Judge strikes down St. Louis minimum wage law

ST. LOUIS -- A Missouri judge on Wednesday struck down a St. Louis ordinance that would have raised the minimum wage today.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer declared the ordinance invalid and barred the city from enforcing it. His ruling just after 4:30 p.m. came hours before a 60-cent increase was to push the city's minimum wage $8.25 an hour.

St. Louis would have been the only city in Missouri with minimum wage higher than the state's requirement of $7.65 an hour. The ordinance would have triggered increases to $9 an hour Jan. 1, to $10 in 2017 and $11 in 2018.

A consortium of groups, mainly businesses such as restaurants, sued to stop the increase, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The suit claimed the action was in conflict with existing state law, exceeded the city's power under its charter and was improperly enacted.

Missouri's Republican-led Legislature last month voted to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto on a measure banning municipalities from enacting higher minimum wages or employment benefits than the state.

Kansas City officials approved an ordinance earlier this year that would have raised that city's minimum wage to $8.50 an hour Aug. 24, but it never went into effect. A citizen group collected enough signatures to force a vote on the city's minimum wage, but a Jackson County judge ruled it could not be put on a ballot because the new state law clearly prohibited the city from adopting its own minimum wage.

On Wednesday, Ohmer issued a similar ruling, saying the St. Louis law was "unenforceable and in conflict" with existing state law that sets minimum wage at $7.65.

"Obviously my clients are happy for the certainty with the impending midnight deadline for the increase," said lawyer Jane Dueker, who argued against the increase on behalf of business groups, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The city doesn't have the authority to do what it did."

The judge's order blocked the city from instituting the increase, meaning minimum-wage workers in the city will not see an increase unless an appeals court reverses Ohmer's decision -- which could take months.

St. Louis city counselor Winston Calvert, who represents Mayor Francis Slay and the city, pledged to appeal.

"We've always known these issues would be resolved by the appellate courts," Calvert said. "We are heartened that the judge agreed with the city on three of the five counts, but disappointed in the court's decision on two of them."

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com