The Missouri House passed legislation Thursday to repeal the paid sick leave that voters approved in November.
Members of the House voted 96-51 to pass the measure. It now goes to the Senate.
Proposition A passed in November with 57% of the vote. The statute raises the minimum wage to an eventual $15 an hour in 2026. It also mandates paid sick leave for employees with some exceptions.
The legislation passed on Thursday entirely repeals the mandated sick leave portion. It also removes any minimum wage increase slated to go in effect in January 2027 and beyond.
“The provisions make it difficult to run a business efficiently and provide adequate customer service,” said the sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Sherri Gallick, R-Belton. “The unpredictability threatens the stability of businesses, large and small.”
In January, House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, said he was not interested in delaying the paid sick leave portion of Proposition A. However, on Thursday, Patterson said he sees the bill as a compromise.
“We want to keep the minimum wage piece in place. We don't want to delay that, but the onerous burdens of the sick leave part, I think we're compromising with the people and saying this really is not sustainable,” Patterson said.
Democrats repeatedly spoke against the legislation on the floor.
Rep. Steve Butz, D-St. Louis, said that with Missouri being an at-will employment state, employers already have a lot of power.
He also brought up the lawsuit against Proposition A with the most recent hearing occurring on Wednesday.
“How about we wait until the Supreme Court renders a decision on what was just presented to them yesterday? That would make a heck of a lot more sense to me,” Butz said.
Speaking earlier in the week on the legislation, Rep. Eric Woods, D-Kansas City, said the legislature trying to change Proposition A proves why many initiative-led changes now aim to amend the state’s constitution instead of changing state law.
"This is the exact reason why people feel the need to amend the constitution, because Proposition A passed with 57% and we are standing here fewer than six months later trying to overturn it,” Woods said.
