ORLANDO, Fla. — Attorney John Morgan told Channel 9 anchor Greg Warmoth on Tuesday afternoon that his petition drive to ask voters to gradually increase Florida's minimum wage to $15 an hour has enough signatures to make the November 2020 ballot.
Morgan said he was arriving at WFTV Channel 9 to record "Central Florida Spotlight" when he learned that the 766,200 registered voter signatures needed to get the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot had been collected.
"Just as I was coming in, we officially crossed the finish line," he said.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he does not support increasing the minimum wage.
"He's a very smart guy, but he's a very conservative Republican," Morgan said. "He has a base of people that support him. He's a politician."
Morgan said his mission is one of morality, not of politics.
"People say, 'Well, the cost of hamburgers is going to up.' So what?" he said. "I'm doing this for the same reason that I put up the millions of dollars to build a food bank. What are you supposed to do with your money if you have good fortune?"
[ Read: DeSantis announces proposal to increase minimum salary for Florida teachers ]
The Florida Supreme Court will first need to approve the ballot language, and the initiative must be approved by 60 percent of voters to pass.
The measure calls for raising the current minimum wage from $8.46 an hour to $10 in September 2021 with $1 an hour increases annually until it reaches $15 in 2026.
"Central Florida Spotlight" airs each Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Click here to watch previous episodes.
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