VIENNA — State Rep. Bennie Cook shared legislative updates with attendees of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet last Friday at the Coffey Brothers American Legion building.

After introducing a bit about his background for those he had not met, he began discussing the General Assembly’s efforts to reverse voter-approved minimum wage increases and requirements for businesses to provide employees with paid sick leave.

Last November, Missouri voters passed Proposition A with 1,693,064 votes, or 58 percent. It provided a minimum hourly wage increase from $12 to $13.75 on Jan. 1 with another increase to $15 scheduled for next year. It also required employers with fifteen or more employees to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked.

Several legislators have filed bills to undo part or all of the changes made by Proposition A. First-term Republican Rep. Bryant Wolfin of Ste. Genevieve pre-filed House Bill 715 to repeal the sick leave requirement and minimum wage increase. It would revert the state’s minimum wage to $12 with future increases based on cost of living data from the United States Department of Labor.

On Feb. 28, Cook filed House Bill 1577, which is identical to HB 715. Neither bill has had a hearing or is scheduled on the House calendar as another minimum wage bill makes its way through the lower chamber.

House Bill 567, pre-filed by Republican Rep. Sherri Gallick of Belton, has become the prevailing House bill to repeal sections of Proposition A. The legislation would eliminate the paid sick leave requirement. Although it would leave the minimum wage increases in place, it would change the way the state makes future adjustments to the minimum wage by removing its ties to inflation.

“Some folks have been upset about that, but a lot of businesses came to us and were concerned about that,” Cook said.

HB 567 passed the House on March 13 in a 96 to 51 vote. The most recent activity as of Monday afternoon was an executive session on the bill by the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee.

Cook also spoke favorably about the two pieces of legislation passed by the General Assembly this session. The first puts the St. Louis Police Department under state control by establishing a board to oversee it. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed it into law on March 26.

The other item, Senate Bill 4, which Kehoe has not yet signed, modifies and creates new provisions related to utilities. Sen. Mike Cierpiot of Jackson County proposed the bill.

Cook said he had heard concerns from people about the bill possibly increasing rates for utility customers, but he believed rate increases would happen regardless of the bill becoming law. He saw the potential for a new nuclear power plant in the state if the bill became law.

Another topic Cook broached was federal tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump’s executive order “Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits” signed last week.

“I think it’s going to be key for us to bring back businesses to Missouri,” Cook said. “We’ll see what happens with all these tariffs on a federal level, but I’m hoping to see businesses move back to the United States.”