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Florida Voters Approve Minimum Wage Increase To $15 By 2026
November 4, 2020
Florida voters have approved raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.
Amendment 2 received about 61% of the vote, greater than the 60% needed to pass.
The current minimum wage of $8.46 a hour will increase to $10 an hour on September 30, 2021. It will then increase by a dollar per year until reaching $15 an hour in 2026.
About 56% of Escambia County voters for for Amendment 2, while 44% were against.
Comments
37 Responses to “Florida Voters Approve Minimum Wage Increase To $15 By 2026”
I’ll think I’ll start by just treating my fellow humans as equals, no matter their political beliefs, instead of demonizing.
@John Doe
If you want to make the world a better place, sell half of your worldly belongings and give to the poor. Make it public. I’m sure northescambia would do a piece on that!
You too Bill. Then I will do with my hard earned money what I fill is wise.
Ill have two of those 20dollar hamburgers please.
@John, we socialists aren’t coerced. We voluntarily want to make the world a better place, as opposed to just looking out for ourselves. And the military is analogous of that.
John – socialism is an economic model that has nothing to do with how the military is populated. Volunteer or conscripted, it’s a publicly funded institution.
@Bill
Last time i checked we have an all volunteer military. Socialism does not work, and it never will. There is plenty of historical evidence to prove that.
Remember people you can vote your way into Socialism, but you will have to fight your way out!
I’m completely comfortable with that label, James. I’m also happy to point out that the most socialist institution in this country is our military which is also the backbone of our local economy.
For anyone who is unclear in the principles of socialism, @Bill gives a fairly accurate socialistic summation.
Raising the minimum wage barely impacts the cost of living. We don’t currently blame inflation on people making much more than the minimum wage because we’re programmed in America to blame the poor. People with barely enough money to buy the bare essentials obviously aren’t the ones driving up demand. However, people making over three times the minimum wage cause huge problems which include low income people being priced out of necessities like proper nutrition and shelter.
Also, if you can’t afford to pay living wages you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur. If you’re not paying living wages your business is a net loss to the community and deserves to fail. And when the minimum wage goes up, you will not be missed.
In economics 101 this is a floor. An artificial price that never works.
need to put waiters and waitereses under minumun wage rule also and do away with tips
THE ONLY THING THAT WILL NOT INCREASE IS YOUR FIXED INCOME.
I’LL BET WELFARE IS INCREASED TOO
If i owned a fast food business, i would fire one worker, and split his responsibilities amongst the rest of the workers. He or she would also be the least productive that would get the boot. I would do this before passing on the cost to the customers.
This is because of the “ME” culture. No one wants to put in the years of education and hard work to improve their station in life. I have been working in the tech field for thirty years, put in the time to take courses and get an education in the field to top out between $20-$25 an hour. Now any flunky can get a job soon making nearly the same amount. I don’t eat fast food much but prepare for fast food to go up to $15-$20 for a combo meal. I also expect most fast food workers being replaced by order kiosk’s as well. So there goes a lot of local jobs by 2026. Not to mention our mom & pop stores that will close due to the inability to maintain the hourly min wage. Also expect food in the grocery stores to go up a large amount, just to be able to pay cashiers and stock boys.
Very huge mistake voting this in.
@Josh Jones – You are correct. However, go to those other states and look at the cost of living, cost of goods, and cost of services vs what they are here. Everything from milk to your local plumber will increase their price. You think that $25/hr plumber isn’t going to demand the same increase in his pay ?
That’s the problem. The morons that voted for this think that they’ll make $15/hr but everything else will stay the same, SIKE!
In the end, they’ll be in the same boat their in now and businesses will love it cause this is their excuse to raise prices. Don’t think they won’t add a little extra for them too. Dummy’s I say.
So, what else goes up when minimum wage is artificially raised? The price of everything!
When labor costs double, businesses have no choice but to raise prices and\or reduce employees! The mandated increase will require labor cost increases for ALL employees and create In many cases an unsustainable labor cost. This will produce a higher unemployment and excessive unemployment compensation which will require higher taxes from fewer workers! Simply put, this is a terrible for Florida. Soon we will look just like California or New York!
Sadly, minimum wage will mean starting someone out at $15/hr.and topping out more than likely in the $20’s while people with college educations that strive to do better and be better make that! This is unbelievable! I know it takes all kinds to make the world revolve, but as someone else stated, minimum wage jobs were not meant to be career jobs and raise families of four.
“What’s the difference between someone flipping a burger when a buzzer goes off and you answering a phone when a ringer goes off??”
The burger does not talk back like the customer on the phone. (hopefully)
It’s amazing that so many Florida voters passed this amendment yet at the same time elected candidates who would totally oppose this amendment. Just wow.
And guess what, next election the governor will be a democrat. No way Desantis wins again.
@KK
What’s the difference between someone flipping a burger when a buzzer goes off and you answering a phone when a ringer goes off???…..an inflated ego?
Minimum wage jobs were never intended to be the jobs that singly supported families. They were jobs that kids and people with no experience could make a little money while going to school or help bring in some support. These were jobs that helped people learn so they could be productive in the work force. If you wanted an increase in pay, you learned and promoted in that company or moved on to permanent jobs with better pay and benefits. I agree with all the comments that people have made concerning small businesses closing and the price of everything going up!! Have you not seen the increases just since COVID?? Boy we are in for a rude awakening!! Buckle up!
I think its a good idea to hire less people because if they’re hiring less people then you have less sorry half-arsed people working for the minimum wage, maybe people will actually grow up now.
Yes it will be an issue. My small business will lose one full time position due to this. We can not afford that type of an increase. Also, I guess you should all get ready for those happy meals to double in price. Basic high school economics
What small business pays under 10$ an hour currently? Better yet anywhere?
So, now to make up the difference to pay the employee, prices have to go up, hours get cut, and people get laid off. So, in a nut shell, you are back to square one, only difference is, people on a fixed income, like I am, suffer.
This is bad news for the small business owners.
Florida joins seven other states with $15/hr minimum wage: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
I don’t think it was the end of the world for businesses in those states.
Raising the rate to $15 over the next 6 years is not going to make any current minimum wage earner rich anytime soon. Heck, $15/hr for a fulltime job is just over $30K/yr.
The Florida legislature will likely do what it can to stymie this – just look what it tried to do to the Felons restored voting rights.
Guess what people who voted yes….
You just DECREASED your job opportunities and INCREASED your cost of living, as the price of everything will go up to offset the wage.
At the end of the day you accomplished nothing, did not make your living conditions better, and made it more difficult for yourself and everyone else.
Wage goes up, everything else goes up, there’s fewer jobs, and you’re still broke.
When the minimum wage goes up, your retirement nest egg decreases in value. Those people that thought they would need x amount of dollars will soon need xx amount of dollars. So many will need to go back to work.
There goes my job opportunities in a year or two.
Florida just killed a lot of Small businesses
The price of everything will go up to pay for this.This will cause small businesses owners to close their doors.
Business have a salary budget based on what they can sell the product they produce. and will start looking for who they can let go and reduce hours. Some people are going to quickly find they are considered the “fat” that needs to be trimmed..
The only thing you can guarantee is that some people will be fired and those who are kept on will work harder with fewer hours of pay.
This is such an emotionally based mistake. This will hurt young workers (less hiring due to higher per-employee costs for running a business) and the lower income (higher prices for products offered by businesses which hire MW workers.
And…many union contracts are tied in some way to the prevailing minimum wage. So – every bump up in the MW will likely bump up union wages.
It’s a good idea in theory but if everyone making below $15 an hour is raised, we are going to pay more for the things that we buy or eat. Personally I don’t want someone in a trade that requires them to flip burgers when the buzzer goes off making anywhere near what I make per hour in an administrative role.