Missouri business group files legal challenge to overturn Proposition A

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some representatives of Missouri's business community have filed a petition with the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn Proposition A.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry says in a news release that Proposition A will increase prices for consumers and bring burdens on businesses of all sizes.

"I think it's going to cost a lot more than what the petition says that it's going to," said Brad Jones, State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business. "And I know it's going to cost small business folks who are going to be forced to raise prices, and we know, we've all been dealing with inflation."

Associated Industries of Missouri, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Missouri Forest Products Association, the Missouri Grocers Association, the Missouri Restaurant Association and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) filed the petition Friday.

Dan Shaul, Executive State Director for the Missouri Grocers Association, says the lawsuit mainly focuses on the process of getting an item on the ballot, not the policy itself.

"What we're doing here, trying to overturn isn't necessarily about the policy, it's really about the process," Shaul said. "Because I don't think the voters really understood the full-reaching scope of the bill through its limited, title and limited, verbiage on the ballot."

The Missouri Constitution requires ballot initiatives to contain a single subject, but the group says Prop A contains two unrelated subjects, minimum wage and earned sick leave.

"We think it has clearly two subjects, and that it deals with both the minimum wage and family leave, which we consider to be two different things," Jones said.

Joe Chevalier owner of Yellow Dog Bookshop in Columbia, and advocate for Proposition A, disagrees.

"I would say that those are the same subjects, which is worker welfare," Chevalier said. 'I support workers who do the jobs at minimum wage and I think that they also deserve a living wage as much as managers and owners do."

"We just voted for it. So it seems pretty clear about the will of the people is in Missouri on this topic," Chevalier said. "There are things that are going to benefit more people than they harm, I think, so I think we should just let it take place."

Proposition A would increase Missouri's minimum wage to $13.75 per hour starting on Jan. 1 and increase by $1.25 each year until the minimum wage becomes $15 per hour in 2026. It will then be adjusted based on inflation starting in 2027.

The proposition will also require all employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked and allow the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to oversee and enforce the regulations.

Shaul says food safety could be at risk with the new sick day stipulations, which only require sick documentation if a person uses three or more days of paid sick time.

"I think everyone out there voted for this. If they knew that their food safety could be at risk by us not being able to ask, hey, are you healthy enough to work? I think they would have voted differently, or at least would have considered voting differently," Shaul said.

The group also claims Proposition A's title is unclear and contains multiple subjects. The Missouri Constitution requires the ballot measure's title to clearly express a single subject.

The Missouri Chamber also claims the estimate of the ballot measure's financial impact on state and local government is misleading and unclear and that Proposition A violates the Equal Protection Clause by exempting government entities and certain workers.

The Equal Protection Clause states that no state shall make or enforce any law that will lessen the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. It also says no state should deny any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law and cannot deny a person equal protection under the laws.

More than 500 businesses across the state signed their initiative petitions in support of Proposition A.

A group called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage supports the changes.

"Business owners across the state say the minimum wage increase will boost consumer spending and strengthen Missouri’s workforce, businesses and economy," the group says in a news release.

Regardless of the Supreme Court decision in this case, the businesses who filed say they want to make sure both employees and employers are protected.

"We will be in the building talking about minimum wage and benefits to make sure that the consumer and the employer are both taken care of in the future," Shaul said.

The Secretary of State's office tells ABC 17 News that they have been served the lawsuit and are reviewing it at this time.

In an email to ABC 17 News a spokesperson from the Auditor's Office said "We stand by the process we have used for decades to produce fair and accurate fiscal notes and fiscal note summaries. We look forward to defending this process that allows our office to provide unbiased cost estimates that voters can trust."