ORLANDO, Fla. — An effort to put a $15 minimum wage measure on the 2020 ballot is ready for the next step.

Attorney John Morgan announced Tuesday that he had collected enough petition signatures to send the proposal to the Florida Supreme Court for review.

Morgan called the current $8 an hour minimum wage inhumane. He called a living wage the single greatest issue facing America today, that people are working harder but still getting further behind. He said that was the cause of desperation in the country.

"I'm worried about people going home in poverty after working 40 hours a week," Morgan said.

The amendment proposes raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour starting September 30, 2021. The wage then increases by $1 an hour each year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2026. After that, the wage increases would be adjusted annually for inflation.

If approved by the court, it would go on 2020 ballot as a Constitutional amendment proposal. 

Voters would then have to vote for the amendment, and it would take at least 60 percent approval to put it in the Florida Constitution.

Morgan said raising the minimum wage ends up making businesses more money because workers will be more productive, be more willing to stay. He also says it would get more people off the government dole because not as many people will qualify for government services if they are not in poverty.

Morgan pointed out that larger companies are already moving to $15 an hour, such as Disney or Amazon. He said his firm was also, in the next few months, make the starting wages $15 an hour, and bump up those existing employees who aren't making that.

 This is the second major initiative Morgan has taken to the ballot. 

Morgan championed the medical marijuana amendment, which Florida voters passed in 2016.