Missouri House votes to block St. Louis minimum wage hike

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri House members have voted in favor of undoing a recent court decision allowing St. Louis to raise its minimum wage.

The GOP-led House in a voice vote Wednesday gave initial approval to the bill, which would block cities from adopting higher minimum wages than Missouri’s.

The bill needs another vote of approval to move to the Senate.

The measure is in reaction to a Missouri Supreme Court ruling last month that on procedural grounds struck down a 1998 law prohibiting some cities from creating their own minimum wages.

The ruling allowed St. Louis to move forward with a 2015 ordinance to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour this year and to $11 by 2018.

Missouri’s minimum wage is currently $7.70 an hour.