Missouri repeals voter-approved paid sick leave law

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed a measure Thursday that repeals the state's guaranteed paid sick leave law, less than a year after nearly 58 percent of voters approved it.

In a news release, the governor's office described the voter-initiated paid sick leave law as "onerous" and harmful to small businesses, because it dictates "when and how paid leave must be provided" and requires "burdensome record keeping and compliance obligations."

"Today, we are protecting the people who make Missouri work — families, job creators, and small business owners — by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates," Kehoe said in a statement.

Kehoe was elected governor last fall, receiving nearly the same number of votes — about 1.7 million — as those in favor of the paid sick leave measure on the same ballot.

The legislation Kehoe signed this week also ends automatic Consumer Price Index adjustments to the state's $15 hourly minimum wage, another component of the ballot initiative voters overwhelmingly approved in November.

"The governor's action today demonstrates the absolute disdain Republicans have for working Missourians," Missouri House Democratic Leader Ashley Aune said in a news release. “But in stripping workers of their legal right to earned sick leave, the governor and his allies have probably guaranteed this issue will be back on the ballot next year as a constitutional amendment that will place worker protections beyond their reach."

Voters approved the ballot initiative known as Proposition A as a new state statute, which has a lower signature threshold for ballot submission and approval but can be repealed by state lawmakers, rather than as a constitutional amendment, which can only be reversed through another statewide vote.

Missouri's GOP-controlled Legislature approved the repeal of the components of Prop A during its session earlier this year, voting 133-17 in the House and 22-11 in the Senate.

The paid sick leave law, which went into effect May 1, allows employees to earn an hour of time off for every 30 hours worked. The new law Kehoe signed doesn't provide for workers to keep time accrued during the nearly four months that it will have been effect when it ends next month.

An independent poll of Missouri voters in April found 75 percent opposed efforts to repeal the measure, but pro-business groups lobbied heavily for its repeal, describing it as burdensome for employers.

"Business owners were clear: Proposition A’s paid leave and minimum wage policies were a job killer," Kara Corches, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a statement. "Missouri employers value their employees and recognize the importance of offering competitive wages and benefits, but one-size-fits-all mandates threaten growth."

Missouri Jobs with Justice, a worker advocacy group that advocated for the paid sick leave law, had urged Kehoe to veto the legislation to repeal it.

"Missouri workers and their families do not deserve to see their newly earned paid sick leave stripped away," the group wrote in a letter to Kehoe last month. "So many workers are for the first time experiencing the relief of paid sick leave."

"If Proposition A is repealed, workers will again face increased economic insecurity when balancing being sick with maintaining their job," it added.