Something that flew under the national headlines last night, Florida voted to pass a minimum wage increase. Here is what the measure is:
Florida Amendment 2. Raise Minimum Wage: Raises the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour effective September 30th, 2021 and then increases it annually by $1.00 per hour until the minimum wage reaches $15.00 per hour in 2026 and then reverts back to being adjusted annually for inflation.
This measure passed with an overwhelming majority, with 60.8% of voters in Florida voting to pass it. While I think every worker is entitled to earn a living wage, there are some concerns with how a $15 minimum wage would play out in practice and I think Florida did a nice job setting up this amendment with those concerns in mind. The slow rollout allows businesses to slowly adjust to this increase and eases any concerns of mass inflation.
The biggest takeaway for me, however, is that in a state that went to Trump by a good margin, they also voted to pass a left policy. The left has long argued that our ideas are more popular than people like to think among voters and I think this measure passing in a landslide proves that.
Things like a living wage, fighting climate change and government controlled healthcare appeal to a lot of people and it is time for the Democrats to stop shying away from these ideas and fully embrace them. On a day where Democrats underperformed across the country in Senate and House races, it is obvious their strategy of rolling out “safe” centrist candidates isn’t working.
I am happy for the workers of Florida and hope this result helps the push for a living wage to gain momentum across the country.
Green Buddhist 