Morgan challenges GOP leaders on minimum wage: ‘Put up or shut up’
Orlando attorney aims for $15 per hour in ’26
attorney John Morgan made a direct challenge to Florida Republicans on Friday over their opposition to his campaign to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2026: “If you’ve got a better idea than my idea, do something.”
Morgan also harshly criticized business groups for their opposition what will Amendment 2 on the 2020 ballot at a news conference at the Morgan & Morgan office in Orlando, claiming they prefer “slave labor.”
He and his firm have spent millions getting the measure on the ballot, which became official Thursday when. the Supreme Court certified its wording.
If approved with 60% of the vote, it would raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour beginning Sept. 30, 2021, and increase it an additional dollar each year until it reached $15 in 2026. After that, future increases would be adOrlando justed annually for inflation, tied to the cost of living.
The current minimum wage of $8.46 will increase to $8.56 on Jan. 1 because of an earlier amendment requiring that it be adjusted for inflation each year.
In an email Thursday, state House Speaker Jose Oliva wrote, “This arbitrarily chosen dollar figure, while applauded on the cocktail circuit, will cost working families their jobs and that is something I cannot support.”
“I’ve got at my house a box of Oliva cigars signed by Jose, so you can be friends and you can disagree,” he said in response.
But he spoke directly to Oliva, DeSantis and Senate President Bill Galvano, asking what they’ve done to fix the issue.
“Look, you have had a lot of time to do something about these inadequate wages,” Morgan said. “You had session after session after session after session. And you’ve got a session coming up. … Put up or shut up.”
If the governor and legislative leaders “think my idea is a bad idea, what’s your idea? And if you don’t have an idea, I want to remind the voters in November: your idea was $8.56 an hour, forever.”
Oliva, Galvano and DeSantis did not immediately return requests for comment Friday.
Morgan stressed the amendment was not an immediate hike on wages, with the $15 mark only being hit in 2026.
“It’s a long time,” Morgan said. “You want me to prove it to you? I’ll be 70 years old. … That’s how old I will be. Or dead. Remember, I’ve led a really hard life, raised a lot of hell, smoked a lot of cigars and drank a lot of
Maker’s Mark. So don’t even count on me being here.”
He dismissed concerns the amendment would force businesses to cut jobs.
Edie Ousley, Vice President of Public Affairs for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday the measure “will actually hurt the very people its proponent claims it will help. In fact, Florida could very likely lose nearly half a million jobs by 2026, and we’ve seen estimates that are higher than that.”
Morgan responded, “Most politicians, if they were left to their own private room and their own private prayer, they say, ‘You know what? John’s right. But the Chamber of Commerce won’t let me do it.’ Because the Chamber of Commerce likes the idea of slave labor.”
The chamber did not respond to a request for comment.
He also said critics warning about job losses due to higher wages were just concerned prices would go up.
“Well, let me tell you something, I’ll pay 50 cents more for a hamburger,” Morgan said. “For somebody to have dignity, I’ll pay a little bit more. Won’t you? Shouldn’t you? Shouldn’t we?”