Florida State Senator Jeff Brandes wants some workers excluded from the pay hike brought about by Amendment 4, which raises the minimum wage to $15 by 2026. The amendment he’s proposing would exclude felons and people under 21 from the wage increase. Sign this petition telling Sen. Brandes this is not okay!

Floridians voted in 2020 to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2026. This is a historic vote for millions of workers across our state who don’t make enough money to cover their basic needs or get ahead-but there is a catch: Sen. Jeff Brandes wants to exclude some workers from getting paid fairly. His amendment would exclude certain groups of people from earning more when the wage goes up. That means every year they work hard just to afford food, clothes, rent and other basic necessities will be harder than it has been in years past. That isn’t fair — it’s just plain wrong.

We cannot allow Senator Brandes to exclude felons, people under 21, or any other subgroup of Florida’s hardworking citizens from fair wages. Sen. Brandes wants to turn back time by changing it through an amendment. Over 735,050 Floridians live below the poverty line, and over 40% of children in our state are living below the poverty line. For them, a raise in wages would be life changing; however, an amendment that excludes groups such as felons and young adults would prevent thousands of Floridians from earning a good living.

We want Sen. Brandes to take his amendment off Florida’s ballot for Amendment 4, which would increase Florida’s minimum wage incrementally until it reaches $15 by 2026. It’s bad enough that big businesses are trying to keep wages low — they shouldn’t be allowed to criminalize people who are trying to feed their families on a few dollars an hour. The proposed constitutional amendment would only make matters worse. People deserve fair pay for hard work; they shouldn’t be penalized because of amendments like this one.