Bloomberg Businessweek
Missouri voters could be asked next year to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.25. The secretary of state’s office on Tuesday approved the summaries on two initiative petitions, meaning proponents can begin collecting signatures to get the measures on the 2012 ballot. Missouri’s minimum wage currently matches the federal requirement of $7.25 an hour.
Opposition to Ohio’s law limiting collective bargaining for public employees is increasing as a Nov. 8 referendum on the measure approaches, a Quinnipiac University poll showed. Fifty-seven percent of voters would repeal the law known as Senate Bill 5, which first-term Republican Governor John Kasich signed in March, compared with 32 percent who would keep it, according to results released today. The margin of difference has almost doubled from 13 percentage points in a survey last month, according to the poll released today.
Missouri voters likely will get their chance to vote in November on an initiative to put limits on state earnings taxes, despite an attempt to block it in court. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem on Monday refused to strike the measure from the ballot after a Kansas City lawsuit claimed it violated the state constitution and should be removed. In a two-page ruling, Beetem rejected several claims while putting off other allegations raised by the lawsuit until after the November election — if voters approve the initiative.