trying to pass bills in Minnesota and Missouri to invalidate municipal minimum wage hikes. NY Times editorial board with a rare good editorial:
Gov. Eric Greitens of Missouri, a Republican, must decide whether to approve or veto a bill to nullify an $11-an-hour minimum wage enacted in St. Louis and bar other cities and counties from enacting minimum wages. In Minnesota, the Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, has vowed to veto a measure that would invalidate ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul mandating paid sick days and that also would forbid cities and counties from passing other local labor laws. The pre-emptive provision is aimed at Minneapolis, where most city leaders want a $15 minimum wage.
In both states, lawmakers who are fighting to keep wages low, benefits measly and localities subservient to the states are doing the bidding of their corporate backers.
When states have been slow to enact increases, cities and counties have taken the initiative. Some 40 localities have minimums above their state’s level.
Republicans say they believe in local control, but preventing local wage increases contradicts that. And experience shows there are benefits from lifting local minimums, not only in higher wages, but in higher spending as well.
By vetoing the bills in play, the governors in Missouri and Minnesota would be leading their Republican legislatures where they need to go. If they don’t veto the bills, voters will be back, driven by necessity to demand and win higher minimums and other labor protections.
