COLUMBIA, Mo. (KCTV) – A new minimum wage starts Wednesday in Missouri. Now, qualified employees will make $13.75 an hour, but this new wage is facing a legal challenge from some business groups.

Effective New Year’s Day, Missouri’s new minimum wage is $13.75 cents per hour.

In 2026, it will rise to $15 an hour, and then raise each year based on the Consumer Price Index. Voters approved this change when they passed Proposition A in November.

Kara Corches with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is concerned the raised minimum wage will lead to increased prices.

“This would put Missouri as having the ninth highest minimum wage in the country,” Corches said. “We are not the ninth highest cost of living state. So we think that you’re actually going to be paying New York and California wages in Missouri.”

The Chamber filed a lawsuit in the Missouri Supreme Court to strike down Prop A. The Chamber was joined by the Associated Industries of Missouri, the Missouri Forest Products Association, the Missouri Grocers Association, the Missouri Restaurant Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in filing the petition.

Since Prop A deals with minimum wage and paid sick leave, the lawsuit claims it violates the single-subject rule, which says Missouri laws should only cover one subject. The lawsuit is awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court, but the new minimum wage is going into effect in the meantime.

Nestled in Downtown Columbia, Yellow Dog Bookshop sells new and used books. It’s a small business owned and operated by Joe Chevalier. Chevalier said he competes with large businesses for employees, which is why he wants to pay his employees as much as he can afford.

“Anything you make up by paying people less, you’re gonna lose by having to retrain the people often, because they’re gonna leave for better-paid jobs,” Chevalier said.

For this reason – he supports the raise in Missouri’s minimum wage. Chevalier is not concerned about raising prices. He thinks more money in workers’ pockets will lead to more local spending.

“If we pay workers more, they’ll have more money to spend when you spend it locally,” Chevalier said.

The part that gives employees one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked starts in May. Employers are required to send out written notice to their employees about that paid sick time by April 15.

Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A fire ripped through a vacant building Wednesday morning in east Kansas City, Missouri.

The fire was reported about 11 a.m. and fire crews arrived to find heavy smoke and fire pouring from the two-story, vacant building in the 5100 block of east 27th Street, KCFD said in a release.

Firefighters dragged several hose lines into the building to knock down the fire while other fire crews searched for occupants in the building. No one was found inside the building.

A few minutes after the firefight began, the department’s incident commander ordered everyone out of the burning building because of the fear of roof collapse. The roof collapsed about 10 minutes later.

KCMO Fire Department Battalion Chief/PIO Michael Hopkins

No injuries were reported.

The fire was under control around noon, but fire crews are expected to be on the scene knocking down hot spots.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

—

Associated Press

South Carolina Gamecocks (12-1) at Missouri Tigers (11-4)

Columbia, Missouri; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Missouri plays No. 2 South Carolina after Grace Slaughter scored 22 points in Missouri’s 90-51 victory over the Jackson State Tigers.

The Tigers are 9-2 on their home court. Missouri ranks ninth in the SEC at limiting opponent scoring, allowing 57.9 points while holding opponents to 38.0% shooting.

The Gamecocks are 1-1 on the road. South Carolina has an 11-1 record in games decided by 10 or more points.

Missouri makes 46.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 11.6 percentage points higher than South Carolina has allowed to its opponents (34.7%). South Carolina averages 23.6 more points per game (81.5) than Missouri gives up (57.9).

The Tigers and Gamecocks meet Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Slaughter is averaging 14.7 points for the Tigers.

Te-Hina Paopao is averaging 11.4 points for the Gamecocks.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 8-2, averaging 80.6 points, 34.7 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 9.8 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.2 points per game.

Gamecocks: 9-1, averaging 82.8 points, 39.0 rebounds, 16.8 assists, 11.7 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 53.0 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.