KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Grocers Association, Missouri Restaurant Association, National Federation of Independent Business, Inc., Missouri Forest Product Association, and Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to overturn the results of the Proposition A vote last month.
The filing stated that “election irregularities and the constitutional violations are so significant that the election results must be overturned and Proposition A must be declared invalid.”
More than 2.9 million Missourians voted on Proposition A, which increases the state’s minimum wage and calls for new paid sick leave requirements. The measure passed with more than 57% of the vote.
The lawsuit listed Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick as defendants.
The call for the results to be overturned stems from claims the fiscal note summary and summary statement for Proposition A were “insufficient and unfair.”
Additionally, the groups claim the proposition contained “multiple subjects in violation of the single subject clause of the Missouri Constitution,” and that the title of the proposition was unclear.
Raymond McCarty, Russell Lahl and Daniel Shaul were individually named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
JoDonn Chaney, director of communications at the Secretary of State’s office, confirmed Monday afternoon the office had been served and was reviewing the information.
In a statement late Monday afternoon, a spokesperson with the state auditor’s office said Fitzpatrick stood by the process used for the proposition.
“We stand by the process we have used for decades to produce fair and accurate fiscal notes and fiscal note summaries,” spokesperson Trevor Fox said in an e-mail to KSHB 41 News. “We look forward to defending this process that allows our office to provide unbiased cost estimates that voters can trust.”
Earlier Monday afternoon, several groups who campaigned for the passage of Proposition A released statements criticizing the lawsuit.
“This anti-democratic move is reprehensible,” Missouri League of Women Voters President Marilyn McLeod said in a release.
Under Proposition A, Missouri’s minimum wage is set to increase to $13.75 on Jan. 1, 2025, and then to $15 on Jan. 1, 2026. As of May 1, 2025, workers would be eligible to earn up to seven paid sick days per year.
“Missouri’s working class, in lockstep with allies across the state, went to the ballot box on Nov. 5 to overwhelmingly voice our need for paid sick days and fair wages in a free and fair election,” Terrance Wise, of Stand up KC, said in the release. “It’s sickening to me that corporations are trying to steal our victory away and quiet the will of the voters who made this win possible.”
—