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St. Louis $11 Minimum Critics And Supports Face Off In Court

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With only 10 days left before St. Louis, Mo. begins gradually raising its minimum wage to $11 an hour, the last chance for critics is a court case Tuesday challenging the law.

The law will gradually increase the city minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2018. Currently the state minimum wage is $7.65. Unless delayed by the court, the first increase to $8.25 is scheduled to occur Oct. 15. A coalition of business groups is arguing cities in the state cannot have minimum wages higher than what the state has.

“They just don’t have authority to set up causes of action between private individuals,” Jane Dueker, an attorney for the coalition, told the local affiliate of CBS. “And that’s what this is.”

James G. Nowogrocki, an attorney with Weiss Attorneys at Law, noted the wage increase has some exceptions. It will not apply to businesses with less than 15 employee including temporary or part-time workers. Businesses that make less than $500,000 annually will also be exempt.

It is not uncommon for cities and other local governments to raise their minimum wage above what the state requires. The authority of cities to do that depends on if state law allows it. While supporters of the St. Louis minimum wage says it does, critics say it doesn’t. It will be up to Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer to determine if it does or not.

Supporters of raising the minimum wage often claim it will help the poor and stimulate economic activity. Opponents argue increasing the minimum wage will actually hurt the poor by limiting job opportunities.

The benefits or negative outcomes of increasing the minimum wage usually depend on the study. Nevertheless, even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) agrees any increase of the minimum wage will likely result in at least some job loss.

Americans for the most part overwhelmingly support raising the minimum wage. According to Gallup, upwards of 76 percent of people favor raising it to $9 an hour while 22 percent opposed the idea.

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