This November, Missourians will vote on Proposition A, a proposal to raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $15/hour with annual cost-of-living increases. It would also establish guaranteed paid sick leave. I support this long overdue raise for thousands of workers, and I suspect a majority of voters will too.
However, because this ballot question will change state law and not the state constitution, the Republican legislature (which opposes the minimum wage) can simply repeal what the voters pass.
In fact, they’ve done it before. In 2010, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to crackdown on horrible puppy-mills. The next year, the Republican legislature repealed it. In 2018, Missouri voters approved Clean Missouri to stop partisan gerrymandering. Republican lawmakers then passed another measure and effectively repealed it. In 2020, Missouri voters expanded Medicaid, but the GOP Legislature came back and defunded it until a court intervened.
That’s why raising Missouri’s minimum wage will be a two-step process. Step one: vote YES on Proposition A. Step two: only vote for candidates who support it. A vote for candidates who OPPOSE the minimum wage could cancel out our vote on Prop A. To raise the wage, be sure to complete both steps this November.
Representative Robert E. Sauls, a Democrat, represents the eastern part of Independence in Jackson County (District 21) in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was elected to his first two-year term in November 2018.
Prior to his legislative duties, Sauls was a Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney and a public defender. He also served as an assistant staff judge advocate in the United States Air Force.
Sauls graduated from William Chrisman High School in 1998. He received a bachelor’s degree in International Business from William Jewell College in 2002 and a juris doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2008.
Born in Independence, Sauls is a fourth generation resident and currently resides there with his son, Jackson.
