Florida Chamber of Commerce Shares Concerns Over Passage of America’s first State Constituted $15 Wage Mandate

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CONTACT:
Megan Sweat, Media Relations Manager
msweat@flchamber.com
850.521.1258

Florida Chamber of Commerce Shares Concerns Over Passage of America’s first State Constituted $15 Wage Mandate

Millions of servers, teens and part-time workers will be hit the hardest

TALLAHASSEE, FL (November 3, 2020) – In the wake of the passage of Amendment 2 – a $7 million ballot proposal designed to help drive voter turnout, the Florida Chamber of Commerce lays out concerns for Florida’s future.

With the passage of Amendment 2, Florida is now the only state with a constitutionally-mandated minimum wage. The forced cost of living adjustments mean Florida will have the highest minimum wage in the nation long after 2026. Further, studies show this amendment will cause Florida to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs, drive up inflation, and cost Florida more than $700 million in lost revenue.

“Amendment 2 is bad for Florida and even worse for Floridians,” said Mark Wilson, President and CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce. “In these difficult times, this costly amendment hurts the very local businesses trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.”

For the past year, we have unified Florida’s business community in an effort to educate Floridians about the negative consequences of the governed mandate. Now that the Amendment has passed, it is important to highlight these five major concerns as we work to secure Florida’s future.

1. The cost of living on seniors and families will increase;
2. Florida will lose hundreds of thousands of jobs;
3. There will be a rapid expansion of work related automation;
4. Certain businesses will relocate to neighboring states for experienced labor at a more competitive rate and on-the-job training initiatives will decrease; and
5. Certain employees will see a reduction in benefits.

After personal injury trial lawyers spent millions trying to make life more expensive for Floridians and kill opportunities for teens and those in the entry level job market, it is no surprise that Floridians were tricked into believing this Amendment will help our state. The Florida Chamber of Commerce will continue to work towards securing Florida’s future and aggressively oppose mandates that are wrong for Florida. We have nearly 900,000 children in poverty in Florida and thanks to the special interests behind this constitutional scam, hundreds of thousands of them won’t have opportunities they would have had.

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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 critical to secure Florida’s future. The Florida Chamber works closely with its Florida Political Operations and the Florida Chamber Foundation. Visit www.FloridaChamber.com for more information.