Florida voters have approved a measure raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next six years, which advocates say will lift the pay for hundreds of thousands of workers in the state’s service-heavy economy.
A supermajority of Florida voters approved the amendment to the Florida Constitution that will raise Florida’s minimum wage from the current $8.56 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026.
Although Florida’s current minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, supporters of Amendment 2 had said it is impossible to live on that wage given the state’s cost of living.
Opponents of Amendment 2 said it would stifle growth as Florida’s battered tourism economy recovers from the impact of the new coronavirus.
Here is how the other five amendments went. Each amendment needed 60% of the vote to pass.
Amendment 1
Local
Amendment 1, which clarifies that only U.S. citizens over age 18 were eligible to vote in elections, has passed.
Amendment 3
Amendment 3, which would have allowed all voters regardless of party affiliation to vote in primaries with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election, has failed.
Amendment 4
Florida voters have rejected adding an extra election to the process for passing new amendments to the Florida Constitution.
Amendment 4 would have required that future amendments to the Florida Constitution be approved in two elections instead of the current single election.
Supporters of the amendment believed it would cut down on the number of amendments to the state constitution, saying they are often frivolous and undeserving of being in Florida’s governing document. Opponents of the amendment said it already was difficult enough getting an amendment passed.
Amendment 5
Amendment 5, which give homeowners an extra year to claim a homestead tax benefit, has passed.
Amendment 6
Amendment 6, which extends a property tax discount to the surviving spouse of a veteran with combat-related disabilities, has passed.
