A Missouri Senate committee held a second-round hearing Wednesday on a measure that would undo the mandatory paid sick leave provisions that voters approved last year.
Proposition A passed in November with more than 57% of the vote. Along with raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, the proposition mandates workers accumulate an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
House Bill 567 would entirely remove the sick leave provisions, which are set to go into effect May 1. It would also prevent the minimum wage from being annually adjusted in line with inflation in the future.
“Proposition A implemented a minimum wage increase and paid sick leave mandate, creating a one-two punch for Missouri businesses,” said Rep. Sherri Gallick, R-Belton, who sponsored the bill.
Opponents to the proposed rollback say it’s undemocratic for the legislature to directly undo a measure approved by voters.
“The introduction of this bill in the following session, mere months after the passage of Prop A, stripping mandates that Missourians made clear should be in place, made it clear that the government is not in support of the Missouri worker and will undermine participatory democracy to prove as much,” said Marcel Hagens, policy coordinator for the Action St. Louis Power Project.
Buddy Lahl, CEO of the Missouri Restaurant Association, was one of several representatives of business organizations to testify in favor of the bill. He says the paid sick leave requirements will be too cumbersome and expensive.
“Fixing Proposition A is not even an option. Fixing the sick pay – it just needs to be eliminated. It’s just too erroneous,” Lahl said. “Every line in there is a problem for a small business.”
Other business organizations in favor included the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri Retailers Association.
Supporters of the bill argued that having a “one-size-fits-all” policy for paid sick leave that applies to the whole state is inappropriate, as a policy that works well in cities may not be suited for rural parts of the state.
“Real-world scenarios highlight why a one-size-fits-all sick leave mandate is impractical and costly,” Gallick said. “This issue should be decided between an employer and an employee.”
Richard von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs with Justice, said that all workers need sick leave protections.
“While over 90% of the highest wage earners have access to paid sick time, less than 40% of the lowest wage earners do. Do we think lower-paid workers are less likely to get sick?” von Glahn said. “Proponents simply do not think that lower-wage workers deserve the opportunity to earn the same benefits that their bosses get.”
Sen. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, said that one reason a statewide measure was necessary is that due to a state law passed in 2017, cities and towns are prohibited from raising their own local minimum wages. Similar bills preempting various progressive policies instituted in the state’s major cities have also been introduced in the legislature this year.
The 2017 law was passed in reaction to a St. Louis ordinance that raised the minimum wage from $7.70 to $10, forcing the city to lower the minimum wage again.
“The reason we have a one-size-fits-all policy is because of the actions of this legislature and because other avenues have been shut off historically. And that’s an important context for this bill and why we’re talking today,” Webber said. “There is a very specific reason that we have to go down that path.”
Immediately after the hearing, the committee voted 5-2 to advance the measure, with the two Democrats on the committee voting against.
While committees can vote to advance bills at any time after a public hearing takes place, it is unusual for them to vote the same day.
The bill, which has already passed the House, will now head for the Senate floor.
There is also an ongoing lawsuit over the constitutionality of Proposition A brought by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and other business groups. The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments in the case earlier this month.
The lawsuit claims that Proposition A covers two topics, minimum wage and paid sick leave, while by law ballot issues can only pertain to a single subject. Supporters of Proposition A argue that everything in the proposition relates to minimum required compensation for workers.
The River City Journalism Fund supports St. Louis Public Radio's Statehouse internship. Evy Lewis is the 2025 reporting intern. See rcjf.org for more information about the fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis.
