Bill would raise it to $10.25 an hour.
Missourians may be in for more minimum wage battles in 2016.
On Dec. 1, the first day legislators could pre-file legislation in advance of the legislative session beginning on Jan. 6, state Rep. Brandon Ellington pre-filed a bill proposing to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10.25 per hour—up from $7.65 per hour, according to KOMU TV. Ellington’s bill proposes to put the new minimum wage into effect Jan. 17.
This move comes on the heels of two controversial efforts to increase the minimum wage in Kansas City and in St. Louis in 2015. The Kansas City initiatives were blocked from the ballot after Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of HB 722 was overturned by Missouri legislators during the September veto session. HB 722 stated that municipalities cannot have a minimum wage higher than that of the state or federal government. The St. Louis minimum wage increase, which was passed in late August, was then struck down by a Missouri circuit judge in October after NFIB and several other business groups filed a lawsuit.
