Ballot initiative to raise minimum wage, add paid sick leave hits secretary of state's desk

JEFFERSON CITY — Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages presented its ballot initiative to the secretary of state's office on Wednesday. 

The petition had more than 210,000 signatures collected, with signatures from residents in each of Missouri's 114 counties. Nearly 1,000 volunteers for the organization started collecting signatures for this petition on April 4, 2023.

According to the secretary of state's office, the campaign needed to submit a total of 107,246 signatures from at least six of the eight congressional districts to qualify for the November ballot. 

This petition would give Missouri workers who don't already have paid sick leave, one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.

Small businesses with 15 or fewer workers must allow their employees to take up to five days per year, and larger businesses must allow seven days per year. Employees could take sick leave for themselves or family members.

The petition calls for a minimum wage increase from $12.30 to $13.75 by Jan. 1, 2025, and an increase to $15 by Jan. 1, 2026, for private businesses. It will continue to increase by $1.25 annually, after those initial increases. 

Crystal Buffaloe, who helped collect signatures, said the increase is crucial for the state. 

"There are so many people who work hard, who do a good job and have no access to paid leave," Buffaloe said. "As a parent, those decisions are very tough when you have to choose between going to work and getting paid and being home and caring for your kids who need you."

Joni Wickham, a representative from Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages, said collecting enough signatures was a group effort. 

"This is the culmination of a tremendous effort on behalf of all of our partner organizations and stakeholders who have worked really hard to make sure that Missouri voters get the opportunity to raise the minimum wage and to also pass on earned paid sick leave," Wickham said.

The secretary of state's office said it expects four more petitions to be turned in this week, as the deadline is 5 p.m. Sunday. The office will then have four weeks to distribute the signatures to each respected election authority for certification.

Election officials will have until July 28 to certify the signatures and send them back to the secretary of state's office. Following that deadline, the office will have another two weeks to issue a certificate of sufficiency or insufficiency for the ballot initiative.