Minimum wage pre-emption bill passed by legislature in final hour

The Missouri House and Senate today passed a bill pre-empting local governments from enacting a local minimum wage. But they failed to adopt the emergency clause, leaving in question whether it will apply to workers in the City of St. Louis or not.

SS#2 HCS HB’s 1194 & 1193 was passed by the Senate over the objections of Senate Democrats. Passing the bill required a series of motions, all of which required roll call votes. Because of the use of a procedural motion to force a vote, Democrats began requiring roll call votes on every motion and substitute motion they could offer. In all, passage of the bill took about 3 hours of floor time, and after it was over, the Senate adjourned.

The House quickly referred the bill to the House Fiscal Review Committee and recessed to allow that committee to meet. The House then accepted the Senate changes to the bill and sent the bill to Governor Greitens.

“While the House acted quickly on this measure and it took the Senate awhile to act, we are glad they did,” said Ray McCarty, president of Associated Industries of Missouri. “Perhaps some of the minimum wage workers that would otherwise have lost their jobs if the City of St. Louis were able to enforce their minimum wage ordinance will be able to stay employed.”

The bill now moves to Governor Greitens’ desk for his approval. The emergency clause was defeated.

The minimum wage ordinance in the City of St. Louis imposing a $10 per hour minimum wage became effective May 5 when a court order blocking implementation was lifted. The local minimum wage would have also been increased to $11 per hour effective January 1, 2018.

Associated Industries of Missouri applauds the House and Senate for attempting to save jobs in the City of St. Louis and attempting to remove a hardship on the employers in the City.