Florida lawmaker proposes giving voters say on 'training wage'

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Florida's minimum wage law may be in for a change as the state Legislature convenes for its regular session in January.  A Pinellas lawmaker wants to create a new "training wage" to help more people get hired.  But critics call it a loophole that will drive wages down.

Under a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2020, Florida's minimum wage rose from $8.65 to $10 an hour last September.  It will keep going up a dollar each year until it reaches $15 hour in 2026, and will be indexed to inflation from then on.

State Sen. Jeff Brandes says while higher wages will help some struggling families, it will also make it increasingly harder for some people to get jobs.

"As the minimum wage rises, there will clearly be people who win." said Brandes, a Republican.  "There will also be people who lose. And the losers tend to be those with low skills, teens, and the recently incarcerated."

The way Brandes see it, higher wages will attract more job applicants -- giving those who make the hiring decisions a greater pool of skilled labor and squeezing out lesser skilled workers. The answer to that problem, he says, is a "training wage," which would be set by a legislative study or tied to the federal youth training wage.

That means if this becomes law, Florida would allow a training wage for anyone during the first six months of employment that could be as low as $4.25 an hour.

Critics, like the National Employment Law Project, say the proposal is an attempt to work around the constitutional amendment that raises the minimum wage by giving companies a way around it for newly hired workers.

Brandes made a similar proposal during the last legislative session, but it did not advance.  After revising his proposal, he hopes the legislature will move forward by putting it on the November ballot and giving voters the final say.