Minimum wage measure ready for FL Supreme Court

A proposed constitutional amendment that would raise Florida’s minimum wage has cleared its first hurdle. The political committee Florida For A Fair Wage had submitted 87,528 valid petition signatures to the state as of early Friday afternoon, making the proposed amendment eligible for review by the Florida Supreme Court.

Backers of proposed constitutional amendments must submit at least 76,632 signatures to trigger Supreme Court reviews of ballot wording, a crucial initial step in the amendment process. The Supreme Court reviews whether proposed amendments would be clear to voters. If the Supreme Court signs off on the wording, Florida For A Fair Wage would have to submit an overall total of 766,200 valid signatures to get the measure on the November 2020 ballot.

Under the proposed amendment, the state’s minimum wage would go to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021 and increase by $1 each year until it hits $15 an hour on Sept. 30, 2026. The state’s minimum wage this year is $8.46 an hour. Florida For A Fair Wage is led by Orlando attorney John Morgan, who also spearheaded a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana.