In the fight for living wages, Tallahassee should butt out of local decisions | Opinion

State legislators, in session in Tallahassee, are in the process of deciding priorities for Florida and the people who live and do business here.

One of these priorities must be giving back control to our communities. Tallahassee should not make crucial decisions on vital issues that affect our day-to-day lives.

For the past several years, state legislators have moved to strip the ability of local communities to make their own, local, decisions. Instead, lawmakers have given this authority to themselves, on environmental issues, sensible business regulations and wages, for instance.

In 2016, Miami Beach lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in support of raising the city’s minimum wage. This would have an incredible impact on the local economy, gradually lifting workers out of poverty over time. The wage was set to go up to $11.31 an hour this year, compared to the state’s minimum wage of $8.25.

The plan was stopped last month when the Florida Retail Association, a conglomerate lobbying group that fights on behalf of businesses, took the fight to the state’s Supreme Court. The court shot down the increase, citing that the state Legislature and governor have given themselves the exclusive ability to increase the minimum wage. Despite having this authority, they have never taken action to adjust local minimum wages, even with the rising costs of housing, healthcare and childcare.

It is time Florida allow local communities to decide what they need.

For workers like me, I know well the hardships we face when businesses are enabled to pay such low wages. The minimum wage was originally established to set a minimum living wage standard. That wage should be a safety net, not the standard. No one working 40 hours a week on a minimum wage should live in poverty.

It is no secret that most people have preconceived notions about those who make a minimum wage, especially about fast-food workers. We often hear “Just get another job” or “These jobs are for high school students.”

However, 25 percent of fast-food workers are raising at least one child, and half of all low-wage workers across the state rely on government assistance because they are not able to get jobs that pay decent, living wages. Because of this, Florida spends $11.4 billion in taxes each year to subsidize businesses that refuse to pay a living wage, while some of those businesses rake in huge profits. This tax revenue that could be used for schools, improving infrastructure or other critical priorities.

Florida taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for businesses that pay such low wages, and we know it will not change until the state lifts up all workers and sets a living standard. We need to follow in the footsteps of states that made the $15 minimum wage a priority, changing the path for thousands of workers statewide.

Until that time comes, politicians in Tallahassee have no business making decisions for communities where they don’t live and where many of them have never been.

Jonathan Laurin is a member of SEIU’s Fight for $15. He has worked in hourly wage jobs since he was 18.

This story was originally published March 11, 2019 at 4:43 PM.