Springfield businesses weigh in on Missouri’s minimum wage increases

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Missouri lawmakers are considering the state’s minimum wage changes just months after voters approved an increase. Businesses and employees in Springfield are weighing in.

For Jonathon Laxton, working at a bike shop has always been his dream. He worked at shops around town but made his final stop at Howler’s Bike Shop in Springfield three years ago.

In January, Missouri’s minimum wage increased to about $13 an hour, impacting businesses like Laxton’s.

By next year, the goal is to reach $15, but for some businesses, the impact of the recent increase has been minimal. Laxton says the wage hike hasn’t made much of a difference at his job because employees there already start above the state’s new minimum.

”It’s a specialty job, so we try to hire a little bit higher in wages to meet that demand.”

Recently, Republican lawmakers have pushed to roll back the increase despite being voter-approved last year.

Kara Corches with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce believes the increase could possibly lead to increased prices. “This would put Missouri as having the ninth highest minimum wage in the country. We are not the ninth cost of living state, so we think we’re actually going to be paying New York and California wages in Missouri.”

Laxton sees it as a step backward instead of forward.

“I think people deserve it, yeah. Just, you know, with the housing industry, everything going up in prices, like people need that extra amount.”

While the recent increase has not significantly changed his job, he still considers higher wages a step in the right direction and hopes that progress continues.

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