John Morgan drops own money for minimum wage drive

Orlando attorney John Morgan continues to open his coffers to try to pass a constitutional amendment that would increase the minimum wage in Florida.

The Morgan Firm PA last month contributed $812,963 to the political committee Florida For A Fair Wage, which is collecting petition signatures to put the minimum-wage amendment on the November 2020 ballot, according to a new finance report posted on the state Division of Elections website.

In all, the Morgan Firm PA and Morgan & Morgan P.A. have contributed nearly $2.27 million to the political committee, which is chaired by Morgan. The committee spent $817,197 last month, with virtually all of that money going to petition-related expenses.

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.

As of Monday evening, Florida For A Fair Wage had submitted 239,817 valid petition signatures to the state and awaits a review by the Florida Supreme Court of the proposed ballot wording.

If the wording is cleared by the Supreme Court, the committee would need to submit an overall total of 766,200 signatures to get on next year’s ballot.