With their actions this session, the Missouri General Assembly sent another loud message: Your vote doesn’t matter. Legislators overruled your referendum protecting earned sick time — despite clear support from voters.

This isn’t about partisanship. It’s about power — whether it belongs to citizens or politicians in our state, where the motto is “Salus populi suprema lex esto” (“Let the good of the people be the supreme law”).

That’s why the Respect Missouri Voters Coalition is coming together to ban Missouri politicians from overturning the will of the people, including Show Me Integrity, the National Organization for Women, Veterans for All Voters, Missouri NAACP, and many others.

This isn’t the first time politicians have ignored the citizens. In 2010, voters passed regulations to stop inhumane puppy mills. In 2018, Missourians approved anti-corruption reforms. In 2020, voters expanded Medicaid. Each time, politicians spent the legislative session repealing or interfering with the people’s decision, which also meant they had to charge taxpayers for special sessions to complete basic business. 

That’s why Respect MO Voters is working to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to restore the voice of the people. Our amendment will do three key things:

1. Protect voter-passed laws — Prohibiting legislators from repealing or gutting legislation approved by voters.
2. Defend the citizen initiative process — Our amendment locks in your right to propose and pass laws, without interference or new roadblocks.
3. Ensure honest ballot language — We will ensure ballot issues have clear, fair summaries, so voters know exactly what they’re voting on.

Missourians don’t always agree on policy, but we do agree that the rules should be fair and the outcomes should be respected. Today, it’s sick time and healthcare. Tomorrow, it could be taxes, schools, or public safety. When politicians can undo your vote, no issue is safe.

Join us in protecting the will of the people. Help Respect MO Voters get this critical amendment on the 2026 ballot.

Learn more or get involved at RespectMOVoters.org.

Daniel Romine, of Springfield, is a board member of Show Me Integrity and a member of the Conservatives Against Corruption coalition. Benjamin D. Singer of St. Louis is the CEO of Show Me Integrity.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) introduced a bill Tuesday with U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, making him one of the few Republicans to support the cause.

The bipartisan bill, dubbed the “Higher Wages for American Workers Act,” would raise the minimum wage starting in January 2026 and allow it to increase on the basis of inflation in subsequent years. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which hasn’t changed since 2009.

“For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline,” Hawley said in a statement. “One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hardworking Americans every day. This bipartisan legislation would ensure that workers across America benefit from higher wages”

It is unclear whether the legislation will be taken up for a vote.

An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office in 2024 found that although the earnings and family income of most low-wage workers would increase with a federal minimum wage hike, it would inversely cause other low-income workers to lose their jobs and their family income to fall.

During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press in December, President Donald Trump said he would “consider” raising the minimum wage but wasn’t sure what that increase should look like.

What is the minimum wage in Missouri?

With the passage of Proposition A in November, Missouri’s minimum wage was bumped to $13.75 an hour for non-tipped employees. Prop A also sets for the minimum wage to increase to $15 an hour in 2026, with adjustments each year after that based on the Consumer Price Index.

But a bill repealing most of Prop A — including future adjustments based on inflation — recently passed both the Missouri House and Senate, with Gov. Mike Kehoe expected to sign the bill into law. If signed, the bill would go into effect on August 28, meaning there wouldn’t be any more adjustments beyond the increase to $15 an hour in 2026.

What is the living wage in Missouri?

A living wage is essentially an estimate of how much a person working full time needs to earn per hour to afford the cost of their household’s minimum basic needs — housing, child care, food, etc. — where they live.

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator, the living wage in Missouri for an adult with no children is $20.87 an hour, $37.08 for an adult with one child, $47.26 for an adult with two children and $58.15 for an adult with three children, as of February 2025.

The Show-Me State’s Republican governor, Mike Kehoe, joins Texas in preemptively activating the state’s National Guard ahead of ‘No Kings’ protests this weekend

Missouri has joined Texas in preemptively activating the state’s National Guard ahead of the “No Kings” protests planned at about 2,000 sites across the nation on June 14 against President Donald Trump.

Both Republican-led states followed Trump’s lead after he tapped the California National Guard to respond to protests in Los Angeles.

“While other states may wait for chaos to ensue, the State of Missouri is taking a proactive approach in the event that assistance is needed to support local law enforcement in protecting our citizens and communities,” GOP Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe wrote on social media June 12 in announcing his executive order activating the Missouri National Guard.

More: Planned ‘No Kings’ protests grow in number after LA militarization: What organizers expect

Kehoe’s order declares a state of emergency in Missouri “due to civil unrest.”

The move is another sign of the increasingly militarized response to unrest surrounding Trump’s policies. Responding to demonstrations against ICE raids, the president deployed the California National Guard in Los Angeles over Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s objections, and also sent U.S. Marines.

Trump’s decision to bypass Newsom and federalize the California National Guard drew protests from Democrats. Newsom described it as the act of a “dictator.”

Republican governors in Texas and Missouri are activating the Guard on their own.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced June 11 that the Texas National Guard would be deployed throughout the state “to ensure peace & order.” The move came after protesters in Austin clashed with police, and ahead of more planned protests in the state.

About 2,000 “No Kings” protests are scheduled across the country on June 14, when Trump is staging a large military parade in Washington D.C. on the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. It’s also Trump’s 79th birthday.

A map on the “No Kings” website shows dozens of protests are planned in Missouri and Texas.

More: Governors aren’t on same page about using National Guard for ‘No Kings’ protests

With immigration enforcement protests spreading across the country and millions of Americans expected to demonstrate on June 14, governors are having to weigh calling in the National Guard in case of violence versus chancing having Trump do it for them.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, told USA TODAY that Democratic governors are speaking with one another about being prepared if Trump deploys their state National Guard over their objections.

Lujan Grisham said she expects the New Mexico protests to be peaceful and managed by local law enforcement. She isn’t preparing the Guard in case protests turn violent because that isn’t their job.

The National Guard has long been used by governors to help police protests.

When George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020, governors in 28 states had deployed the National Guard by June 3, 2020, to help contain demonstrations that erupted across the country, according to the Department of Defense. Among them was Newsom in California.

California recently sued to stop Trump from deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles. A federal judge blocked the mobilization, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 13 temporarily halted the judge’s order.

Contributing: Sarah D. Wire, Jeanine Santucci, Davis Winkie