Florida’s Leading Business Associations File Suit Against Miami Beach’s Minimum Wage Ordinance

CONTACTS: FRF- James Miller | james@frf.org, (850)701-3015
Florida Chamber – Edie Ousley | eousley@flchamber.com, (850) 521-1231
FRLA – Erin Power | epower@FRLA.org, (850) 224-2550

FLORIDA’S LEADING BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS FILE SUIT AGAINST MIAMI BEACH’S MINIMUM WAGE ORDINANCE

Florida Retail Federation, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and the Florida Chamber of Commerce file suit stating city ordinance is in violation of state statute and will significantly burden businesses

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Three leading Florida business organizations filed suit today against the City of Miami Beach regarding a recently passed city ordinance to raise the minimum wage to $10.31/hour starting January 1, 2018, and increase it $1.00/year until it reaches $13.31 in 2021. The Florida Retail Federation, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and Florida Chamber of Commerce filed the suit which states that the ordinance disregards a state statute which establishes the State of Florida will determine one consistent minimum wage for the entire state. This state statute allows for local government entities to adopt ordinances to exceed this wage for those working or contracting with the local government. The suit was filed by Charles Caulkins of the South Florida law firm Fisher Philips LLC.

“We don’t support any mandates in which local governments are dictating what private businesses should be paying their employees, as it should be up to each individual employer to determine what is fair and also helps their business remain competitive,” said FRF President/CEO Randy Miller. “This increase will certainly lead to lost jobs, as small businesses, which make up 80 percent of businesses in Florida, only have a finite amount of money to spend on salaries, and being forced to pay certain employees more, means cutting the salaries or jobs of others, or potentially closing the business altogether.”

“The Florida Chamber of Commerce is focused on creating good jobs and opportunity for everyone and, unfortunately, a patchwork of government wage regulations and mandates hurts job seekers, small businesses, and Florida,” said Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

“This unconstitutional mandate sets a dangerous precedent, threatens the strength of Florida’s businesses and increases costs to consumers. This is a critical issue that must be addressed to protect all of Florida’s employers, including the $89.1 billion hospitality industry which employs 1.2 million dedicated workers in the Sunshine State. The government shouldn’t dictate the relationship between an employer and employee. If this ordinance is upheld it could have severe, unintended consequences for employers and employees across the Sunshine State, and across the nation,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA RETAIL FEDERATION
Founded in 1937, the Florida Retail Federation is the statewide trade association representing retailers — the businesses that sell directly to consumers. Florida retailers provide three out of every four jobs in the state, pay more than $49 billion in wages annually, and collect and remit more than $20 billion in sales taxes for Florida’s government each year. In fact, more than three out of four of Florida’s budget dollars come from retail-related activity. For more information, visit the FRF website, and follow FRF on Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA CHAMBER
Established in 1916 as Florida’s first statewide business advocacy organization, the Florida Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business and the state’s largest federation of employers, chambers of commerce and associations aggressively representing small and large businesses from every industry and every region. The Florida Chamber works within all branches of government to affect those changes set forth in the annual Florida Business Agenda, and which are seen as crucial to secure Florida’s future. The Florida Chamber works closely with its Florida Political Operations and the Florida Chamber Foundation. Visit www.FLChamber.com for more information. 136 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA RESTAURANT & LODGING ASSOCIATION
FRLA is Florida’s premier non-profit hospitality industry trade association. Our mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s $89.1 billion hospitality industry which represents 23% of Florida’s economy and more than 1.2 million employees – making it the state’s number one industry. We offer regulatory compliance and food safety training needs (RCS and SafeStaff®); industry developed career-building high school programs (FRLAEF); sponsor the only event in Florida exclusively serving the restaurant and foodservice industry (FR&L Show, September 10-12, 2017 in Orlando); and we safeguard the needs of the hospitality industry by providing legislative advocacy. We represent and serve more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org and find us on Twitter @FRLAnews, Facebook and YouTube.

###