reaches $15 in September 2026. After that, the minimum wage would be adjusted annually for inflation like it is now.
To pass, it needs at least 60% of the vote in the Nov. 3 election.
Workers unions in favor argue it would lift millions of low-wage employees out of poverty, particularly women and people of color stuck in lower-wage positions. One recent study from the Florida Policy Institute, an Orlando-based, left-leaning think tank, estimates the change would bring 1.3 million households out of poverty, which includes individuals who make less than $12,760 a year and some families earning less than $21,720.
John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan, the country’s largest personal injury firm, spearheaded the effort to get the amendment on this year’s ballot. Since 2017, his political committee Florida For A Fair Wage has raised over $5.2 million. During the final months before the election, many donations for $15 and $8.56 have come in.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/2020-election/os-ne-2020-general-election-amendment-2-20201001-mswzmkigvvaarcmhyako3pco4u-story.html
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