MIAMI, Fla. – With the state facing an affordable housing crisis and inflation to the point where most people can barely afford their mortgage, rent and groceries, a proposed state law could make the cost of living for people working for over minimum wage worse.

A last-minute bill in the Legislative Session in Tallahassee could overrule living wage laws that have been adopted by Florida cities including Miami, allowing companies that were awarded government contracts to slash low wage working people’s salaries by at least 30 percent.

The previous law required companies that have government contracts to pay their workers higher wages or better benefits.

The new bill, if it becomes law, could impact tens of thousands of low paid workers in Florida who are already experiencing increasing rent rates and dashing people’s hope who are trying to save up enough money for a down payment to buy affordable housing created through programs subsidized by governments last year.

The legislation would forbid any city or county in Florida from using its purchasing or contracting procedures to make contractors pay their workers more than the state minimum wage or provide benefits beyond the bare minimum required under state law.

Florida’s minimum wage is $11 an hour and will increase to $15 an hour by 2026.

Miami-Dade County requires contractors to pay their employees at least $18.73 an hour with full medical and other benefits, while Broward County mandates at least $18.65 an hour.

According to some opponents of the bill including Miami-Dade County lobbyist Jess McCarty, it would remove the living wage protections for over 16,200 working families in the county.

Naples Republican State Rep. Bob Rommel, sponsor of the bill, said the proposed legislation will not harm working families but make sure local governments don’t force companies to pay employees’ salaries higher than the minimum wage imposed by the state.

The bill would allow companies to cut employees’ pay who are making above the state required minimum wage while working at airports, public parks, construction and city halls.

"It is to make sure to make sure local governments don’t try to have a higher minimum wage than the minimum required by the state," said Rommel, chair of the House Commerce Committee.

The House will vote on the bill this week and the Senate version is expected for a vote in a Senate committee meeting.

If the Senate doesn’t take up the bill, it dies and the living wage law that cities adopted remains intact.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Elieen Higgins, who traveled to Tallahassee in an effort to stop the bill, said the legislation would push over 20,000 county residents into poverty.

"I am proud to say that the MiamiDade Delegation worked hand-in-hand with me and the county team to make sure that the county’s living wage ordinance lived another day, ensuring that our workers earn wages to pay for essential needs like housing," said Higgins.

Nicole Richardson, a single Black mother who works for a vendor at Miami International Airport earning $19 an hour, said the proposed legislation would set her back if it became law.

She said her salary barely covers her rent of $1,834 for a one-bedroom apartment in Miami Gardens, traveling expenses and utility bills.

"Nineteen dollars an hour is not enough to cover your living costs," she said. "If my salary is cut, I couldn’t afford to pay my rent, care not and insurance. I hope the bill doesn’t pass because it could put me and a lot of workers in a financial hole ."

Opponents of the bill said lawmakers will take up another legislation that could undermine the labor unions that represent teachers, nurses, 911 dispatches, garbage haulers and electric utility workers.