By Ray McCarty, president/CEO, Associated Industries of Missouri
March 12, 2025 - There have been two developments in the last 24 hours in the united business community fight against implementation of the minimum wage hike, requirement to provide paid sick leave and paid domestic violence leave, and the myriad controls and prohibitions against employers seeking to reasonably control the use of sick leave.
Associated Industries of Missouri and many other business representative organizations combined forces to attack Prop A on two fronts.
First, the groups filed a lawsuit against the measure immediately upon certification of the vote results. Our main arguments:
The ballot summary that voters saw contained more than one subject in violation of the Missouri Constitution;
Even if the Court agrees with supporters of Prop A that minimum wage and sick leave and domestic violence leave were related subjects and they fell under a single subject of "compensation," that subject was not clearly stated in the ballot summary as required by the Missouri Constitution; and,
The fiscal note accompanying the proposal was insufficient as it failed to reflect some impact reported by local governments.
Oral arguments before the Missouri Supreme Court were given this morning in the case of Raymond McCarty, et al. v. Missouri Secretary of State, et al., SC100876. You may read the briefs filed in the case HERE and an audio recording of the arguments will be posted, likely tomorrow.
At the same time, our coalition asked legislators to file legislation to overturn the paid sick leave/domestic violence leave and related provisions. The resulting bill, HCS#2 HBs 567, 546, 758 & 958 (sponsored by Rep. Sherri Gallick) advanced from the House Commerce Committee (chaired by Rep. David Casteel) and the House Rules- Administrative Committee (chaired by Rep. Brenda Shields) and was approved by the House of Representatives yesterday. The bill faces another vote of the Fiscal Review Committee and another vote in the House before moving to the Senate for further consideration.
"All of the business groups that have joined forces in fighting back against the offensive provisions of Proposition A are very pleased with the oral arguments presented this morning and look forward to a decision from the Missouri Supreme Court very soon," said McCarty. "We are united in standing up for the rights of employers to control the use of sick leave by their employees, allowing Missouri employers to decide whether they wish to offer that fringe benefit or not, and in announcing the economic hardship resulting from the increased costs to Missouri employers from the provisions of Proposition A. We thank the legislators that are also taking action to protect Missouri employers, including leadership of the House and the lead sponsor, Rep. Sherri Gallick, for all their hard work on this effort."
We will keep you posted of our progress in this effort.
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