The Kansas City Council delayed a vote Thursday on raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour.
The council came to an agreement after nearly four hours of public testimony in committee. Petitioners in favor of raising the minimum wage had submitted a ballot initiative in conjunction with Councilman Jermaine Reed introducing an identical ordinance.
The issue is complicated by an Aug. 28 deadline for a bill on Gov. Jay Nixon's desk that would prohibit cities from raising the minimum wage. Mayor Sly James summed up the council's difficulty with the measures.
"We don't know much of anything, frankly, other than what we read in various reports, newspaper articles, internet summaries and reports that were done in Los Angeles," James said. "And we have not had sharing of that information across the entire body of stakeholders."
Mayor James said that the city will pass an ordinance raising the minimum wage by July 16 after extensive hearings and conversations with members of the community.
