Missouri Proposition B, $12 Minimum Wage Initiative (2018)

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Missouri Proposition B
Flag of Missouri.png
Election date
November 6, 2018
Topic
Minimum wage
Status
Approveda Approved
Type
State statute		Origin
Citizens

Missouri Proposition B, the $12 Minimum Wage Initiative, was on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported increasing the state's minimum wage each year until reaching $12 in 2023 and then making increases or decreases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.
A "no" vote opposed increasing the state's minimum wage each year until reaching $12 in 2023 and then making increases or decreases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Election results

Missouri Proposition B

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

1,499,002 62.34%
No 905,647 37.66%
Results are officially certified.
Source

Overview

How did Proposition B change the minimum wage in Missouri?

The measure was set to increase the minimum wage from $7.85 (2018) to $8.60 in 2019; $9.45 in 2020; $10.30 in 2021; $11.15 in 2022; and $12.00 in 2023. Thereafter, the minimum wage was set to increase or decrease each year based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).[1]

The initiative was designed to penalize an employer who pays employees below the minimum wage and require the employer to provide the underpaid employee with the full amount of the wage rate plus an additional amount equal to twice the unpaid wages.[1] The measure exempted government employers from the minimum wage increase.[1]

What were the state's minimum wage policies before Proposition B?

As of 2018, the minimum wage in Missouri was $7.85 an hour. The minimum wage increases or decreases based on changes in the CPI-W. The current minimum wage was established in 2006, when voters approved a ballot initiative.

Prior to 2017, local governments in Missouri could set local minimum wages higher than the statewide minimum wage. In 2015, the St. Louis City Council passed an ordinance to increase the city's minimum wage each year until reaching $11.00 in 2018. In 2017, voters in Kansas City approved Question 3, which was designed to increase the minimum each year until reaching $15.00 in 2022. During the 2017 legislative session, the Missouri State Legislature approved House Bill 1194 (HB 1194), which was designed to preempt municipal minimum wage ordinances. Proposition B would not affect HB 1194. Therefore, Kansas City would still be prohibited from increasing its local minimum wage to $15.00.

Who was behind the campaigns surrounding the ballot initiative?

Raise Up Missouri led the campaign in support of Proposition B. Raise Up Missouri had raised $6.99 million. The largest donors included the Sixteen Thirty Fund ($4.78 million), the Black Progressive Action Coalition ($500,000), and The Fairness Project ($285,000). There were no political action committees registered in opposition to Proposition B.[2]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:[3]

“ Do you want to amend Missouri law to:
  • increase the state minimum wage to $8.60 per hour with 85 cents per hour increase each year until 2023, when the state minimum wage would be $12.00 per hour;
  • exempt government employers from the above increase; and
  • increase the penalty for paying employees less than the minimum wage?

State and local governments estimate no direct costs or savings from the proposal, but operating costs could increase by an unknown annual amount that could be significant. State and local government tax revenue could change by an unknown annual amount ranging from a $2.9 million decrease to a $214 million increase depending on business decisions.[4]

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary was as follows:[5]

“

A “yes” vote will amend Missouri statutes to increase the state minimum wage rate as follows:

$8.60 per hour beginning January 1, 2019;
$9.45 per hour beginning January 1, 2020;
$10.30 per hour beginning January 1, 2021;
$11.15 per hour beginning January 1, 2022; and
$12.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2023.

The amendment will exempt government employers from the above increases, and will increase the penalty for paying employees less than the minimum wage.

A “no” vote will not amend Missouri law to make these changes to the state minimum wage law.

If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.[4]

”

Full text

The full text of the initiative is available here.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The secretary of state wrote the ballot language for this measure.


The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 10, and the FRE is 52. The word count for the ballot title is 108, and the estimated reading time is 28 seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 8, and the FRE is 57. The word count for the ballot summary is 93, and the estimated reading time is 24 seconds.

In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here.

Support

Raise Up Missouri 2018.png

Raise Up Missouri led the campaign in support of the initiative.[6]

Supporters

Officials

Organizations

Arguments

Raise Up Missouri provided the following argument in support of Proposition B:[6]

“

No one who works full time should have to live in poverty. Right now, too many Missouri parents who work – often at more than one job – still struggle to put food on the table because they earn just $300 a week. Join our fight to raise Missouri’s minimum wage so parents – not taxpayers- can provide basics like groceries and rent for the 1 in 5 children in Missouri in low-income families.[4]

”

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

Organizations

  • Associated Industries of Missouri[11]
  • Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry[11]

Arguments

  • Ray McCarty, CEO of the Associated Industries of Missouri, said, "Business owners have to make a decision: If they have to pay more to each of their employees, then that means that they may be able to hire fewer employees, especially those who are just entering the job market. By raising the minimum wage, we're actually maybe keeping some people from having jobs at all."[11]
  • Karen Buschmann, a spokesperson for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated, "A minimum wage mandate hurts the very people it is intended to help. As the minimum wage increases, the ability of employers to continue to employ workers is damaged, particularly affecting entry-level workers."[11]


Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Missouri ballot measures
Total campaign contributions:
Support: $6,991,777.00
Opposition: $0.00

There was one campaign committee, Raise Up Missouri, registered in support of the ballot initiative. The committee had raised $6.99 million and spent $6.75 million.[2]

The top contributor to Raise Up Missouri was the 501(c)(4) organization Sixteen Thirty Fund, which contributed $4.78 million.[2]

There were no committees registered to oppose the ballot initiative.[2]

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committee supporting the initiative.[2]

Committees in support of Proposition B
Supporting committeesCash contributionsIn-kind servicesCash expenditures
Raise Up Missouri$6,431,631.68$560,145.32$6,187,878.60
Total$6,431,631.68$560,145.32$6,187,878.60
Totals in support
Total raised:$6,991,777.00
Total spent:$6,748,023.92

Donors

The following were the top five donors who contributed to the Raise Up Missouri:[2]

Donor Cash In-kind Total
Sixteen Thirty Fund $4,741,000.00 $42,500.00 $4,783,500.00
Black Progressive Action Coalition $500,000.00 $0.00 $500,000.00
The Fairness Project $235,000.00 $50,000.00 $285,000.00
SEIU Missouri State Council PAC $150,000.00 $0.00 $150,000.00
National Employment Law Project $145,000.00 $0.00 $145,000.00

Background

Local minimum wages in Missouri

As of 2018, two municipalities in Missouri—St. Louis and Kansas City—had passed minimum wages higher than the statewide minimum wage; these local minimum wage laws were preempted by state law, however.

On August 28, 2017, House Bill 1194 (HB 1194) went into effect, requiring the cities to be in compliance with the state's minimum wage.

  • St. Louis Ordinance 70078 (2015): On August 28, 2015, the St. Louis City Council voted 16-8 to increase the city's minimum wage to $8.25 on October 15, 2015; $9.00 in 2016; $10.00 in 2017; and $11.00 in 2018.[12] Mayor Francis Slay (D) signed the ordinance into law within hours of the council's vote.[13]
  • Kansas City Question 3 (2017): On August 8, 2017, voters approved an initiative to increase the minimum wage in a vote of 75-25 percent.[14] The initiative was designed to increase the minimum wage to $10.00 on August 24, 2017; $11.25 in 2019; $12.50 in 2020; $13.75 in 2021; and $15.00 in 2022.[15]

House Bill 1194

See also: Labor preemption conflicts between state and local governments

During the 2017 legislative session, the Missouri State Legislature approved House Bill 1194 (HB 1194), which was designed to preempt municipal minimum wage ordinances. The bill said that no political subdivision of the state could establish, mandate, or require an employer to provide a minimum wage or employment benefits. Therefore, municipalities could not require a minimum wage or employment benefits that exceed the state's requirements.[16]

On May 12, 2017, the Missouri Senate adopted HB 1194 in a 23-10 vote. The Missouri House of Representatives also passed HB 1194 on May 12; the vote was 109-43.[17] On June 30, 2017, Gov. Eric Greitens (R) announced that he would allow HB 1194 to take effect without his signature.[18]

Prevision ballot measures in Missouri

Voting on
Minimum Wage
Wages and pay.jpg
Ballot Measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot

Voters in Missouri had decided two ballot measures related to the minimum wage before Proposition B in 2018.

In 1996, more than 71.0 percent of voters rejected Proposition A, which would have increased the state minimum wage from $4.25 in 1996 to $6.25 in 1997 and an additional $0.15 each year thereafter.

In 2006, 76.0 percent of voters approved Proposition B, which increase the minimum wage from $5.15 in 2006 to $6.50 in 2007 and made an annual adjustment based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Changes to state minimum wage

In 2018, the state minimum wage was $7.85—an increase of $0.15 from 2016 and $1.20 from 2008.

Between 2006 and 2018, the state minimum wage had been tacked to annual changes in the Consumer Price Index. Missouri Proposition B would increase the state minimum wage to $12.00 in 2023. Depending on how the CPI changed between 2019 and 2023, the minimum wage could have increased under the current law. Between 1998 and 2018, the average annual rate of inflation was 2.15 percent. An average annual rate inflation of 2.15 percent between 2019 and 2023 would have increased the minimum wage to $8.73 in Missouri.[19]

2018 state minimum wages

Below is a map with higher minimum wages in a darker shade of blue. States that are shaded white either have a minimum wage equal to the federal minimum wage—$7.25 an hour—or have a lower state-set minimum wage over which the federal minimum wage takes precedence.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

Process in Missouri

In Missouri, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Signatures must be filed with the secretary of state six months prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2018 ballot:

  • Signatures: The smallest possible requirement was 100,126 valid signatures. The actual requirement depends on the congressional districts in which signatures were collected.
  • Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 6, 2018.

Once the signatures have been filed with the secretary of state, the secretary copies the petition sheets and transmits them to county election authorities for verification. The secretary of state may choose whether the signatures are to be verified by a 5 percent random sample or full verification. If the random sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If more than 110 percent, the initiative is certified, and, if less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.

Initiative 2018-204

On April 3, 2017, Richard von Glahn, organizing director of Missouri Jobs with Justice, filed the initiative with Secretary of State John Ashcroft (R). The initiative was given a ballot title and cleared for signature gathering on May 16, 2017.[3]

Raise Up Missouri formed on July 18, 2017, to campaign for the initiative.[20] On August 8, 2017, the group launched the signature drive to get the initiative placed on the ballot.[21]

On May 2, 2018, petitioners filed more than 120,000 signatures.[22] On August 2, 2018, Ashcroft announced that the ballot initiative qualified to appear on the ballot.

Richard von Glahn had submitted 12 different proposals for an initiative to increase the minimum wage to $12 an hour. Von Glahn also submitted proposals for initiatives to increase the minimum wage to $11, $13, $14, and $15. Petition 2018-204 was the version selected for circulation.

Cost of signature collection:
Sponsors of the measure hired FieldWorks, LLC to collect signatures for the petition to qualify this measure for the ballot. A total of $686,714.90 was spent to collect the 100,126 valid signatures required to put this measure before voters, resulting in a total cost per required signature (CPRS) of $6.86.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Missouri

Poll times

In Missouri, all polling places are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[23]

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Missouri, one must be 18 years old, a United States citizen, and Missouri resident.[24] An applicant may print an application, pick one up from a county clerk's office, or request that an application be mailed. The completed application must be returned by mail. All returned applications must be postmarked at least 27 days prior to Election Day in order to be processed. An applicant may also register to vote online.[24]

Automatic registration

Missouri does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Missouri has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

Missouri does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in Missouri, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible. Voters may file change-of-address forms after the registration deadline, up to and including Election Day, provided that they can present photo identification upon doing so.[25]

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Missouri requires those registering to vote by mail for the first time to provide a form of identification that shows proof of United States citizenship.[24]

Verifying your registration

The Missouri Secretary of State's office allows residents to check their voter registration status online.


Voter ID requirements

Missouri requires voters to present photo identification while voting.[26][27]

The following were accepted forms of identification as of April 2023. Click here for the Missouri Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

Voters can present the following forms of information:

  • A nonexpired Missouri driver or non-driver license;
  • A nonexpired military ID, including a veteran’s ID card;
  • A nonexpired United States passport; or
  • Another photo ID issued by the United States or the state of Missouri which is either not expired or expired after the date of the most recent general election.

If a voter does not have an ID, he or she can obtain one for free by filling out this form.

See also

External links

Information

Support

Additional reading

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Missouri Secretary of State, "Initiative Petition 2018-204," April 3, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Missouri Ethics Commission, "Candidate or Committee Name Search," accessed August 16, 2018
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Missouri Secretary of State, "2018 Initiative Petitions Approved for Circulation in Missouri," accessed January 12, 2017
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  5. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "2018 Ballot Measures," accessed October 8, 2018
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Raise Up Missouri, "Homepage," accessed August 29, 2017
  7. ↑ U.S. News, "Missouri Senate Candidates Weigh in on Ballot Initiatives," August 13, 2018
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 The St. Louis American, "Democratic leaders endorse effort to raise Missouri minimum wage to $12 an hour," August 28, 2017
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 St. Louis Public Radio, "Bid to raise Missouri’s minimum wage gets funding from politically active nonprofits," November 12, 2017
  10. ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Measure to hike Missouri's minimum wage heralded by low-wage workers, worries some businesses," October 22, 2018
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Joplin Globe, "Local businesses show support for minimum wage hike," August 15, 2018
  12. ↑ St. Louis, Missouri City Government, "Ordinance 70078," accessed August 29, 2017
  13. ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "St. Louis aldermen approve $11 minimum wage," August 28, 2015
  14. ↑ Kansas City Board of Elections, "August 8, 2017 Official Results," accessed August 29, 2017
  15. ↑ Kansas City Board of Elections, "August 8, 2017 Sample Ballot," accessed August 29, 2017
  16. ↑ Missouri House of Representatives, "House Bill 1194," accessed August 29, 2017
  17. ↑ Missouri House of Representatives, "HB 1194 Overview," accessed August 29, 2017
  18. ↑ St. Louis Dispatch, "St. Louis $10 minimum wage will revert back to $7.70 in August, Greitens announces," July 1, 2017
  19. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, "Consumer Price Index, 1913-2018," accessed August 22, 2018
  20. ↑ Missouri Ethics Commission, "Statement of Committee Organization," July 21, 2017
  21. ↑ KSHB, "Group campaigns to raise Missouri minimum wage to $12 an hour," August 8, 2017
  22. ↑ St. Louis Public Radio, "Missouri businesses and workers submit signatures for minimum wage ballot initiative," May 3, 2018
  23. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State - Elections and Voting, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed April 4, 2023
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Missouri Secretary of State, "Register to Vote," accessed April 4, 2023
  25. ↑ BillTrack50, "MO HB1878," accessed April 4, 2023
  26. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "How To Vote," accessed October 27, 2019
  27. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Do I need an ID to vote?" accessed April 3, 2023
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