Catherwood LibraryILR School

As states like California and Washington increase the minimum wage, Republican lawmakers in Missouri are fighting to decrease the minimum wage. In Missouri, state legislators have passed preemption laws, which prevent cities and counties from implementing their own laws related to the minimum wage and other labor or business issues. It has immediately affected St. Louis, which will see its minimum wage decrease from $10 back to $7.70, and Kansas City, which was expected to vote on an increase in minimum wage to $15 in August. Although turning to preemption laws to block policies is not a new concept, Republicans have increasingly used them to overwrite liberal policies, especially in Republican-majority states where large cities have large populations of Democrats. While workers argue that having their minimum wage decreased will result in increased financial difficulties, lawmakers have argued that employees can simply go elsewhere if they dislike the offered wages, or “be more productive” and “be worth more.”