Floridians will vote next month on a ballot measure that would increase the state’s minimum wage gradually to $15 an hour, and the measure has consistent support from a majority of voters.
Florida’s minimum wage is currently set at $8.56. Amendment 2 would increase that pay to $15 over a period of six years, beginning in September 2021. After 2026, the wage would increase with the rate of inflation.
A majority, 65%, supports upping the wage to $15, according to a St. Pete Polls survey that tapped the opinions of 2,906 registered Florida voters between Sept. 21-22.
That level of support has remained largely consistent from a year ago, when 63.2% of respondents supported upping the wage, according to the Saint Leo University Polling Institute. To be adopted under the laws for ballot initiatives in Florida, the measure would require 60% support.
The initiative is backed by “Florida for a Fair Wage.” The group argues that the increase in the minimum wage would ensure that Floridians would be able to make ends meet without having to rely on government assistance.
“A family of four, with two full-time working adults earning minimum wage, is currently earning just over half of what they need to live in Florida,” the organization states.
These workers would need to earn over $12 each to receive a “poverty wage,” according to the living wage calculator developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A “living wage” would require them making over $20 an hour, according to the calculator. The living wage is the minimum income required to cover basic needs, such as rent and food, without government assistance, according to Florida for a Fair Wage.
Florida for a Fair Wage has spent $4.6 million on the initiative, according to Transparency USA.
Its top donor is the personal injury law firm the Morgan Law Group PA, which donated nearly $4.2 million. John Morgan, who founded the firm, reportedly said the impetus is that working-class pay has not kept pace with the cost of living.
Florida’s Service Employees International Union PAC contributed nearly $300,000 to the initiative, according to Transparency USA.
There are also groups opposing the wage increase.
Save Florida Jobs opposes it and argues that a raise in the wage will force employers to cut jobs or reduce workers’ hours to control costs. It also cautions that the increase might force employers to embrace automation.
The group has raised over $400,000 and spent less than half of it, roughly $176,000, according to Transparency USA.
Top donors to this group are the National Restaurant Association and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, which represent businesses that could be harmed by having to pay workers $15 an hour.
The organization Amendment 2 Hurts You warns that upping the minimum wage will increase prices that will hurt the middle class.
It also warns that the wage increase will kill 158,000 hospitality jobs in Florida, on top of the 336,000 that have already ended because of the pandemic.
