Voters to decide on minimum wage hike
The Give Missourians a Rase coalition proposed a $1.35 increase.
Published June 8, 2006
For six weeks, MU students were asked repeatedly to sign their names on a petition in support of a raise to the state's minimum wage.
It looks like the work of the petitioners paid off.
The Give Missourians a Raise coalition, composed of faith-based organizations, community and labor groups and concerned citizens, submitted over 200,000 signatures on an initiative petition to get a $1.35 minimum wage hike on the November ballot.
The proposal would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.50 — the first hike in nine years. It would also require yearly increases to keep pace with the cost of living.
"Raising the minimum wage is something that is very popular among the voters of Missouri," coalition spokeswoman Sara Howard said. "Hardworking Missourians should be able to earn a wage that supports their families."
Economics professor Jeff Milyo said raising the minimum wage wouldn't do what supporters think it would.
"In general, economists consider minimum wage laws to be a particularly inefficient form of redistribution," he said. "This is because so many low-wage workers do not belong to poor households and because most evidence suggests that minimum wage laws either reduce employment or raise prices on labor-intensive goods and services."
Now, election officials must determine if the proposed petition meets all the state requirements, such as a sufficient number of signatures per congressional district.
The coalition needed to garner 90,000 signatures from six of the nine congressional districts in Missouri.
Howard said the coalition is confident the group met the requirements and has turned its attention to gaining enough support to pass the proposal.
Herb Johnson, the secretary-treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO, said the raise shouldn't have had to come through an initiative petition.
"It's needless to say that a raise in minimum wage is long overdue," Johnson said. "It's terrible that the General Assembly is so irresponsible that it forced a petition in order to get a moral wage."
Although Howard said $6.50 per hour still isn't enough to support a family of four, she said it's a step in the right direction.
"It will 'raise all boats,' meaning that it is raising the lowest standard," she said. "All other levels of incomes will rise too."
According to the title on the proposed ballot item, the higher minimum wage would bring in between $3.3 million and $4.3 million to state coffers.
Howard said there is strong evidence a higher minimum wage would increase people's purchasing power.
Milyo said raising the minimum wage wouldn't do much.
"The claim that a minimum wage law would somehow pump money into the state economy is ludicrous," he said.