Nixon vetoes Missouri bill to limit local wage, bag laws

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday vetoed legislation that would have blocked cities from raising local wages and restricting use of plastic bags, a move Nixon called a "power grab" by state lawmakers.

Nixon joined Democratic lawmakers in opposition to the proposal, who during this year's legislative session criticized Republican backers for what they said was an infringement on local control.

The legislation "is a clear example of unwarranted government intrusion -- in this case, interference with the policymaking of local governments and the abandonment of the principle of local control," Nixon wrote in a letter to lawmakers explaining his veto of the bill.

"Local voters ought to have the right to decide these issues," he wrote. "Just as there should be an appropriate allocation of responsibilities between federal and state governments, so too should the precept of local control apply to the relationship between state and local governments."

Backers of the legislation have said it would prevent a patchwork of different local laws in Missouri that could make it challenging for businesses with locations across the state, particularly if several cities required different minimum wages. Hotel, restaurant and other business associations also have decried higher minimum wages as harmful to business development.

Bill sponsor Rep. Dan Shaul, a Republican from Imperial and state director of the Missouri Grocers Association, said the plastic bag provision also would have ensured both stores and consumers have more options for bagging. National lobbyists for plastic bags have said they are less expensive and cheaper to transport than paper bags.

Nixon's veto comes as Kansas City and St. Louis officials are weighing whether to gradually increase local minimum wages. Kansas City is considering upping wages to as high as $13 an hour by 2023. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay on Thursday endorsed a proposal for an $11-an-hour minimum wage by 2020.

Lawmakers could attempt to override Nixon's veto during a September session. They would need a two-thirds vote in both chambers to succeed.

Cities across the country have acted to gradually raise their minimum wage, with Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco moving toward an increase to $15 an hour.

Cities such as Seattle and Portland, Oregon, have banned stores from using single-use plastic bags typically offered to carry groceries. In Missouri, Columbia city leaders considered adopting such a ban, but later dropped the proposal.

It's unclear how Nixon's veto will affect Missouri local policies for minimum wages. Business groups and cities such as St. Louis disagree on whether a law passed in 1998 that banned some cities from raising the minimum wage still is in effect after a St. Louis Circuit judge said it was unconstitutional.

Nixon also on Friday vetoed eight other bills and signed seven into law. Among the vetoed bills was one granting tax breaks to large laundry and dry cleaning businesses and another that Nixon said would have given some corporate security advisers similar powers as police. Nixon signed a bill to remove labeling requirements for some honey and to allow more small beekeepers to bottle honey for sale at their homes.

Local control bill is HB 722. Commercial laundry tax break bill is SB 20. Corporate security bill is HB 878. Honey bill is SB 500.

Online:

Missouri House: http://www.house.mo.gov and Senate: http://www.senate.mo.gov

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