JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) Lawyers for several business groups argued in front of the Missouri Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn Proposition A on Wednesday. Proposition A was passed by voters in November and will raise the state's minimum wage to $13.75 on Jan. 1 and b y another $1.25 in 2026 to reach $15 per hour. The measure also requires all employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked and allows the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to oversee and enforce businesses. The lawsuit was filed in December by representatives of Missouri's business community including the Missouri Grocer Association, Missouri Restaurant Association and the Associated Industries of Missouri. While these business groups are opposed to Prop A, arguing that it will increase prices and harm businesses, the main argument on the table is that the measure is unconstitutional and violates the single-subject rule in the State Constitution. "We're not here to advocate on whether Proposition A is good policy or bad policy," plaintiff Marc Ellinger said. "Those provisions were improperly done and misled voters, but additionally, the Constitution is very clear that a statutory initiative must have one subject expressed clearly in its title, Proposition A doesn't have one subject clearly expressed in its title, it has two subjects." Those opposed to the measure being overturned argue that increased wages and paid sick leave are a packaged deal. "Those things pretty clearly relate to one subject, which is employee compensation," defendant Andrew Crane said. "There are many other cases that this court has held that broader subjects were permissible for an act, this one, these things logically relate together." Associated Industries of Missouri President Ray McCarty argued in a press conference that the bill also misled voters by improperly naming the ballot summary title. "There were items that weren't even included in the ballot summary title, domestic violence, for example, where there was no discussion of that and no voters had no knowledge that that was even in the proposal," McCarty said. In the ballot summary, the only mention of domestic violence was a section that stated that employees who may be experiencing domestic violence or stalking were eligible for sick leave. The plaintiffs ask for the bill to be overturned or re-elected. For that to happen, according to court documents, it must be determined that the measure's fiscal summary was unfair and the summary statement was clear for voters. The results of this decision would also set a precedent for future post-election challenges, a major consideration for the court. Others in opposition of Prop A include the Missouri Grocer Association, Missouri Restaurant Association and the National Federation of Independent Business "When you raise wages and you have to lay somebody off, it's great for I guess for those that get an increase in wages, not so good for the person who loses their job," NFIB State Director Brad Jones said. "If you think we're being dramatic, we're not because I guarantee you there are small business people all over this state that are having to make those decisions." "This is going to drive up the cost of doing business, increased risk for businesses, o when we talk about lawsuits, and so, yes, I would say wholeheartedly we believe that this could be a big detriment to our state's economic competitiveness," President of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry said." Supporters of Prop A include the Yellow Dog Bookshop in Columbia, Pickwick Underground Framing in Springfield and Oddly Correct Coffee and RAYGUN in Kansas City. Both Joseph Chevalier of Yellow Dog Bookshop and Mike Draper of Raygun claim that the ballot's title was clear and that these changes will help the economy by giving workers more spending power. "I understand the concept that you can't have two totally unrelated things inside one, sure, but that's not what happened," Draper said. "If you were going to ask people, 'What are you voting to do?' they would have said, "I'm voting to raise the minimum wage.' And if you look at what happened, the minimum wage went up." Draper adds that he thinks if the courts overturn the measure, it will create distrust in voters. "Just state by state, we could agree, 'Hey, when the people vote for something, leave it in place,'" Draper said. Chevalier said that as a small business, he hasn't been greatly affected by the increase in wages as businesses that make less than $500,000 are exempt from the measure. "The very smallest are not going to be changed by it if they don't want to be," Chevalier said."I think it's good for businesses, I think if you've got if you're in a state with this higher wage, maybe some of the neighboring states with lower wages will have people moving in saying, 'Well, I can get paid more in Missouri.'" Draper adds that neighboring states like Illinois and Iowa have vastly different minimum wages at $15 per hour and $7.25 per hour respectively and argues that there haven't been issues in supporting businesses. "You don't have a flood of Illinois businesses coming to Iowa to take advantage of the low minimum wage," Draper said. The post Missouri Supreme Court deliberates after Proposition A lawsuit hearing appeared first on ABC17NEWS. ...read more read less