After Missouri repealed paid sick leave law, it could go back on the ballot

Yahoo

16-07-2025

Reality Check is a Star series holding those with power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at [e-mail]. Have the latest Reality Checks delivered to your inbox with our free newsletter.
When Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe last week signed a bill repealing paid sick leave protections, his signature overhauled a voter-approved law that enjoyed widespread support in November.
But the Republican governor's decision may not be the final say on the matter. Supporters of paid sick leave have laid the groundwork for a potential campaign that would put another measure on voters' 2026 ballots.
'This measure would restore the paid sick leave that legislators just took from Missouri voters,' said Richard Von Glahn, who filed a new measure on behalf of Missouri Jobs with Justice, one of the groups that successfully campaigned for the previous initiative, called Proposition A.
The decision by Kehoe and Republican lawmakers to strike down portions of Proposition A was met with fierce backlash from paid sick leave supporters. Workers who began receiving paid sick leave earlier this year are now poised to lose those benefits on Aug. 28, when the law signed by Kehoe takes effect.
The move also illustrated a continuation of Republican attempts to undermine voter-approved policies seen as more progressive, such as legal abortion, which lawmakers are seeking to overturn through a new ballot measure in 2026.
Unlike Proposition A, which changed state law, the initiative filed by Von Glahn would amend the state constitution. Some supporters feel that constitutional protections might be the only way to prevent lawmakers from overturning measures passed by voters.
'It's about the only response that's left to proponents of these particular proposals,' said Peverill Squire, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. 'When you leave it as a statute, then it invites the legislature to make changes.'
Von Glahn cautioned that the paid sick leave initiative was still in its early stages and supporters could eventually decide on a different path. After settling on a measure, campaigners must also clear an expensive and time-consuming signature process to get initiatives on statewide ballots.
But if supporters decide to collect signatures to put his measure on a ballot in 2026, it would serve as a major response to the legislature's overhaul of Proposition A.
'The initiative is basically about restoring rights to Missourians that the legislature has, you know, in the previous decade taken from them,' Von Glahn said.
The language of Von Glahn's initiative is similar to Proposition A. It would require most employers with 15 or more employees to offer an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
The measure would also enshrine the state's $15 minimum wage in the constitution and guarantee future increases based on inflation. In addition, the initiative would also allow cities and counties with populations of more than 10,000 people to enact their own minimum wage and sick leave requirements.
A spokesperson for Kehoe did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GOP opposition likely
While nearly 58% of voters approved Proposition A, the measure faced intense pushback from Republican lawmakers and business advocacy groups who argued it would hurt local businesses. They also argued that the new law did not repeal all of Proposition A, including a section that raised the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour.
If Von Glahn's initiative reaches the ballot, it's certain to run into similar opposition.
Some of the resistance will come from the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which last month submitted a letter to Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins opposing the proposed initiative.
Kara Corches, the chamber's president and CEO, said in a statement to The Star that the measure would have 'dire effects on Missouri's economy.'
'The ability for businesses to decide the policies that best fit their unique needs is the bedrock on which our free enterprise system is built,' Corches said. 'This proposal is a clear break from our system of free enterprise.'
Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican, sent The Star a lengthy statement that also lambasted the proposed initiative as a 'job killer.' O'Laughlin specifically criticized the paid sick leave requirement, claiming it 'basically allows anyone to claim illness even if they are not ill.'
'It is an effort to destroy the capitalist society that has made America a place of endless opportunity for anyone willing to work and be responsible for their own future,' O'Laughlin said.
Direct democracy attacks
The prospect of another paid sick leave initiative could also bolster Republican attempts to curtail direct democracy in Missouri by raising the threshold for initiative petitions to pass.
Abortion rights, Proposition A, Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization were all placed on statewide ballots through initiative petitions, a more-than-a-century-old process that allows voters to bypass lawmakers and approve policy measures. Missouri is one of more than 20 states where voters have this ability.
Missouri Republicans, who control every statewide office and both chambers of the legislature, have targeted this mechanism for direct democracy in recent years. They argue that amending the state constitution has become too easy, while some insist that the U.S. is a republic, not a democracy.
Historically, however, most initiative petitions fail to qualify for the ballot before they're even put to voters. Missourians also shot down nearly 60% of the initiatives on the ballot between 1910 and 2022, according to previous reporting.
But Missouri Republicans have made raising the threshold for amending the state constitution a top priority during recent legislative sessions. At least one Republican senator told The Star he'd like to pursue changes to the process during the upcoming legislative session.
'This whole initiative petition thing is a mess,' said Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee's Summit Republican, who later added, 'my primary focus this year is trying to do something to fix this initiative petition thing.'
But Cierpiot said his plan would not focus on changing the approval threshold. Instead, he said he wants to amend the process so that the summaries on voters' ballots are more concise and that the state properly enforces a rule that ballot measures only deal with one subject.
While Republican lawmakers argue against the initiative petition process by saying the state constitution has been amended too easily, supporters like Von Glahn point to the recent decision to overhaul Proposition A.
He had hoped that a constitutional change wouldn't be necessary, he said.
'But for the legislature to attack provisions that were so overwhelmingly passed by voters, for the legislature to repeal provisions on the minimum wage that have been in place for nearly two decades,' Von Glahn said, 'well, it certainly seems like greater protections for Missouri families might be needed.'