Photo by Steve Rhodes, Creative Commons license.
With the current minimum wage at $8.05, about 18 Florida lawmakers will take the minimum wage challenge, living off of $17 a day.
This challenge starts today and continuous for the rest of the work week. The overall goal is to draw attention to the dire need of a higher wage.
Seventeen dollars ($17) a day represents the amount that is left after bills like taxes, childcare and housing are paid.
Jeremy Smith, a second-year Florida A&M University computer science student from Orlando, worked at Universal Studios during the summer to pay for summer classes. He believes that the current wage is not livable.
“I think you would have to work an extraneous amount of hours to live off of an $8.05,” said Smith.
He also mentioned that this is a great opportunity for individuals in our age group. It provides them the opportunity to buy their own things and be more independent.
In Florida, Legislators were called to sign the $15 minimum wage bill also known as the SB6 and HB109. The two advocates for the $6.95 raise in pay are State Sen. Dwight Bullard, and State Rep. Victor Torres.
"I'd like my colleagues to see that supporting this bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour is the right thing to do for Florida's working families who struggle every day just to make ends meet," said Bullard.
Kenneth Jones, from Jacksonville, Fla., worked previously for a program called Summer Nights Lights and said that the minimum wage should be higher than $8.05.
“$10 should be the minimum wage if you dropped out of school.”
“Florida workers deserve a wage that gives them the adequate resources to pursue the American Dream,” said Rep. Torres.