Florida state Senator Jeff Brandes (R) has proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would exclude criminals and others from receiving the Florida minimum wage hike approved last year.
Wednesday’s proposed amendment would take prisoners, those convicted of a crime, those under 21 and “hard to hire” workers from the minimum wage hike and give them a “reduced minimum wage.” reported on Thursday.
Florida voters passed an amendment in November that would raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2026. The state’s minimum wage will rise to $ 10 in September and then rise a dollar every year through 2026.
The amendment proposed by Brandes does not say what the “reduced minimum wage” would be or who would fall under “difficult to hire” workers.
If the legislature passes the amendment in March, it would pass the vote for Florida residents in 2022. If 60 percent of citizens vote to pass the amendment, it would be added to the Florida Constitution.
It is not clear how many people the proposal would affect, but the increase in the minimum wage will reportedly affect 2.5 million workers in the state.
Click Orlando reported that there are 1.5 million Florida residents with felony convictions.
A minimum wage of $ 15 is also being sought at the federal level, but opponents say it would tax small businesses already struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.