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State lawmakers live on minimum wage for one week

At least 18 Florida lawmakers say they’ll take the “Minimum Wage Challenge” this week to show the need for a minimum wage hike to $15 an hour.

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One of those who’s doing it is State Representative Dave Kerner, a Democrat from West Palm Beach.

Starting Monday, the lawmakers will live for five days on $17 per day.

That means the lawmakers will have US$17 a day in pocket money – what a minimum wage earner has at his or her disposal, after deducting for housing, transportation and child care, the union says.

The fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 has succeeded in several cities and now a few in Florida are pushing statewide efforts to do the same. “It doesn’t matter what they’re doing, it doesn’t matter what their education is”, Kerner said.

“That large of an increase overnight would definitely, you’d see a raise in prices across the board”, Rorabeck said. No state has increased its minimum wage in that much.

He told us he would favor raising the minimum wage to maybe $10 or $12 per hour. New York NY has already raised wages to $15 for fast-food staff exclusively.

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Fox35 Orlando’s report read similar attempts to pass bills that set higher minimum wages are now a nationwide trend: Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco have passed legislation, and fast-food workers in New York City expect to receive higher pay.

These Florida Lawmakers Are Living On A Mere $17 Per Day For An Important Cause