Missourians set to weigh in on minimum wage, paid sick leave measure on Nov. 5

By Cameron Montemayor

Among the historic races and ballot measures in the November general election, voters in Missouri will also see a proposal seeking to raise the state’s minimum wage by nearly $3.

If approved by voters, Proposition A will increase Missouri’s minimum wage over a two-year period from $12.30 to $13.75 by January 2025, and again to $15 by 2026. The measure would also establish a new standard for accruing paid sick leave.

Proposition A finds itself on the Nov. 5 ballot after campaign organizers for Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages collected nearly twice the amount of signatures needed to qualify the initiative petition for the statewide ballot. It also marks the second initiative in Missouri in the last decade after voters overwhelmingly approved Prop B in 2018 to raise minimum wage over a five-year period from $7.85 to $12.

Marqeies Johnson, a senior at Missouri Western State University studying to become lawyer, is supportive of the measure and the minimum wage increase, particularly to assist low-income families struggling with elevated prices.

“Minimum wage has been something that I’ve talked about for about three to five years now. We look at states like California … you don’t want Missouri to get to that level, but you definitely need some type of help,” he said.

The Kansas City native has maintained a job throughout college and knows the experience of dealing with lower-end starting pay. As much as he supports the proposal, he hopes to see it strike a health balance between a fair minimum wage increase and limiting any notable effects on businesses raising prices or overall operations.

“You want to help the people that need the help, but then the people that don’t need help, you don’t want to burden them,” Johnson said.

Given the challenges many businesses still face with hiring and retaining employees since the COVID-19 pandemic, Andi Montee, owner of Mokaska Coffee, has long supported a minimum wage increase for that and a myriad of reasons, including putting more money in employees’ pockets to recirculate in the local economy.

“Making sure that they’re fairly compensated, that creates loyalty amongst your employees and we feel it increases retention,” Montee said. “We feel strongly that this is mutually beneficial for both the employees and the employers.”

The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 in Missouri aligns with a nationwide political movement that has grown in recent years, called Fight for 15. Since 2014, 28 states have raised minimum wage laws despite the federal minimum remaining stagnant at $7.25 since 2009.

Currently, Missouri’s minimum wage is higher than 33 other states.

In addition to Prop A’s minimum wage hike, the measure also seeks to establish a minimum for accruing paid sick leave. Under the proposal, employees would accumulate one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.

“Paid sick leave is just as critical a component of this,” Montee said. “If COVID taught us anything, it’s the need for people to be able to go home when they’re sick and not, you know, kind of spread illnesses, but also to have some stability in their job security.”

While a growing number of private employers do offer paid sick leave, no state law exists requiring it in Missouri. Currently, 18 states have paid sick leave minimum requirements for private employers.

Paid sick leave would also extend to caring for children and family members.

“Things are just so unpredictable,” said Maya Nelson, a freshman at Missouri Western. “We really could just fall flat one day or something terrible could just like, happen out of nowhere … so it’d be nice to have it.”