September 2, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay signed a bill on Aug. 28 raising the city’s minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2018, about an hour after the city’s aldermen passed it by a 16-8 margin. The measure will raise the minimum in four steps, beginning at $8.25 on Oct. 15, but it does not cover workers at small businesses, defined as enterprises with 15 or fewer employees or less than $500,000 in annual gross revenue.
Opponents are likely to challenge its legality in court, and Republicans in the Missouri legislature may reconvene this month to try to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill that would prohibit local governments from setting a minimum higher than the state’s $7.65 level. If that veto is overridden, it would also nullify Kansas City’s move to raise its minimum to $13 in 2020. Read more
