KC Council defies state legislature, narrowly approves increased minimum wage

In a defiant move against the Missouri General Assembly, the Kansas City Council voted 8-4 Thursday in favor of increasing the local minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2023.

Supporters said it showed their commitment to the working poor, but Mayor Sly James predicted state lawmakers will quickly prohibit the city action, and worried it could also embroil the city in more litigation.

Councilman Quinton Lucas sponsored the wage increase ordinance, which was also supported by council members Jermaine Reed, Katheryn Shields, Teresa Loar, Lee Barnes, Alissia Canady, Scott Taylor and Kevin McManus.

“We’re not 100 percent sure of the outcome,” Shields said, but she and others argued this was the city’s “last best chance” to try to adopt a higher minimum wage than the state-set minimum of $7.70 per hour.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article137570808.html