Missouri governor proposes $15 minimum wage for state workers

Gov. Mike Parson has proposed a $15 minimum wage in Missouri an in attempt to make the state a more attractive place to live.

“It is past time for us to make these investments in our state workforce,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

Parson’s pay plan would take effect Feb. 1 but first needs the approval of state lawmakers, whose annual session begins in January. The pay increase would cost $91 million for the remainder of the 2022 fiscal year that ends in June and an additional $218 million for the next budget year. 

Missouri ended its 2021 fiscal year in June with a record cash balance of $2.4 billion. Part of that was due to a pandemic budget technicality that allowed some 2020 income tax payments to be delayed into the 2021 budget year. But economic indicators show Missouri’s revenues have continued to fare well.

Sales tax revenues in November were up 22% over the same month a year ago, according to figures released Monday by the Office of Administration. Individual income tax collections for last month were up 20% over November 2020.

Parson said the state’s direct-care staff and front-line workers often make less than those in entry-level retail positions in the private sector. Among the lowest paid state employees are highway workers, attendants in veterans’ nursing homes and residential aides for vulnerable children, he said.