Report: Minimum wage hike to impact Missourians to tune of $66M

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A report released today by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute found Missouri workers will gain $66.3 million in additional pay when the new minimum wage takes effect Jan. 1.

The EPI report indicates the minimum wage hike — approved by voters Nov. 6 — will have the average full-time worker’s annual pay rise by an average of $620. The EPI, according to its website, is a supporter of minimum wage hikes.

According to an EPI news release, 4.1 percent of workers, or 107,100 people, in Missouri are directly impacted by the minimum wage increase; the report does not account for “indirectly affected workers,” or those who already are earning more than the new minimum wage.

Missouri’s minimum wage increase passed with over 62 percent of voters in favor of the ballot measure. Named as Proposition B on the ballot, the measure grows the statewide minimum wage from its current level of $7.85 per hour by 85 cents an hour each year starting Jan. 1, when it becomes $8.60. The staggered increase continues until 2023, when it will reach $12 per hour.

Missouri Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of some 700 business owners, separately released statements this morning from proponents of the hike.

“People shouldn’t have to work two jobs just to get by,” said Stacey Schneider, owner of Pizza House on Commercial Street, in the group’s news release. “We’ve been in business since 1958. It’s well worth it to pay people more and keep them longer.”