Minimum Wage Increases Today in Missouri

Beginning today, workers receiving minimum wage pay will now make $8.60 per hour, up from $7.85 in 2018.  With the passage of Proposition B in November’s election, the wage will increase 85 cents a year to reach $12.00 in 2023.

The campaign committee supporting the ballot measure was Raise Up Missouri.  Among the organizations opposing the wage hike was the St. Louis based free-market group Show-Me Institute.

Attempts to increase the minimum wage by the state’s two biggest cities was blocked by the Republican-dominated state legislature in 2017 when it passed a law barring the hikes.

After the new minimum wage increase tops out at $12.00, further hikes will be tied to the cost of living, a standard that has been in place since 2008.

According to the National Employment Law Project, Missouri is among 19 states and 21 cities to phase-in minimum wage hikes in 2019.