Group gives $3 million to Missouri minimum wage campaign

A Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit donated $3 million during the weekend to a political action committee supporting an effort to increase Missouri's minimum wage to $12 an hour.

The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a dark money nonprofit that isn't required to reveal its donors, donated $500,000 last year and $500,000 in May to a PAC called Raise Up Missouri. That group collected signatures to put the minimum wage question on the November ballot.

The Kansas City Star reports the $3 million is the largest single contribution in the last two years.

If approved, the state's minimum wage would be gradually increased from $7.85 to $12 an hour.

Supporters of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, are hoping the issue will increase her chances in a tight race for re-election.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com