BY: CLARA BATES
Missouri Independent
Missouri’s voter-approved paid sick leave law officially went into effect Thursday, allowing thousands of qualified employees to begin accruing paid time off.
“No Missourian should have to choose between a day’s pay and their family’s well-being,” said Caitlyn Adams, executive director of Missouri Jobs with Justice, which led the campaign for the law, in a press release. “Tens of thousands of Missourians who work full-time do not get any paid sick days, but that changes today.”
But while advocates for the policy celebrated Thursday’s milestone, the new law remains at risk of being overturned by the GOP-dominated Missouri legislature.
Republicans have vowed to pass legislation rolling back the paid sick leave and modifying an accompanying boost to the minimum wage. That bill has stalled in the face of Democratic opposition, and the legislative session ends May 16.
Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin, a Republican from Shelbina, has been a particularly loud voice urging repeal of the law.
“Our side of the aisle has great concern for the burden that this would place on businesses,” she told reporters Thursday, “and if we’re going to promote economic growth and jobs, we need to really be cognizant of that.”
Proposition A passed with nearly 58% of the vote in November, garnering support from unions, workers’ advocacy groups, social justice and civil rights groups, as well as over 500 business owners. The measure expanded access to paid sick time for many employees, effective Thursday. It also increased the minimum wage to $15 this year, which went into effect in January, to be adjusted for inflation thereafter.
Under the law, employers with business receipts greater than $500,000 a year must now provide at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than 15 workers must allow workers to earn at least 40 hours per year, with larger employers mandated to allow at least 56 hours.
“I’m a single mother of four, and I am now able to start earning paid sick for the first time in my life,” said Andi Phillips, a server in Springfield, in the press release.
“I can’t explain how huge of a relief it is that I can now earn time off to better take care of my family and give my kids a better future,” Phillips said. “I never wanted a handout, just an opportunity to be the best version of myself for my kids and now I have that.”
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld the law earlier this week, dealing a blow to a coalition of business groups who argued the measure violated the single-subject and clear title requirements for ballot measures, and that the fiscal summary was misleading. The Supreme Court found the election results valid.
The Missouri House passed legislation that would repeal the paid sick leave part of the law and remove the requirement that the minimum wage be indexed to inflation. That bill awaits action in the Senate.
The Senate Democrats have been in negotiations with Republicans for weeks to modify the bill, in what they’ve said is an effort to maintain the will of the voters in expanding paid sick leave rather than gut it entirely, as well as make it easier for businesses to comply.
The Republicans could also force the bill through in a rarely-used procedural maneuver known as the previous question, or PQ. That requires the signatures of 10 members of the 34-member Senate and must be approved by a similar majority to shut down debate. It’s use to end a filibuster is seen as a last-resort option by Senate leadership, and the last time the chamber deployed it was eight years ago.
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Doug Beck, a Democrat from Affton, told reporters Thursday he doesn’t know whether the two sides will come to an agreement.
“I would like to see us come to some sort of conclusion, because the law is in effect,” he said. “People are earning sick time, and anything we do at this point could be taking away from people…I’m just saying, I am in good faith negotiations with the other side of the aisle on this and welcome to having those conversations as we continue on. Whether or not we come to a conclusion, I don’t know.”
Speaker of the House Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, told reporters Thursday that modifying the law remains a priority and that he sees action on Prop A as necessary before the legislature can make progress on a bill that seeks to bring businesses to downtown St. Louis.
“For me, Prop A has to be addressed before we do anything like that,” Patterson said, referring to the bill that seeks to revitalize downtown St. Louis. “…There’s no point to try to attract businesses when you’re telling them with Prop A that it’s going to be very difficult for you, you have these sick leave provisions that can lead to criminal penalties.”
That is an “absurd way to look at Proposition A,” state Rep. Betsy Fogle, a Springfield Democrat, responded to Patterson’s comments. When Missouri workers are successful, she said, businesses will be, too.
“The idea that providing workers with more protections is a business killer is wild,” she said. “…To try to make this seem like this is something that will kill business, that will keep businesses from opening, I think it’s absurd, and I think it’s quite disappointing, and I think it sends absolutely the wrong message.”