JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Eight months after voters approved it, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the repeal of a law Thursday that had guaranteed paid sick leave to workers and inflationary adjustments to the minimum wage.
The move marked a major victory for the state's largest business group and a frustrating defeat for workers' rights advocates, who had spent years — and millions of dollars — building support for the successful ballot measure. The repeal will take effect Aug. 28.
Kehoe, who also signed a package of tax breaks Thursday, described the paid sick leave law as an onerous mandate that imposed burdensome record-keeping.
"Today, we are protecting the people who make Missouri work — families, job creators, and small business owners — by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates,'' Kehoe, a Republican, said in a statement released after a private bill-signing ceremony.
The new tax law excludes capital gains from individual state income taxes, expands tax breaks for seniors and disabled residents and exempts diapers and feminine hygiene products from sales taxes.
Richard von Glahn, who sponsored the worker benefit ballot initiative, said many parents felt forced to go to work, instead of staying home to care for a sick child, in order to pay for their rent or utilities.
"The governor signing this bill is an absolute betrayal to those families, and it hurts my heart,'' said von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs With Justice.
About one-third of states mandate paid sick leave, but many businesses voluntarily provide it. Nationwide, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave last year, though part-time workers were significantly less likely to receive the benefit than full-time employees, according to Department of Labor data.
