Missouri governor candidates discuss minimum wage ballot measure – Missourinet

A proposed minimum wage ballot measure and paid sick leave for all Missouri workers is on the November ballot. Missouri’s four candidates for governor gave their take on whether Proposition A should pass, which would increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026.

Republican Mike Kehoe, a former businessman, said that the government should not be setting wages – the economy should.

“When we change minimum wage standards, we actually affect those that we’re trying to help the most,” Kehoe said at a recent Missouri Press Association-hosted candidate forum. “Minimum wages will cause prices to rise on the most basic of products. It also leaves a void for the youngest of people who want to start at an entry level job. You take those jobs away from them.”

In doing so, Kehoe said a “false economy” is created where kids can’t get a job and the price for essential products goes up for people who need it the most.

Democrat Crystal Quade supports the ballot proposal. At the forum, she said that this is another example of the “status quo” not listening to the needs of citizens.

“We’ve heard on this stage that minimum wage jobs are entry level jobs and they’re just for kids,” she said. “The reality is we have so many parents and so many people who are working minimum wage jobs, multiple minimum wage jobs to get by because they can’t actually find good quality high paying jobs in the state of Missouri.”

To the other portion of the proposal, Quade said that she wants to “elevate” the earned sick leave part.

“As a working parent myself, I understand what it means when my kid gets sick, and I have to call in and wonder what that means for my job and my security,” said Quade. “And I have, and prior to becoming a legislator, I’ve had good jobs, but not everybody has that affordability where their employer is flexible with them.”

Kehoe did not say whether he opposes mandatory sick leave. Libertarian Bill Slantz and Green Party candidate Paul Lehmann also did not comment on the paid sick leave portion of the proposal.

Lehmann supports raising the minimum wage while Slantz does not.

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