Workers in Missouri can look forward to raises after minimum-wage boosts passed

• Five states voted on some form of change to the minimum wage in Tuesday’s US elections.
• Missouri approved a raise, while Massachusetts and Arizona rejected changing how tipped workers are paid.
• Results in Alaska and California were unclear early Wednesday.

While economic issues were a major focus of this year’s US presidential election, several states put pay directly on the ballot, and minimum-wage workers in at least one state are now set to get a raise after voting concluded Tuesday.

Missouri, Massachusetts, California, and Alaska all had some form of referendum on their ballots on whether to hike the minimum wage paid by employers. In Massachusetts, voters were asked whether to gradually increase the share of tipped workers’ pay that employers must provide, while voters in the three other states were presented with proposals for straightforward minimum-wage increases.

In Arizona, voters weighed in on whether to decrease the tipped minimum wage — provided employers could show workers’ wages would stay $2 above the state minimum when accounting for tips.

Shortly after polls closed in Missouri, it was clear that the referendum there had passed. Voters in Massachusetts and Arizona rejected their proposals, and California and Alaska were still awaiting their results as of early Wednesday.

Missouri

In Missouri, voters opted to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. Per The New York Times, roughly 58% of Missouri voters had supported the measure as of early Wednesday, with some votes still uncounted. The measure, Proposition A, is set to first raise the minimum wage to $13.75 an hour from $12.30 on January 1 and then increase it again to $15 an hour on January 1, 2026.

Starting in 2027, the wage is set to be pegged to inflation. The measure also mandates that employers give their workers an hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work.

Missouri separately voted in favor of former President Donald Trump, who said he’d “consider” a minimum-wage hike if it proved beneficial for small businesses. His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had pledged support for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour from $7.25.

A group of Missouri business owners in favor of the measure praised Proposition A’s passage on Tuesday evening.

“Proposition A will strengthen Missouri’s workforce and businesses,” David Burmeister, the owner of Midwest Pasta Co. in St. Louis, said in a press release. “Raising the minimum wage will increase people’s ability to shop at our business and local businesses across Missouri. We’ve seen that paying better wages is better business. Employees are happier at work and do a better job.”

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, employers won’t be required to gradually raise tipped workers’ base pay to match the state’s minimum wage.

The measure failed, with the Times reporting at the time of publication that 64% of voters had rejected it out of the votes counted so far.

The measure, which would have begun taking shape on January 1, wouldn’t have actually raised the legal minimum wage for tipped workers but instead would have raised the share of that minimum wage that employers were required to provide.

Currently, Massachusetts employers are required to pay tipped workers a base pay of $6.75 an hour and then make up the difference if those workers’ total pay counting tips is less than $15 an hour. The failed measure would have ultimately required employers to directly pay tipped workers the state’s full minimum wage by 2029.

Arizona

In Arizona, voters rejected a measure that would have let employers reduce their base pay for tipped workers.

Proposition 138 proposed allowing employers to pay tipped workers up to 25% less than the state’s minimum wage, with the corollary that employers would need to establish their workers were still making the minimum wage plus an additional $2 an hour when accounting for tips.

The Times reported that out of the votes counted so far, nearly 76% of voters had rejected the measure.

That means that employers in Arizona can continue to pay their tipped workers $3 less than the current hourly minimum wage as long as workers are still making at least the minimum wage when accounting for tips.

Are you a worker earning at or near the minimum wage in your state? Share your story with this reporter at jkaplan@businessinsider.com.