minimum wage

Missouri state Sen. Joe Nicola, a Republican from Grain Valley, says he's seen a decrease of teen employment in his district. He wants to create a separate minimum wage of $12.30 for people under 18.

An increasing number of Kansas City families have jobs but still need shelter or assistance, due to the gap between the wages they earn and the cost of housing. It’s a formula for rising homelessness.

A new exhibit at Charlotte Street Foundation highlights the power of design in one of Kansas City’s most successful labor organizations, and how graphic arts has helped shape the struggle for economic justice among low-wage workers in Kansas City.

At a protest in the state Capitol on Wednesday, hundreds of Missourians urged lawmakers to respect their will on reproductive rights and paid sick leave — two measures that voters passed in 2024 but the legislature moved to reverse immediately after.

Democrats have proposed reducing child care costs, making housing more affordable and raising the minimum wage. Republicans want to pass property tax reform, cut waste and address rural health care costs.

Minimum wage workers in Missouri got a pay boost on January 1. But just across the border, the Kansas minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25, the same as the federal rate, with no planned increases in sight.

Missouri's minimum wage will increase by $1.25 an hour for the second year in a row. But because of a new law signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe, the minimum wage won't automatically increase for inflation after that.

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said it's up to businesses to determine what is done with employees’ earned paid sick leave.

After Republican lawmakers rolled back sick leave benefits and targeted abortion rights, a bipartisan coalition called Respect Missouri Voters started pushing an initiative petition seeking to undermine the legislature’s ability to overturn voter-approved measures.

In several states, a renter has to make $20 or more an hour to afford apartments being leased at Fair Market Value. Nearly half of Americans don’t make enough money to afford a one-bedroom rental.

Business groups lobbied heavily to overturn Proposition A, passed by 58% of Missouri voters in November 2024, arguing it would cost jobs. The bill also repeals annual inflation adjustments for the minimum wage, which have been in effect since 2006.

It's the first time in more than 70 years that the House has adjourned early. The session had been scheduled to end on Friday.