Joe Henderson
The people who most oppose a move to raise the Florida minimum wage to $15 an hour don’t have to live on that. Start with that premise.
Someone working 40 hours a week at $15 an hour would gross $600, so let’s see how far that can stretch.
Rentjungle.com reported the average cost of an apartment in Tampa is $1,316 a month, so that’s two paychecks to keep a roof over your head. You might have to skip health insurance unless your employer offers it for free, and good luck with that.
Food, clothes, transportation, electricity, and, well, what else?
Even so, Gov. Ron DeSantis opposes the move to place an amendment on the state ballot in 2020 that would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. Of course, he does.
The News Service of Florida reported DeSantis said such a thing would “cause big, big upheavals for the restaurant industry. It just will.”
What about the upheaval for people trying to scratch by on Florida’s current minimum wage of $8.46 an hour? Sadly, the people who would need this money most are likely to be political pawns. And you know that pawns are the first pieces sacrificed in any game of chess.
I wish the Governor would speak to that. But there are two sides to this issue – the industry side, and the individual.
DeSantis, like most Republicans, came down on the industry side. That’s not necessarily bad because Florida needs robust industries. His position, though, speaks to a weakness in the state’s tourism-based economy. That’s a leftover from the Gov. Rick Scott era, where he bragged about the jobs he created but not so much about what they paid.
Attorney John Morgan, who is largely bankrolling the amendment drive, is, well, for the people. A petition drive has the required number of signatures to put the proposal before the voters in 2020, pending a state Supreme Court review of the ballot language.
“Today, I am proud to stand alongside my fellow compassionate Floridians who believe, as I do, that their neighbors deserve the dignity of a living wage,” Morgan said.
“I am confident that the Supreme Court will have no objection to our amendment, and Floridians will be able to vote in favor of fair wages in their state.”
DeSantis bemoaned the practice of putting issues like this in the state constitution, and he has a point. But the Republican-controlled Legislature has a history of hemming and hawing on issues like this. Amendments are often the only way to get things done.
Even then, the will of the people doesn’t always happen (see voting rights, felons).
Of course, you know GOP lawmakers could approve a meaningful minimum wage in next year’s Session. It would probably be to their advantage, too. An amendment like this might drive many thousands of young voters to the polls. Oh, that’s in a state President Donald Trump has to win.
Republicans probably won’t see it that way, though.
Their bottom line always seems to be the one they don’t have to live on.
3 comments
Matthew Floyd Lusk
October 31, 2019 at 1:20 pm
What about slow folks that can’t work very hard, but would like to work even at $10 per hour? Do they have a say or have any freedom to work? Who is looking out for them? Why is there a minimum wage at all? Why does the government have the right to bulldoze into peoples business? It’s not in the Constitution. If people want their present paycheck to go further, they should think about limiting the bankster’s power to water down currency.
gary
October 31, 2019 at 2:15 pm
The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. Make better choices, don’t demand something for nothing!
SoFineSoFla
October 31, 2019 at 5:41 pm
You deny some people who are unskilled, felons, recovering addicts, or the young the ultimate bargaining chip they hold against others, the ability to work for less money than co-applicants. Everyone has to start somewhere, and some cannot afford college or vocational school. Driving up the minimum wage is going to restrict the positions available, also will raise the qualifications that employers are going to expect for higher paying jobs. Those seeking employment who are the least employable will be shut out.
Comments are closed.