Ballot measure looks to increase minimum wage

Missouri�s minimum wage would grow to $12 an hour by 2023 if voters approve a measure on the November ballot.

Proposition B would increase the minimum wage by 85 cents per hour each year for the next five years, starting Jan. 1.

The minimum wage now stands at $7.85 an hour.

Proponents of the ballot issue said passage of Prop B would affect more than 677,000 Missourians, including almost 170,000 working parents and some 100,000 elderly.

Tony Wyche, spokesman for the Raise Up Missouri group campaigning for passage of the measure, said by 2023 nearly a quarter of Missouri�s workforce will see a pay raise if Prop B passes.

More than 30 percent of workers in some of Missouri�s rural areas would benefit from the measure, he said.

More than half of the states have increased their minimum wages and, in all cases, unemployment went down and incomes went up, Wyche said.

While labor leaders and their allies have historically favored raising the minimum wage, business groups and GOP lawmakers typically have opposed it.

They have argued raising the minimum wage would hurt the lowest-paid workers because employers would turn to automation and reduce work hours for such employees.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry opposes Prop B.

Daniel Mehan, president and CEO of the state chamber, said in an online statement passage of the measure �would create a substantial new burden on businesses across the state. These costs could shutter small employers, leading to significant job losses.�

He added, �Passing such a sweeping minimum wage hike would make Missouri vastly uncompetitive and drive business and jobs away from Missouri.�

Matt Panik, vice president of governmental affairs for the state chamber, said, �It�s simple economics.� If wages go up, employers will have to raise prices or make other changes such as reducing staff, he said.

But Wyche said there is an economic benefit to raising the minimum wage. Boosting the pay of low-wage earners will result in increased spending by those workers.

Raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour would add $1 billion of buying power to the state, he said.

Businesses would see less employee turnover, Wyche said. As a result, employers would see a drop in expenses for training workers, he added.

According to Wyche, nearly 600 small-business owners in the state support Prop B.

Low-income workers need a pay raise, he said.

�We know that someone working full time for minimum wage in Missouri earns just $314 a week, barely $16,000 a year before taxes. No one in Missouri can raise a family or care for a parent for $314 a week,� Wyche said.

David Yaskewich, who chairs the accounting, economics and finance department at Southeast Missouri State University, said, �Like a lot of policies, there are winners and losers.�

The associate professor of economics said most workers in Missouri will not be directly affected by an increase in the minimum wage because they are already paid a higher rate.

Businesses such as restaurants, which in many cases pay minimum wage, would have to decide how to deal with higher labor costs, he said. Options include cutting staff or employee hours, or raising prices, Yaskewich said.

�But overall, if we include all workers, it would not have a big impact,� Yaskewich said of the ballot measure.

Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president John Mehner said local businesses typically pay more than the minimum wage.

Neither the Cape Girardeau chamber nor the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce have taken a stand on the issue.

Both Mehner and Jackson chamber executive director Brian Gerau said their members have not been focused on the minimum-wage issue.

Gerau said some of his members probably are not even aware of the ballot measure.

In contrast, the state chamber have taken a stand in favor of Proposition D, the fuel-tax increase on the November ballot.

The state chamber�s Panik said his organization has focused more attention on trying to pass Prop D and defeat constitutional Amendment 1, which would change how legislative districts are drawn.

�There is only so much you can work on,� Panik said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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