Ryan Nicol
With the beginning of a new year, Florida’s minimum wage is moving up from $8.46 per hour to $8.56 per hour.
That places the state’s minimum wage more than $1.30 above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
A 2004 amendment set the state’s minimum wage above the federal level. That number rises annually with inflation, which prompted a 10-cent bump from 2019 to 2020.
The minimum wage for tipped employees in 2020 will be $5.54 per hour.
The wage floor will be a hot issue here in Florida moving forward in 2020. Amendment 2, dubbed the “Fair Wage Amendment,” will appear on the ballot in 2020.
The measure would raise the state’s minimum wage all the way to $15 per hour by 2026. After that mark is hit, the state’s minimum wage will continue to rise in concert with inflation.
Amendment 2 is being backed by high-powered lawyer John Morgan. In October, backers of the measure secured the required 766,200 signatures to qualify for a 2020 ballot placement. In mid-December, the Supreme Court signed off on the proposed language, making its appearance on the Nov. 2020 ballot official.
Several business owners have pushed back on the measure, arguing it will lead to staff cuts and a reduction of hours for existing workers.
Polling on the issue has been mixed. But with nearly a full year left to go, and plenty of ads and advocacy for and against the measure, those numbers could swing further in either direction come November.
