Minimally, at least in the short term. In November, voters approved Amendment 5, which proposed establishing a new minimum wage of $6.15, with a resounding 72 percent backing, amid heavy lobbying for and against. An estimated 300,000 workers out of 7.5 million in Florida earn below that now. The exact number of businesses that will have to pony up extra pay is not clear. However, officials in Southwest Florida, particularly Collier County, say a majority of bosses already pay above the new minimum in order to attract quality employees in a competitive job market.

"I don't think it [the increase] will have any negative impact," says Mike Reagen, president of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.

The new wage standard, which the legislature is expected to enact soon, hikes pay $1 above the federal minimum. A survey by the Coalition to Save Florida Jobs before the vote concluded that 65 percent of businesses would reduce hiring and 34 percent would cut benefits as they sustained an economic impact of $500 million a year. Opponents used this study to make their case.

But another group, the Center for American Progress, found through its own analysis that costs to private companies would go up by $407 million-or .04 percent of total sales-annually. The council stated that serious negative burdens are not likely because of the amendment.

Both groups agreed on one thing: Businesses will raise prices to offset the new wage.

Mike Quaintance, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral, concurs. He's not worried about the immediate impact on business, but one of the amendment's provisions could spell trouble in the future.

"The bottom line is the initial boost to $6.15 is not going to be extraordinarily difficult," he says. "The scary part is the automatic increase each year," Quaintance says. "The law will require businesses to bump up wage each year by a percentage tied to the consumer price index," he says.

If there's an economic downturn," he says, "it will have a real detrimental affect on some businesses."

-Phil Borchmann