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Hey Florida… we need to talk.
About a bill filed this week in the Florida legislature to carve out people with felony convictions from the state’s new $15 minimum wage.
https://theappeal.org/jeffrey-brandes-felony-convictions-minimum-wage-increase/
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About a bill filed this week in the Florida legislature to carve out people with felony convictions from the state’s new $15 minimum wage.
https://theappeal.org/jeffrey-brandes-felony-convictions-minimum-wage-increase/
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I’d just slam the bill as cruel and discriminatory and move on with my day—but because it was introduced under the guise of “helping hard-to-hire workers,” let’s spend just a second unpacking this one. 2/
People with criminal records—and especially folks with felony convictions—already face massive wage losses due to labor market discrimination, trapping many in entrenched poverty. 3/
A recent @BrennanCenter study found that workers with felony convictions see their subsequent annual earnings reduced by 22%, on average. 4/
These wage losses compound dramatically over time.
Formerly imprisoned people, who face the greatest wage losses, see their subsequent earnings reduced by *nearly half a million dollars* on average over a lifetime. 5/
Formerly imprisoned people, who face the greatest wage losses, see their subsequent earnings reduced by *nearly half a million dollars* on average over a lifetime. 5/
And because of America's sordid history of over-incarceration & over-policing of Black and Latinx communities, the subsequent wage losses people with records face make already-glaring racial economic disparities even worse. 6/
Preventing Floridians with felony records from benefiting from the state’s new $15 minimum wage would only ensure the state's justice-impacted communities remain trapped in a permanent underclass. 7/
If the legislators backing this bill are serious about wanting to remove barriers to employment for Floridians with criminal records—may I recommend a few policy options that would actually help instead of hurt….?? 8/
- Expand criminal record-clearing & make it automatic, aka #CleanSlate
- Fair chance hiring, aka Ban the Box
- Enact fair chance licensing reforms to over-broad occupational licensing restrictions
- Invest in paid training
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- Fair chance hiring, aka Ban the Box
- Enact fair chance licensing reforms to over-broad occupational licensing restrictions
- Invest in paid training
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But in the meantime, may Florida be a timely reminder of why it’s so important for Congress to pass the #RaiseTheWage Act, to establish $15 as the federal floor—instead of leaving it up to the states. /end
*Here's the @BrennanCenter study by the brilliant @AmesCG & Terry Ann Craigie: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/conviction-imprisonment-and-lost-earnings-how-involvement-criminal
