© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Florida's Minimum Wage Sees Slight Increase On New Year's Day

pbarcas/flickr

It’s not by much, but some Floridians will soon see increases in their paychecks, thanks to a hike in the minimum wage that goes into effect on Jan. 1st.

The minimum wage for workers in the state has gone up to $8.46 an hour from $8.25 an hour, or a bump of 2.5%. Every year, the state’s minimum wage gets readjusted in a way that is tied to the rate of inflation, due to a 2004 ballot amendment that voters passed.

This year’s raise follows a contentious 2018 gubernatorial race, in which Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum pledged to try to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour, a rate many progressive groups have called for. Gillum lost that election to Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis, a Republican who painted hiking the minimum wage so dramatically as anti-business and anti-growth for the state economy.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25.

In 2016, the city of Miami Beach passed an ordinance that would have raised the minimum wage in the city to just over $13 over the course of several years. The city immediately faced legal challenges to the ordinance by retail and restaurant groups, claiming a 2004 ballot amendment precluded any municipality from adjusting minimum wage on its own.

The city has lost challenges a district and appeals court, but the Florida Supreme Court will soon hear arguments about it.

The story’s not over, either. A political action committee called Florida For A Fair Wage has started gathering petition signatures in hopes of getting a statewide increase to a $15 minimum on the 2020 ballot. So far, the group has raised nearly half a million dollars in the effort.

Daniel Rivero is part of WLRN's new investigative reporting team. Before joining WLRN, he was an investigative reporter and producer on the television series "The Naked Truth," and a digital reporter for Fusion. He can be reached at drivero@wlrnnews.org
More On This Topic