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.
Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska all approved paid sick leave measures last November. Only Alaska’s, which kicked in on July 1, has remained unchanged by state lawmakers.
Before Nebraska’s measure could take effect Oct. 1, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed a measure last month exempting businesses with 10 or fewer employees from the paid sick leave requirements. The revision also lets businesses withhold paid sick leave from seasonal agricultural workers and 14- and 15-year-olds.
Missouri’s law allowed employees to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting May 1. By the time it’s repealed, 17 weeks will have elapsed. That means someone working 40 hours a week could have earned 22 hours of paid sick leave.
If workers don’t use their paid sick leave before Aug. 28, there’s no legal guarantee they can do so afterward.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry had made repealing the law its top legislative priority.
The “paid leave and minimum wage policies were a job killer,” chamber President and CEO Kara Corches said.
But Missouri voters could get a second chance at mandating paid sick leave.
Von Glahn has submitted a proposed ballot initiative to the secretary of state that would reinstate the repealed provisions. Because the new measure is a constitutional amendment, the Legislature would be unable to revise or repeal it without another vote of the people. Supporters haven’t decided whether to launch a petition drive to try to qualify the measure for the 2026 ballot.