Decisions by Florida and Colorado voters to pass labor-friendly ballot initiatives over objections from business groups underscored a national movement toward improving benefits and pay for low-wage workers, even as employers grapple with unprecedented financial pressures in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Florida voters approved a $15 hourly minimum wage (Amendment 2) by a vote of about 61% to 39%, while voters in Colorado passed a new paid family and medical leave program (Proposition 118) by a vote of 57% to 43%.
The success of the measures — particularly in Florida, on a night Republicans won the presidential race and flipped several House seats — showed that worker needs resonate across the electorate. The Sunshine State is the first to raise its hourly wage to as high as $15 an hour, though approval of that initiative continues a strong winning streak for minimum wage hikes since 1996.
“If a minimum wage increase passes there on the ballot, I think it’s a good indication that there’s broad support for it nationally,” said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, work quality director at the National Employment Law Project.
Voters in California approved a ballot measure that, while exempting rideshare and food delivery drivers from a 2019 law requiring them to be classified as employees and not independent contractors, required them to paid a minimum wage and receive some benefits if they drive at least 15 hours a week.
‘Trojan Horse’
A September analysis by the left-leaning Florida Policy Institute estimated that raising the minimum wage gradually through 2026, under the proposed amendment, would benefit one in four working Floridians of all ages—2.5 million people—and bring 1.3 million households out of poverty while also narrowing gender and racial pay gaps.
While Florida’s $15 minimum wage will be the nation’s first, the amount is in line with the phased-in minimum wages that have been enacted in eight other states plus the District of Columbia.
“A lot of places will be at 15 in the next couple of years, so especially when you see it in that context, 15 by 2026 is extremely gradual,” Gebreselassie said.
Business groups, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said hiking the hourly minimum to $15 would benefit large corporations but devastate small, local businesses already struggling with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said the increase will be “a lethal blow to an industry already on life support.” The measure’s passage will mean “we will have to cut jobs. We’ll have to reduce hours,” Dover said.
Ads paid for by Americans for Prosperity-Florida argued that the amendment would result in at least 158,000 jobs being eliminated.
“This is a modern-day Trojan horse,” said state Rep. Chris Sprowls (R), the next speaker of the Florida House. “The reality is, it’s going to have a devastating impact on workers’ jobs and their ability to find a pathway to prosperity.”