LETTERS: PROP A DEFEAT URGED

Dear Editor:

On July 5, the Missouri Chapter of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) turned in 120,000 of the 85,000 signatures necessary to place an initiative on the November ballot that will increase the current state minimum wage from $4.75 an hour to $6.25 on Jan. 1, 1997, $6.50 in 1998, $6.75 in 1999 and $.15 an hour every year thereafter.

There is no doubt Proposition A will cripple the economy in the state of Missouri. No other state in the nation will have a minimum wage scale as high as the state of Missouri. This year, Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law an increase to the federal minimum wage from $4.25 to $4.75 per hour effective Oct. 1, 1996. The federal wage will again increase to $5.15 per hour on Sept. 1, 1997. This increase applies to all Missouri businesses. The ACORN proposal would supersede the new federal minimum wage law and place Missouri at an economic disadvantage in creating and retaining jobs. Proposition A will cause an increase in the price of goods and services to all consumers. Prices will have to be adjusted as a result of the increase in labor costs. Proposition A will drive companies looking to locate or expand in Missouri to other states. This proposition, if passed by the voters in November, will price existing jobs out of Missouri, especially threatening the 70 percent of Missouri jobs located in cities bordering other states. An increase in this proposal would force welfare recipients to spend 44 percent more time on public assistance because there wouldn't be any jobs.

According to the committee on legislative research, oversight division, state of Missouri, Proposition A would cost our state $9.4 million dollars in 1998 and over $28 million in 1999.

Craig Robbins, executive director of ACORN, state in the June 29, 1996, issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "If this initiative passes next year in St. Louis, ACORN will seek signatures to increase the minimum wage to $7.60 per hour." It is very obvious that Mr. Robbins has no idea what it takes to make a payroll.

If this proposition is passed many small businesses across our state will close their doors, or leave our state, leaving us with a very high unemployment rate. This proposition will cause an economic disaster in our great state. I encourage you to vote "no" on Nov. 5 regarding Proposition A and help save Missouri jobs.

Sincerely,

Jerry D. Wolsey

small business owner

Chaffee, Mo.