By Ryan Lynch
Orlando Business Journal, Nov 3, 2020

The fight to raise Florida's minimum wage comes to a head on Election Day. ... The move comes as Orlando is the second-worst metro in Florida for minimum wage worker livability and 57th out of 75 of the most-populated U.S. cities, according to Salt Lake City-based Move.org. Only Miami was worse in Florida. ...

Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of roughly 160 businesses that approve of the increase, includes a number of local businesses. ... [John] Morgan was among those business owners that signed on in...

By McKenna Schueler
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Nov 2, 2020

As Election Day arrives, a growing coalition of Florida business owners and executives—dubbed Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage—are calling for the passage of Florida’s Amendment 2.

In a statement posted to its website,  the coalition—including almost two dozen from Tampa and St. Petersburg—wrote that, “Today, grocery workers, healthcare aides, cleaning staff, childcare workers and other Floridians are working at the $8.56 minimum wage or near it. We can’t build a shared recovery on a minimum wage that’s too low to live on.”...

By Mike Schneider
Associated Press (AP), Oct 31, 2020

ORLANDO — Joseph Gourgue wishes he could help out his children and grandchildren financially, but his $9 an hour wage as a wheelchair attendant at Orlando International Airport doesn’t let him. ...

Having workers earn a good wage makes them more productive and willing to stay, especially in an industry like the restaurant business, which has high turnover, said Diego Tosoni, a Miami restauranteur who supports Amendment 2.

Tosoni, who with his partner owns two Love Life Café locations in Miami and is planning a new one...

Gulfshore Business, Business Daily, Oct 30, 2020

... FLORIDA BUSINESS COALITION BACKING AMENDMENT 2 GROWS TO MORE THAN 150 BUSINESSES

A growing coalition of more than 150 business owners across Florida is calling for passage of Amendment 2, which would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026. Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which includes restaurants, retail, manufacturers, tourism, personal services, construction, and more, says minimum wage increases will boost consumer spending, strengthen Florida’s workforce and help the economy. If passed – with a 60% majority required for approval – Amendment...

By Antonio Fins
Palm Beach Post, Oct. 30, 2020

... The [$15 minimum wage] amendment has picked up support from small-business owners, too.

By Laura Layden
Naples Daily News, Oct 29, 2020

A longtime fight for a $15 minimum wage in Florida will be decided Tuesday....

Tom Williams, the owner of Williams Agencies, a life insurance business with an office in Fort Myers, is for the change, which he said is sorely needed.

He's paid his starting workers at least $12 an hour for more than two years — and before that his lowest earners made $10, he said. And he has no qualms about raising his minimum hourly pay to $15 over the next few years. ... 

Paying higher...

By Ashley Portero
South Florida Business Journal, Oct 29, 2020

Jennifer Todd knows what it’s like to barely make ends meet. She spent years earning $12 an hour working as a secretary before launching Pompano Beach-based LMS General Contractors, a construction and demolition company, in 2013. ...

“I want [my employees] to be able to come to work without worrying about how they’re going to get to and from the job, or how they’re going to buy groceries,” she said. “I’ve been on that side and I don’t want them in that position.”

Todd supports Florida’s Amendment...

Op-Ed By Fadi Dib, Owner, Cali's Beauty Supply

As a small business owner, I’m happy to see an amendment to raise Florida’s minimum wage on the ballot. ...

By Jonathan Bernstein
Bloomberg, Oct 26, 2020

t’s not just candidates on the ballot next Tuesday. As usual, there are a host of ballot measures - 120 statewide ones, plus various local questions... These are the top five I’m watching ...

Florida’s Amendment 2 : Raise the State Minimum Wage to $15

Florida is also considering raising the state minimum wage to $15 [link: New coalition of Florida businesses backs Amendment 2 to raise minimum wage to $15].
This one is important because of the signal it may send to national Democrats if they achieve unified party government. ...

Read more

By Hanna Raskin
Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), Oct 26, 2020

...Has [Rep. Jim] Clyburn ever worked in a restaurant? Yes
First-ever favorite restaurant: Clyburn Cafe, a family owned and operated restaurant on West Liberty Street in Sumter. ...

Do you support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour?

Yes, I believe this measure is critical. Last year, the House passed the Raise the Wage Act, which would gradually increase the federal minimum wage, reaching $15 an hour in six years and indexed to inflation thereafter. Restaurant jobs, like all jobs, must pay a living wage...