As previously shared in our blog, Kansas City Council passed a minimum wage ordinance scheduled to go into effect August 24, 2015. The ordinance’s effective date was postponed when a committee of petitioners submitted a referendum. With the referendum in place, it would be up to Kansas City voters to decide whether to pass the ordinance during the next election.
On September 16, 2015, however, the Missouri General Assembly passed Bill H 722, preventing any new minimum wage (including the Kansas City Minimum Wage Ordinance) from being enacted locally. The local law would have covered employers within the city limit boundaries and with 15 or more employees. As stated in the state law “No political subdivision shall establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to provide to an employee: (1) A minimum or living wage rate; or (2) Employment benefits that exceed the requirements of federal or state laws, rules, or regulations. The provisions of this subsection shall preempt any state law or local minimum wage ordinance requirements in effect on August 28, 2015.”
With a new state law prohibiting all cities from establishing a minimum wage higher than the Missouri minimum wage, Kansas City Mayor Sly James released a statement supporting an increase in the state minimum wage. Mayor James urges the Missouri General Assembly to pass a law increasing the state’s minimum wage during the 2016 legislative session.